The Diamond League wants to shine again.
Photo: dpa / Fabrizio Corradetti
The Diamond League starts again with a full program after the role of the world athletics association World Athletics in the reform of the meeting series on Sunday in Gateshead. “The athlete’s influence was very high and was also announced loudly,” said Olympic javelin thrower Thomas Röhler about the successful protest against the cancellation of various disciplines. Discus throw, triple jump, 200 and 5000 meters as well as the 3000 meter obstacle course were eliminated last year and are now part of the program of the 14 meetings again.
World Athletics wanted to create a television-friendly format of 90 minutes and generated an uprising among the athletes. At the same time the founding of the Athletics Association of the US triple jumper Christian Taylor was fueled. “But there were also meeting organizers and associations who said: We are a sport that has to live with the challenge of being made up of so many disciplines,” said Röhler, who is a member of the world association’s athletes’ commission. »You can also take advantage of the charm of athletics. But it makes more work. “
The fact that the five disciplines were missing in the 2020 pandemic did not play a major role. In any case, only seven meetings could take place. This year there are 14 stations with 32 disciplines each. At the finals in Zurich on September 8th and 9th, the overall winners will be chosen, each receiving a prize of 50,000 dollars. A total of seven million dollars, around 5.7 million euros, will be distributed. “Compared to other sports, these are normal individual prizes for individual competitions,” said Röhler. “With us, this sum is the jackpot that you have to pay tax and of which, in the end, if you have to live on it, not much is left over.”
The monetary is not that important for Kristin Gierisch, EM runner-up in the triple jump in 2018. “I’m not interested in making big money. It’s a nice side job, but I’m an athlete who doesn’t run after money that much, “said the 30-year-old from Leverkusen. “I use the Diamond League to constantly measure myself against the competition.” For Röhler, too, the fight against the world’s best rivals and the opportunity to present athletics and yourself on this stage are in the foreground. “The series has a beacon character as a driver of the sport that is supposed to drive us forward in perception worldwide,” he explained.
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There is still no stop in Germany for the series of meetings, which are spread over four continents. Berlin was discussed as the location. About two years ago the Istaf in Berlin was asked by the Diamond League “to apply to us, to create the conditions for participation,” said Martin Seeber, the meeting director of the Istaf. Nothing came of the project. “Whether in the Diamond League or another series – the Istaf remains the most traditional meeting in athletics and at the same time is one of the most popular spectators in the world,” he said, adding confidently: “The Istaf itself is a strong brand.” Dpa / nd
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