Diamond League lures stars
Source: Agencies |
March 31, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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OLYMPIC and world champion Usain Bolt's 100 meters race with Jamaican compatriot Asafa Powell is proof the Diamond League will bring athletics to center stage, an official of the new circuit claimed.
According to Patrick Magyar, vice chairman of the Diamond League board and organiser of the Zurich meeting, the series will be for athletics what Formula One is to motor racing and the grand slam is to tennis.
"If you want to see the best, you are going to watch the Diamond League and the big championships," Magyar said on Monday.
Bolt and Powell, the current and former 100 meters world record holders, will go head-to-head on July 16 in Paris, organizers said on Monday in the first announced key match-up for the Diamond League.
"There will be more," said Magyar, who was instrumental in forming the 14-meeting global circuit which launches on May 14 in Doha.
Competitions in Shanghai, Oslo, Rome, New York, Eugene (Oregon), Lausanne, Gateshead, Paris, Monaco, Stockholm, London, Zurich and Brussels will follow Doha.
Bolt, American record holder Tyson Gay and Powell - the three fastest men ever over 100 meters - are under contract to make seven Diamond League appearances with one guaranteed to compete in each of the 14 meetings.
Several competitions will feature two of the three sprinters and a select few will headline all three.
New York, London and Brussels will be some of the sites. Of the three, only Bolt's New York appearance has been announced.
Ethiopian distance runner Kenenisa Bekele, Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, US women's 400 meters sprinter Sanya Richards and Croatian high jumper Blanka Vlasic also will be part of the circuit.
The series replaces the six-meeting, Europe-only Golden League circuit with the goal of expanding athletics globally and bringing more head-to-head competition to the sport.
"The Diamond League is the most auspicious change to one-day invitational meetings since I have been a meet director," said 27-year Prefontaine Classic organiser Tom Jordan of Eugene, Oregon. "It gives a coherence to what otherwise was a series of individual events."
According to Patrick Magyar, vice chairman of the Diamond League board and organiser of the Zurich meeting, the series will be for athletics what Formula One is to motor racing and the grand slam is to tennis.
"If you want to see the best, you are going to watch the Diamond League and the big championships," Magyar said on Monday.
Bolt and Powell, the current and former 100 meters world record holders, will go head-to-head on July 16 in Paris, organizers said on Monday in the first announced key match-up for the Diamond League.
"There will be more," said Magyar, who was instrumental in forming the 14-meeting global circuit which launches on May 14 in Doha.
Competitions in Shanghai, Oslo, Rome, New York, Eugene (Oregon), Lausanne, Gateshead, Paris, Monaco, Stockholm, London, Zurich and Brussels will follow Doha.
Bolt, American record holder Tyson Gay and Powell - the three fastest men ever over 100 meters - are under contract to make seven Diamond League appearances with one guaranteed to compete in each of the 14 meetings.
Several competitions will feature two of the three sprinters and a select few will headline all three.
New York, London and Brussels will be some of the sites. Of the three, only Bolt's New York appearance has been announced.
Ethiopian distance runner Kenenisa Bekele, Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, US women's 400 meters sprinter Sanya Richards and Croatian high jumper Blanka Vlasic also will be part of the circuit.
The series replaces the six-meeting, Europe-only Golden League circuit with the goal of expanding athletics globally and bringing more head-to-head competition to the sport.
"The Diamond League is the most auspicious change to one-day invitational meetings since I have been a meet director," said 27-year Prefontaine Classic organiser Tom Jordan of Eugene, Oregon. "It gives a coherence to what otherwise was a series of individual events."
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