Diamond League unveils new schedule with final scrapped and season extended into October

There will be no Diamond League final this year, with no scoring structure linking the various legs of the circuit
AFP via Getty Images

No Diamond League meetings will take place until at least the middle of August after organisers unveiled a new proposed schedule in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The provisional calendar lists ten planned events, starting in Monaco on August 14, with the track season to be extended into the middle of October.

Event organisers have been encouraged to “stage their events in innovative, alternative formats and/or under social distancing regulations”, with specific details to be announced at least two months in advance.

“The uncertainty over future government restrictions and timings in the different host countries requires flexibility and adaptability on the part of meeting organisers when planning, staging and offering competition opportunities to athletes,” a statement read.

“This two-month window will also help to give athletes time to prepare mentally, stay motivated and adjust training for competition.”

Athletics’ premier circuit had been due to begin in Doha last month, but as the outbreak swept across the planet a number of meetings were either cancelled or postponed.

London’s Anniversary Games – one of two British meetings – was cancelled outright on Tuesday, but the second, in Gateshead, is still marked on the calendar for September 12.

Along with London and Rabat, the Diamond League final in Zurich has been scrapped completely, while the usual points scoring system has also been abandoned, with each meeting existing as standalone.

Organisers of the Oslo leg of the circuit are planning for an alternative ‘Impossible Games’ to take place on June 11 as a Diamond League exhibition event, featuring a world-record attempt in the rarely-run 300m hurdles by Norwegian 400m hurdles world champion Karsten Warholm and several long-distance field competitions.

Provisional Diamond League calendar

  • Monaco – August 14
  • Stockholm – August 23
  • Lausanne – September 2
  • Brussels – September 4
  • Paris – September 6 (TBC)
  • Gateshead – September 12
  • Rome/Naples – September 17
  • Shanghai – September 19
  • Eugene - October 4
  • Doha – October 9 
  • China (venue TBC) – October 17

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