Sprint stars headline Continental Tour Gold finale

The István Gyulai Memorial features some of the world's fastest sprinters The post Sprint stars headline Continental Tour Gold finale appeared first on Canadian Running Magazine .

The István Gyulai Memorial takes place on Tuesday in Budapest, serving as the final stop of the 2026 World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series. Also known as the Hungarian Grand Prix, the meeting features several world-class sprint matchups, highlighted by Olympic champion Julien Alfred of St. Lucia taking on Jamaican multi-Olympic gold medallist Elaine Thompson-Herah in the women’s 100m. The men’s 110m hurdles also brings one of the deepest fields assembled this season. Although the Hungarian Grand Prix does not carry Diamond League status, the Continental Tour finale has attracted many of the world’s fastest athletes and should deliver high-quality races that track fans won’t want to miss.

View this post on Instagram These women can sprint Alfred arrives in Budapest after a dominant performance in the women’s 200m at the Monaco Diamond League meet on Friday, where she clocked 21.51 seconds to move to number three on the all-time list. She returns to the 100m on Tuesday to face the 2021 100m and 200m Olympic champion Thompson-Herah and fellow Jamaican Tina Clayton, the 2025 World Championship 100m silver medallist. The women’s 200m is led by , who made her Diamond League season debut in Monaco on Friday, posting a quick 21.84 and finishing third.

She will line up alongside compatriot Kayla White and 400m specialist Nikisha Pryce of Jamaica, who is dropping down half a lap for the event. In the women’s 100m hurdles, we get another chance to see Masai Russell, who remains unbeaten this season. She has consistently challenged the world record of 12.12 and owns five of the 10 fastest performances in the event this year.

Men’s sprints Reigning Canadian in Tennessee on Friday. He will face Morocco’s Yassine Hssine and dipped under 20 seconds this season. The men’s 110m hurdles features a strong American contingent in Jamal Britt, Ja’Kobe Tharp, Cordell Tinch and Trey Cunningham.

Britt has been the most dominant sprinter across the track and field circuit this year, winning four Diamond League events and lowering his PB to 12.86. Tharp shocked the world when he set a 110m hurdles world record of 12.75 at the NCAA championship semi-finals, before making his professional debut at the Prefontaine Classic, where he finished second behind Britt. Cunningham has not raced much this season, but has made each outing count.

In his season opener at the Gold Gala Pietro Mennea in Rome, he took down Britt and broke 13 seconds for the first time with a PB of 12.98. Rounding out the field is the 2025 Tokyo 110m hurdles champion, Tinch. While he hasn’t broken 13 seconds this season, he remains a contender in what could be one of the fastest 110m hurdle races of the season.