The 2026 Diamond League has got underway with all eyes on China during May thanks to the opening two events of the world’s most important one-day meeting circuit being staged in Shanghai/Keqiao and Xiamen.
And Mondo athletics tracks were once again the centre of attention.
Both Shanghai/Keqiao’s China Textile City Sports Centre and Xiamen’s Egret Stadium have Sportflex Super X 720™ K39 athletics tracks of recent vintage, installed in March 2025 and November 2023 respectively.
For many of the competitors who made the trip to China, as well as the local stars, performing on those Mondo athletics tracks was an experience they will never forget.
Athletics fans watching in the stadia themselves and around the world also marvelled at the superb standard of performances delivered on the Mondo athletics tracks by some of the top exponents in the sport.
Swedish pole vault superstar Mondo Duplantis was the main attraction in Shanghai/Keqiao and duly delivered, clearing a meeting record of 6.12m before unsuccessfully attempting to add another world record to his list of accolades.
However, Paris 2024 Olympic Games 100m hurdles champion Masai Russell stole the show at the first of her two Chinese outings with the American flying to a meeting record and world lead of 12.25.
Russell then stunned the world in Xiamen when she made the 10 barriers in her way almost disappear en route to clocking 12.14, improving her own North American 100m hurdles record with the second fastest time ever.
She crossed the line just two-hundredths of a second away from adding to the list of more than 300 world records that have been set on Mondo athletics tracks.
Fireworks were invented in China and in Xiamen the metaphorical explosions were not just restricted to the track but also extended to the field events.
Local javelin prodigy 18-year-old Yan Ziyi sent her implement out to a distance of 71.74m with her opening throw, also the second-best performance ever and a world U20 record in her event.
The two Diamond League meetings in China together produced a stunning list of superlatives.
The full list of 2026 Diamond League meetings on Mondo athletics tracks is: