Hot SourceWorld Record holders Mondo Duplantis and Yaroslava Mahuchikh will be among the stars looking to light up the Sechseläutenplatz on day one of the Wanda Diamond League Finalin Zurich today, August 27.
The winners of six of the 32 Diamond disciplines will be decided on the first day of Weltklasse Zürich action, while the rest will be contested tomorrow, Thursday August 28 in the Swiss city’s Letzigrund stadium.
There is plenty to fight for, with prize money ranging between US$30,000 and US$50,000 plus wild card entries to the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 up for grabs for winners.
Duplantis’s place in Tokyo is already secured but Zurich offers the Swedish pole vault star the chance to head there on a high. The Olympic and world champion is on the hunt for his fifth consecutive Diamond Trophy, in a year in which he has improved the world record three times – most recently to 6.29m at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Budapest. That followed his 6.28m clearance on home soil at the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm.
Emmanouil Karalis is also in the form of his life and will want to make a statement as he prepares to fight for another global medal in Tokyo. He improved his national record to 6.08m at the Greek Championships. The whole Paris Olympic podium is reunited as Sam Kendricks is also in action, as is world bronze medallist Kurtis Marschall.
The women’s pole vault will kick off the session, as it has been moved from Thursday’s programme due to the forecast for stormy weather. USA’s two-time world champion Katie Moon has the chance to regain a Diamond League title she won in 2023 but she will challenged by home favourite Angelica Moser and Sandi Morris.
Ukraine’s Mahuchikh has won the past three women’s high jump Diamond League titles, but she will face some strong opposition as she strives for a fourth.
The Olympic and world champion improved the world record to 2.10m last year and she leads this season’s top list with the 2.02m clearance she achieved in Doha in May. That’s a single centimetre higher than Australia’s two-time world indoor champion Nicola Olyslagers, who achieved her season’s best in Perth in April and matched the mark in Stockholm.
The pair do not shy away from competition – Zurich will be their eighth clash this year and they are closely matched in their head-to-head record, which stands at 4-3 in Olyslagers’ favour.
But it won’t just be a two-way battle. Australia’s Eleanor Patterson, who joined Olyslagers and Mahuchikh on the podium at the Paris Olympic and Budapest.
Diamond League
Schedule
*Wednesday 27 August
17:05: Shot put men
17:05: Shot put women
17:15: High jump women
17:43: Pole vault men
18:35: Long jump men
*Thursday 28 August
17:30: Discus men
17:30: Discus women
17:53: High jump men
18:19: Triple jump men
18:19: Triple jump women
18:34: 400m women
18:42: 400m men
18:49: 3000m women
19:08: 100m hurdles women
19:17: 3000m steeplechase men
19:34: 110m hurdles men
19:40: 1500m women
19:45: Javelin men
19:45: Javelin women
19:50: 1500m men
19:50: Pole vault women
20:02: 100m women
20:09: 3000m steeplechase women
20:27: 100m men
20:35: 400m hurdles women
20:40: Long jump women
20:44: 400m hurdles men
20:52: 3000m men
21:09: 800m women
21:20: 800m men
21:30: 200m women
21:39: 200m men
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