Competition intensifies as Wanda Diamond League nears conclusion

The Wanda Diamond League will be back with a bang on Friday (26) as Lausanne hosts the 11th stop in the 13-meeting series following a brief pause for the European and NACAC Championships.

With the World Athletics Championships, Commonwealth Games and World U20 Championships all having concluded in the past month as well, many of the athletes in action in Lausanne and Brussels (2 September) will have new additions to their medal cabinet back home. Others, meanwhile, will be highly motivated to make up for missed opportunities at recent major events.

There’s a lot on the line, too. The winners at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich on 7-8 September will earn a wildcard entry to the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23.

And while several athletes have already done enough to earn a place at the Wanda Diamond League final, there are still scoring opportunities to be had in Lausanne and Brussels.

The men’s 200m, for example, will be contested in both of those cities, and all eight places in the final are potentially still up in the air. World champions Noah Lyles and Michael Norman are due to race in Lausanne, where they’ll face world bronze medallist Erriyon Knighton and Commonwealth champion Jereem Richards, among others. They will all be aiming to bank enough points to qualify for Zurich.

The line-up for the women’s 200m in Zurich is already essentially decided. The qualifiers for the final include Jamaica’s world champion Shericka Jackson, world and Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo, 2019 world champion Dina Asher-Smith, European champion Mujinga Kambundji and Olympic bronze medallist Gabby Thomas.

It’s all to play for in the women’s 100m, though, as the world’s best sprinters could still collect points in Lausanne and Brussels. Jackson will contest that discipline in Lausanne and will take on world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah.

The Jamaican sprint superstars are just a few of the global champions who will be in action at the remaining Diamond League fixtures.

World 400m hurdles champion Alison Dos Santos will be racing in Lausanne, looking to complete an undefeated season in his specialist discipline. Aside from the World Championships, the 22-year-old has this year won in Doha, Eugene, Oslo, Stockholm and Silesia.

Mondo Duplantis is another athlete who has dominated his event this year. The Swedish pole vaulter, who raised his own world record to 6.21m to win the world title in Oregon before retaining his European title in Munich last week, is set to compete at Brussels on 2 September.

Fellow world record-holder Ryan Crouser is also in line to compete at the Diamond League Final in Zurich, but first the US shot putter will want to extend his winning streak in Lausanne, where he’ll face two-time world champion Joe Kovacs.

Faith Kipyegon may have narrowly missed out on breaking the world 1500m record in Monaco earlier this month, but the Kenyan middle-distance runner has already earned enough points for a place in the 1500m in Zurich where she will be aiming to win her third Diamond Trophy.

Fellow Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen hasn’t yet got quite enough points to claim a lane in Zurich, but the young Norwegian – fresh from his double triumph at the European Championships – is a late addition to the Lausanne entry lists. Multiple Diamond Trophy winner Timothy Cheruiyot and Commonwealth champion Oliver Hoare are also entered.

The women’s 100m hurdles has been one of the highest quality and most competitive events in the world this year, and that looks set to continue through to the end of the season. World champion Tobi Amusan, Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, former world record-holder Kendra Harrison and 2019 world champion Nia Ali are all entered for Lausanne and will likely play leading roles again in Brussels and Zurich.

The men’s 110m hurdles also hangs in the balance. Two-time world champion Grant Holloway, Olympic champion Hansle Parchment, Commonwealth champion Rasheed Broadbell and world silver medallist Trey Cunningham are all racing in Lausanne, looking to secure a spot for Zurich.

The women’s javelin is another wide-open event, especially with many athletes enjoying a strong late-season run of form. World bronze medallist Haruka Kitaguchi is the only athlete currently in a guaranteed qualifying spot for Zurich, but the likes of world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber, world record-holder Barbora Spotakova, world silver medallist Kara Winger and European champion Elina Tzengko could all advance to the final with a strong showing in Brussels.

Expect many more enthralling clashes from the world’s greatest athletes in Lausanne and Brussels before the Wanda Diamond League reaches an exciting climax in Zurich on 7-8 September.