Spain’s Mohamed Attaoui produced a sensational late surge to win the men’s 800m at the Paris Diamond League on Friday night, clocking a season’s best of 1:42.73.
Attaoui timed his move perfectly, surging down the inside in the final 100 meters to shock a stacked field and claim the biggest win of his career.
Final Results
- Mohamed Attaoui (ESP) – 1:42.73 (SB)
- Josh Hoey (USA) – 1:43.00
- Bryce Hoppel (USA) – 1:43.11 (SB)
- Max Burgin (GBR) – 1:43.61
- Gabriel Tual (FRA) – 1:43.84
- Mark English (IRL) – 1:43.98
- Andreas Kramer (SWE) – 1:44.02
- Tshepiso Masalela (BOT) – 1:44.16
- Slimane Moula (ALG) – 1:44.46
- Yanis Meziane (FRA) – 1:44.55
- Wycliffe Kinyamal (KEN) – 1:44.85
- Nicholas Kiplangat Kebenei (KEN) – 1:45.03
— Patryk Sieradzki (POL) – DNF
All eyes had been on Botswana’s Tshepiso Masalela, the world leader coming into Paris and France’s Gabriel Tual, the national record-holder and Olympic finalist racing on home soil.
But in just his second career sub-1:45 race, Attaoui flipped the script. Interestingly, the only other 800m race in history to feature 11 men under 1:45 also included Attaoui, who had finished last on that occasion in Silesia. This time, he emerged as the unexpected champion.
Masalela, who had dazzled with back-to-back Diamond League wins in Doha and Rabat, including a world-leading 1:42.70 PB in Morocco. He settled for eighth in Paris. He was unable to reproduce the explosive finish that saw him take down Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi in Rabat and fend off Hoppel in Doha.
Tual, who had opened his 2025 Diamond League season with a solid fourth-place finish in Oslo (1:43.09) and improved further in Stockholm with 1:42.72, looked poised for another podium in front of the home crowd. Though he led briefly in the final 200m, he faded slightly in the closing meters to finish fifth, still putting up one of his best performances of the year.
