Day 2
The second day of action (28 August) moves to Zurich’s Letzigrund Stadiumwhere the world’s leading track stars join the competition for Diamond League titles.
Among the biggest names is Saint Lucia’s first-ever Olympic gold medallist, Julien Alfredwho will compete in the women’s 100m. While the likes of world champion Sha’Carri Richardson and this year’s world leader Melissa Jefferson will not run in Zurich, Alfred will still need to be at her very best to beat the likes of Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith and Jamaica’s Tia Clayton in the shortest sprint event.
In the 200m, both of Paris 2024’s men’s sprint champions will face off against each other, with the USA’s Lyles and Botswana’s Letsile tebogo resuming their budding rivalry in Zurich.
Lyles, who was given a wild card to compete in the final, has the chance to make history by becoming the first-ever male track athlete to win six Diamond League titles. But the relentless challenge of Olympic 200m champion Tebogo makes this one of the must-see events of the final.
The men’s 800m sees a clash of titans as the joint-second and fourth fastest two-lap runners in history line up against each other in the Letzigrund Stadium.
Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi’s personal best of 1:41.11 is a mere 0.2 seconds slower than David Reset’s world record set all the way back at London 2012. But have no doubt about it, he will face a difficult task in beating off Canada’s Marco Aropwho will be aiming for a confidence-boosting victory in a year in which he is aiming to defend his world title from 2023.
Could we see a world record fall in Zurich? All will be revealed on Thursday.
In the women’s 400m hurdles, the Netherlands’ Femke was will be a strong favourite as she looks to win her fifth title. The race in Zurich will also be excellent preparation for the reigning world champion, who will be hoping for victory both in Zurich and Tokyo in the absence of world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
Moving back to the field events, a thrilling contest is on the cards in the men’s javelin, where India’s Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Neeraj Chopra faces two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada. Both men will need to be at the top of their game to beat Germany’s Julian Weberwho has the longest throw of this year at 91.06 metres.
Of course, being the Diamond League Final, there are a host of other athletes — including Olympic champions — on show in Zurich such as Norway’s Karsten Warholm in the men’s 400m hurdles, Germany’s Malay prehable in the women’s long jump, Dominica’s Thea Lafond in the women’s triple jump, New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr in the men’s high jump and many others.
One thing’s for sure, you won’t want to take your eyes off any of the action on 27 and 28 August in Zurich.