Hana Moll in Tokyo (© Getty Images)
Final: Saturday 12 Sep, 18:43
Contenders:
Katie Moon (USA) 🌍
Hana Moll (USA) 💎
Angelica Moser (SUI)
Sandi Morris (USA)
Tina Šutej (SLO)
Imogen Ayris (NZL)
Eliza McCartney (NZL)
Emily Grove (USA)
World lead: 4.95m Nina Kennedy (AUS) Monaco, 10 Jul
2026 world list | world rankings
World record: 5.06m Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS) Zurich, 28 Aug 2009
world all-time list | world record progression
- Hana Moll arrives on a three-meeting winning streak after raising her PB to 4.91m to claim the Diamond League title
- Three-time world champion Katie Moon returns to Budapest alongside fellow Tokyo medallists Sandi Morris and Tina Šutej
- European champion Angelica Moser and Commonwealth champion Eliza McCartney add to a wide-open eight-woman field
Hana Moll could hardly have timed her surge to the top of the women's pole vault better.
A little over two weeks ago, the 21-year-old US vaulter had never won a Diamond League meeting. She now heads to the World Athletics Ultimate Championship with three successive victories and the Diamond Trophy to her name.
Moll started that run with a 4.84m victory in Lausanne before improving her PB to 4.90m in Zurich. She then added another centimetre in Brussels last weekend, clearing 4.91m to claim her first Diamond League title and become the highest 2026 performer among the women competing in Budapest.
She will face a field packed with championship pedigree, led by three-time world champion Katie Moon. The US star retained her global title in Tokyo last year with 4.90m, having shared the previous world crown at this same stadium in Budapest in 2023.
Moon has a season's best of 4.80m and was fourth in Brussels with 4.70m, but her record at major championships means she can rarely be discounted.
Her US teammate Sandi Morris took world silver behind her in Tokyo and has cleared 4.90m this year, second only to Moll among the Ultimate entrants. Morris remains one of just a handful of women in history to have cleared five metres.
Angelica Moser has also built an impressive campaign. The Swiss vaulter won the European title in Birmingham with 4.80m before improving to 4.85m when finishing second to Moll in Zurich. She again followed Moll home at the Diamond League Final.
Tina Šutej, the world bronze medallist in Tokyo, has cleared 4.80m this season, while Eliza McCartney arrives as Commonwealth champion after beating world leader Nina Kennedy on countback in Glasgow. Fellow New Zealander Imogen Ayris, who took Commonwealth bronze, has also reached 4.81m this year.
With Kennedy absent from the Ultimate field, there is no overwhelming favourite – but on recent evidence, Moll is the woman carrying the most momentum into Budapest.
Matt Majendie for World Athletics
Title key: 🏅 Olympic champion, 🌍 world champion, 💎 Diamond League champion
