Prince Albert II and Olympic champion Mutaz Barshim have announced the creation of the Monaco Athletics Festival, a new athletics event that will bring elite high jump competition to the waterfront on 5th August.
The festival will serve as the Monaco leg of the What Gravity Tour, an international series founded by the three-time world champion and Olympic gold medallist to showcase the high jump discipline in iconic locations around the world.
From Doha to global tour
Barshim launched the What Gravity Challenge in Doha in 2024, named after his distinctive jumping technique that creates an impression of weightlessness. The event aimed to give greater visibility to high jump while bringing athletes closer to the public.
The Qatari athlete expanded the concept in 2025, transforming it into the What Gravity Tour, a league-format competition that connects historic high jump meetings across multiple international destinations. Athletes accumulate points throughout the season across various stops on the circuit.
Urban athletics returns to Monaco
The creation of the Monaco Athletics Festival follows discussions between Barshim and the Monegasque Athletics Federation during the tour’s European stage. The event will take place at 6:00 pm on Quai Albert Ier, drawing on the Federation’s experience in organising out-of-stadium competitions.
“Monaco represents excellence, heritage, and global sporting prestige. The launch of the Monaco Athletics Festival and its integration into the What Gravity Tour mark an important step in our vision to build a truly international platform for high jump,” Mutaz Barshim said. “Our goal is to elevate the discipline, bring it closer to the public, and give athletes the opportunity to compete in some of the world’s most iconic settings.”
The Federation previously exported disciplines from the Herculis EBS Meeting to Port Hercule in 2018 and 2019, and aims to further develop urban athletics events that offer settings for both athletes and spectators.
“We are delighted to partner with Mutaz, a great champion with a particularly clear and forward-looking vision for his sport and its development,” Rodolphe Berlin, Vice President of the Monegasque Athletics Federation, said. “His project fully aligns with the ambitions of our Federation and with our desire to build new connections between the public and elite-level athletics. We hope to establish this event as a lasting fixture on the Monegasque sporting calendar and, as high jump is a particularly spectacular discipline, to make the Monaco Athletics Festival a major popular celebration of our sport.”
The first edition has the support of the Prince’s Government and Monaco Mairie.
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Photo credit: Dan Vernon / FMA