Diamond League
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The Diamond League is an annual series of elite
track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the
World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...
(formerly known as the IAAF) one-day meeting competitions. The inaugural season was in 2010. It was designed to replace the
IAAF Golden League The IAAF Golden League was an annual series of outdoor track and field meetings organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Athletes who won specific events at all of the series meetings were awarded a jackpot prize, ...
, which had been held annually since 1998. The full sponsorship name is the Wanda Diamond League, the result of an agreement with
Wanda Group Wanda Group (), or the Dalian Wanda Group (), is a Chinese multinational conglomerate founded in Dalian, Liaoning and headquartered in Beijing. It is a private property developer and owner of Wanda Cinemas and the Hoyts Group. With inve ...
that was announced in December 2019. While the Golden League was formed to increase the profile of the leading European athletics competitions, the Diamond League's aim is to "enhance the worldwide appeal of athletics by going outside Europe for the first time." In addition to the original Golden League members (except Berlin) and other traditional European competitions, the series now includes events in China,
Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...
,
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
, and the United States. Beginning in March 2022, after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Diamond League excluded Russian and Belarusian athletes from all of its track and field meetings.


Editions

The number in the table represents the order in which the meeting took place. In March 2019 the president of the IAAF, Sebastian Coe, announced changes in the Diamond League's format for the 2020 series. The number of Diamond Disciplines was reduced from 32 to 24 and a second Chinese meet was added to the calendar. The dual final format was replaced by a single final. However, because of the
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
pandemic, 7 of the originally planned 15 meets were cancelled, the season was delayed to June 10th, only four or the meets had a full competitive program, and the final was cancelled with no champions crowned in 2020. In December 2020, the 2021 Diamond League was announced to return with 32 disciplines and a two-hour broadcast window.


Scoring system

The original Diamond League scoring system, used from 2010 to 2015, awarded points to the top three athletes at each meeting (4 points for first place; 2 points for second place; 1 point for third place). Each of the thirty-two disciplines (sixteen each for male and female athletes) was staged a total of seven times during the season; points scored in the final meeting for that discipline (either Zürich or Brussels) were doubled. The athletes who finished the season with the highest number of points in their discipline won the "Diamond Race"; in case of a tie on points, the number of victories was used as the first tie-breaker, followed by the results of the final. Only athletes who competed in their discipline's final meeting were eligible to win the Diamond Race. In 2016 scoring was expanded to the top six (10–6–4–3–2–1); double points (20–12–8–6–4–2) were still awarded in the event finals. A completely new system was introduced in 2017; the top eight athletes at each meeting are now awarded points (8–7–6–5–4–3–2–1), but these points only determine which athletes qualify for the discipline finals in Zürich and Brussels. The athletes who win at the finals are declared IAAF Diamond League Champions, and the allocation of the overall prize money is likewise determined solely by the results of the final. This system, with the winner of the final automatically winning the overall championship, is similar to the former IAAF Grand Prix circuit with its
Grand Prix Final The Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final (formerly Champions Series Final), often shortened to ''Grand Prix Final'' and abbreviated as ''GPF'', is a senior-level international figure skating competition. Medals are awarded in men's singles, ladies ...
. As part of the scoring changes, the term 'Diamond Race' is no longer used. Instead, athletes compete in 'Diamond Disciplines' to become the Diamond League champion. After the 2019 season, the final format changed from being held by two separate meets to one meet.


Meetings

All meetings since the event's inauguration have been held in the Northern Hemisphere in spring and summer months, in line with the traditional international track and field season. *From 2011 to 2019 the British Grand Prix was held at the
Alexander Stadium Alexander Stadium is a track and field athletics stadium in Perry Park, Birmingham, England. It hosted the athletics and opening/closing ceremonies of the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Other events held there include the annual British Grand Prix ...
,
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
*The 2010 to 2012 London Grand Prix (now known as the Anniversary Games) was held at
Crystal Palace National Sports Centre The National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace in south London, England is a large sports centre and outdoor athletics stadium. It was opened in 1964 in Crystal Palace Park, close to the site of the former Crystal Palace Exhibition building which ...
and the 2014 event was moved to Hampden Park in
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as a pre-Games meet for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. *The 2010 to 2016 Meeting de Paris was held at the Stade de France. *In 2016 the Adidas Grand Prix in New York City was removed in favour of the Rabat leg (the first African meet of the series). *The 2019 Prefontaine Classic moved from Eugene to Cobb Track and Angell Field in Stanford due to the reconstruction of
Hayward Field Hayward Field is a track and field stadium in the northwest United States, located on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. It has been the home of the university's track and field teams since 1921, and was the on-campus ho ...
. *The 2021 Golden Gala moved from Rome to Stadio Luigi Ridolfi in
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
. *Meetings may hold non-Diamond League race events e.g. the 10,000 m in Stockholm on 30 May 2019. *Diamond League meetings in
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
and Shenzen were planned for 2021 and 2022 but were cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. A meeting in Chorzów was scheduled instead.


Diamond League winners


Men (2010–2016, overall winners)


Men (2017–present, winners of final events)


Women (2010–2016, overall winners)


Women (2017–present, winners of final events)


Statistics


Countries by number of event winners


Most titles by athlete


Multi event title winners


Perfect Diamond Races


Diamond League records


Men


Women

* WR: World Record - AR: Area Record - NR: National Record - OWB: Outdoor World Best


References

;Diamond league records
Diamond League Records – Men
all-athletics.com. Retrieved on 2015-05-30.
Diamond League Records – Women
all-athletics.com. Retrieved on 2015-05-30.


External links


Official website
{{International sports tours Recurring sporting events established in 2010 Annual athletics series Diamond League