The world’s biggest stars are in Rabat, Morocco this Sunday for the African leg of the 2026 Wanda Diamond League.
Here are five things to look out for at the Meeting International Mohammed VI.
Mahuchikh opens outdoors
Two years on from her world record at the Diamond League meeting in Paris, Yaroslava Mahuchikh is on a mission to regain the title she held for three years in a row until last season. Diamond League champion from 2022 to 2024, the Ukrainian high jump star was finally usurped by Australia’s Nicola Olyslagers last year and she will be out to restore her status as top dog in 2026. The 24-year-old is already in fine form, having won gold at the World Indoor Championships in Poland in March with an impressive 2.01m. Rabat will be her first appearance outdoors this year, and the first step towards what could be a fourth career Diamond League title.
Famous five for El Bakkali?
If there is one athlete whose name has become synonymous with Rabat in recent years, it is Soufiane El Bakkali. The Moroccan 3000m steeplechaser is always the star attraction when the Diamond League hits his home country, and he has lived up to the billing emphatically in recent years. Since 2022, El Bakkali has won four successive races in front of his home crowd at the Meeting International Mohammed VI, including a meeting record and personal best of 7:56.68 in 2023. He will be out to make it five in a row on Sunday against a strong field that includes world champion Geordie Beamish and Diamond League champion Frederik Ruppert.
Score to settle for Wanyonyi
Kenyan 800m ace Emmanuel Wanyonyi suffered a rare defeat when he opened his Diamond League season in Rabat last year, finishing a shock third behind Tshepiso Masalela and Max Burgin. It proved to be a mere blip, as the Kenyan went on to claim five Diamond League wins en route to a third successive Diamond Trophy and a first world title in 2025. He will still want to set the record straight this year, however, as he once again opens his outdoor season on African soil in Rabat.
Bol’s throne up for grabs
With Femke Bol having switched to the 800m, the race to succeed her as the queen of the 400m hurdles has officially begun. Bol had been unbeatable in the Diamond League recent years, racking up 30 consecutive wins and five titles in the series since 2020. Now, though, the battle for the Diamond Trophy has been blown wide open and several pretenders to Bol’s throne will go head to head in Rabat. The USA’s Anna Cockrell has won at two Diamond League meetings in Bol’s absence since 2024, while Gianna Woodruff, Andrenette Knight, Rushell Clayton and Amalie Iuel have seven Diamond League wins between them. The current world number two is Slovakia’s Emma Zapletalová, who won bronze in Tokyo last year.
Star-studded 400m
The Road to the Final got off to a stunning start in the men’s 400m last week, as world champion Busang Collen Kebinatshipi stormed to a world lead of 43.92 in Xiamen. Yet the Motswana star is far from the only man with designs on the title this year, and some of the world’s best will be hoping to deliver a reply in Rabat. World number one and reigning Diamond League champion Jacory Patterson will begin his title defence, while Olympic champion Quincy Hall and Olympic silver medallist Matthew Hudson-Smith both grabbed Diamond League wins last season.
