Diamond Race Update Ahead Of First Final In Zurich – IAAF Diamond League

Zurich will host the first of two finals for the 2014 IAAF Diamond League series as 16 Diamond Race winners will be crowned.

The Diamond Race champions in some events have already been decided, but athletes must compete in the IAAF Diamond League final for their discipline to secure the USD$40,000 bonus and the Diamond Race trophy.

A first-place finish at an IAAF Diamond League meeting is worth four points, with two points going to the second-place finisher and one to the third-place finisher. But at the IAAF Diamond League finals, those points are doubled.

If, at the end of the series, athletes are tied on points, then the Diamond Race goes to the athlete with most victories. If athletes are still tied, then the title will go to whichever athlete performed better at their event’s Diamond Race final.

In Zurich, two athletes – discus thrower Sandra Perkovic and 400m runner LaShawn Merritt – need only to line up for their events to secure their Diamond Race victories.

But the Diamond Race for 14 other disciplines in Zurich is still undecided, so a victory in the Swiss city will take on extra significance.

IAAF Diamond League: With Four Meetings To Go-Most Diamond Races Remain Wide Open

There are four more meetings left in the 2014 IAAF Diamond League series, but six athletes have dominated their disciplines to the extent that they have already done enough to win the Diamond Race.

US 400m runner LaShawn Merritt, French sprint hurdler Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, Kenyan steeplechaser Jairus Birech, French pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie, Jamaican 400m hurdler Kaliese Spencer, and New Zealand’s shot put star Valerie Adams are the Diamond Race winners in their respective events.

To seal their victory – and the USD $50,000 bonus and Diamond Trophy to go with it – they simply need to compete in their discipline at either of the IAAF Diamond League finals in Zurich and Brussels.

The other 26 events in the Diamond Race remain undecided. Four of them are extremely close, however, with just two athletes left in the running. US triple jumpers Will Claye and Christian Taylor are currently separated by just two points. Piotr Malachowski and Robert Harting are the only remaining athletes in with a chance to win the Diamond Race in the men’s discus.

DIAMOND RACE STILL OPEN IN EVERY EVENT – IAAF DIAMOND LEAGUE

As the 2014 season of the IAAF Diamond League approaches the half-way stage, the Diamond Race in all 32 disciplines can still be won by anyone.

There are eight athletes, however, who are just two more wins away from winning the Diamond Race in their event. They are shot putter Valerie Adams, discus thrower Sandra Perkovic, pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie, 800m runner Eunice Sum, 400m runner Novlene Williams-Mills, 400m hurdler Kaliese Spencer, triple jumper Will Claye and 110m hurdler Pascal Martinot-Lagarde.

Six athletes – Lavillenie, Adams, Perkovic, Sum, Williams-Mills and 400m runner LaShawn Merritt – have so far achieved a clean sweep this season, having won every Diamond Race fixture for their event.

Lavillenie and Adams have extended their career tally of IAAF Diamond League wins to 20, more than any other athlete. Lavillenie is also on course to win an unprecedented fifth Diamond Trophy this year.

Meanwhile, if Perkovic wins in Paris and Glasgow, she will become the first athlete to win at every single IAAF Diamond League meeting on the calendar.

Already this year, IAAF Diamond League records have been set in five events, the most notable of which is in the men’s high jump.

Ivan Ukhov jumped 2.41m in the opening IAAF Diamond League meeting of the year to tie the record set last year by Bohdan Bondarenko. Mutaz Essa Barshim then equalled the record in Rome, before both he and Bondarenko jumped 2.42m in New York to add another centimetre to the mark.

Two IAAF Diamond League records were set in Eugene as world indoor champion Ayanleh Souleiman clocked 3:47.32 in the mile and Mercy Cherono ran 9:13.27 over two miles. In Doha, Hellen Obiri set an IAAF Diamond League record of 8:20.68 in the 3000m, while Perkovic broke her own IAAF Diamond League record in the discus with 70.52m in Shanghai.

There have also been some notable breakthrough performers this season. Having never before won at an IAAF Diamond League meeting, US triple jumper Will Claye and US sprinter Tori Bowie have now won three events each this year and lead the Diamond Race in their respective events.

And although 16-year-old Cuban triple jumper Lazaro Martinez and 17-year-old Ethiopian 1500m runner Dawit Seyaum may not have won at an IAAF Diamond League meeting, this season they have become the youngest athletes in the history of the series to score points in the Diamond Race.

IAAF

IAAF DIAMOND LEAGUE – FRASER-PRYCE LEADS STAR-STUDDED SPRINTS IN DOHA

Reigning World and Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will kick off her 2014 IAAF Diamond League campaign at the Doha 2014 meeting on 9 May, organisers announced on Sunday (16).

There’s not a bigger name in the world of women’s sprinting at the moment than the 27-year-old Jamaican, who dashed to the IAAF World Indoor Championships 60m title in Sopot one week ago, and just seven months after winning global titles in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at the 2013 IAAF World Championships.

She was also the 2013 World Athlete of the Year.

“I enjoy running in Doha,” said Fraser-Pryce. “The stadium is close and intimate which makes you feel connected with the fans.”

Her appearance in the opening event of the fifth season of the IAAF Diamond League series takes on added meaning as she sets out to defend her 100m and 200m double Diamond Race victory from 2013.

“The 200m is the event I want to get better at. I am doing okay but I believe there is a lot more to give, so this season a lot will be placed on being better and faster at the 200m.

“Capturing another double would definitely top the year for me. Let’s see what happens.”

Fraser-Pryce won the 200m in Doha last year, a victory that set her on course towards her first world title in the longer sprint. In 2012, she also sped to Olympic silver over the distance.

This season, making her third appearance in Doha, Fraser-Pryce will contest the 100m against what is already shaping into a formidable field.

Fraser-Pryce faces formidable foes

Nigeria’s Moscow double sprint finalist Blessing Okagbare will lead the challenge.

Last year, the 25-year-old improved the African 100m record to 10.79. Fraser-Pryce’s compatriot Kerron Stewart, a 100m finalist at the World Championships last season and 2008 Olympic 200m silver medallist, is also confirmed.

Leading the charge for the US is 21-year-old 2013 national champion English Gardner, who finished fourth at the World Championships last year and has a 10.85 career best to her credit, and Alexandria Anderson, who last year joined the event’s sub-11 club with a 10.91 personal best.

Both Gardner and Anderson were on the silver medal-winning 4x100m relay quartet for the USA in Moscow. Barbara Pierre who recorded the world’s fourth-fastest time in 2013 with 10.85, will also be in the field.

There will be lots of speed on display throughout the programme. The men’s 400m will feature the season’s first rematch of last year’s World Championships medallists.

USA’s LaShawn Merritt flew to a commanding 43.74 victory for his second global title. Behind him, compatriot Tony McQuay edged Luguelin Santos by just 0.02 in 44.40 to take the battle for silver over the young Dominican.

Joining the trio will be a rising star in the event, Czech Republic’s Pavel Maslak, who followed up his fifth place at last year’s World Championships with a powerful run to win the World Indoor Championships title last weekend. Maslak, just 23, is also the reigning European champion indoors and out.

Saudi Arabia’s 2013 World Championships finalist Youssef Ahmed Masrahi leads the Arab athletes’ attack.

Weir v Mitchell in the 200m

The men’s 200m field can boast of the reigning silver and bronze medallists from the World Championships.

Jamaica’s Warren Weir followed up his bronze medal performance at the London 2012 Olympic Games with a runner-up finish behind his compatriot Usain Bolt in Moscow last year. Illustrating his growing consistency and confidence, the 24-year-old twice clocked a personal best 19.79 in 2013.

US sprinter Curtis Mitchell, the 2013 World Championships bronze medallist who improved to 19.97 last season, will lead the opposition.

The field also includes reigning European champion Churandy Martina of the Netherlands and the Jamaican pair of Jason Young and Nickel Ashmeade.

“Although the Doha 2014 meeting is being held at the beginning of the outdoor season, we will bring on dozens of Olympic and world champions and medallists,” said Qatar Athletics Federation President Dahlan Al Hamad.

“We are really looking forward to welcoming the world’s top athletes and especially Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the finest women’s sprinter in the world, back to Doha this year. Her early announcement already shows that the meeting will be of a very high calibre with top athletes competing as usual,” he added.

Qatar Athletics Federation Secretary General Mohamed Al-Kuwari concurred.

“As happens every year, we will see many great performances that will set the tone for the season,” Al-Kuwari said. “Fans will experience a fantastic event with many surprises.”

Organisers for the IAAF

2014 IAAF Diamond League calendar

Doha, QAT – 9 May

Shanghai, CHN – 18 May

Eugene, USA – 31 May

Rome, ITA – 5 Jun

Oslo, NOR – 11 Jun

New York, USA – 14 Jun

Lausanne, SUI – 3 Jul

Paris, FRA – 5 Jul

Glasgow, GBR – 11-12 Jul

Monaco, MON – 18 Jul

Stockholm, SWE – 21 Aug

Birmingham, GBR – 24 Aug

Zurich, SUI – 28 Aug

Brussels, BEL – 5 Sep