Petr Stastny, chief government of the Diamond League, on Grand Slam Observe, lengthy leap take-off zones, road athletics and extra
It’s 15 years because the Wanda Diamond League was created and 2025 will see various modifications. This season will characteristic new and improved prize cash, a brand new broadcast associate and, in coming weeks, a brand new web site. There are additionally new rival competitions within the form of Grand Slam Observe and Athlos.
As an alternative of athletes incomes as much as $10,000 at particular person Diamond League conferences and as much as $30,000 on the ultimate, these figures rise to $20,000 and $50,000 respectively in chosen disciplines known as Diamond+ occasions.
Some assume the Diamond League has executed this as a response to Grand Slam Observe providing beneficiant prize cash of $100,000 to group winners right down to $10,000 for athletes who end eighth. However Petr Stastny, chief government of the Diamond League, denies this.
“Our prize cash enhance is just not a response to any new undertaking,” Stastny says. “We knew 5 years in the past we might increase the prize cash in 2025.
“Staging an athletics competitors in the way in which we do requires an enormous funding. Since we have been based, or launched, in 2010 we’ve handed out near $200 million to athletes.”
Georgia Bell, Keely Hodgkinson and Jemma Reekie (Getty)
Mirroring the latest feedback of World Athletics president Seb Coe, Stastny welcomes initiatives like Grand Slam Observe and Athlos. “It’s good to see athletes getting extra alternatives to earn extra earnings,” he says. “Being a high athlete wants a number of focus, self-discipline and practise they usually need to be paid properly.”
Nevertheless, he says fixture clashes aren’t superb. Grand Slam Observe’s second assembly in Miami on Might 2-4, for instance, coincides with the second of 15 Diamond League conferences in 2025 in Shanghai, China, on Might 3.
“We often set up our dates first and it permits different organisers to search for different non-clashing dates,” says Stastny. “We welcome the brand new tasks however we don’t welcome date clashes and sadly they appear to be occurring in 2025.”
Stastny admits there was minimal communication between the Diamond League and Grand Slam Observe over fixture clashes. “We don’t method others they usually don’t method us. We really feel it may very well be executed however we don’t really feel it’s on us to ask others when to placed on their dates.”
Yared Nuguse and Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Getty)
Stastny says the Diamond League have labored intently with World Athletics, nonetheless, on the overall calendar modifications this season which can see this summer time’s main championships in Tokyo happen in September after all the Diamond League season has concluded with its ultimate in Zurich on August 27-28.
“We help the brand new calendar,” he says. “The (Diamond League) champions will get a wild card to Tokyo so it creates a story via the season.”
Elsewhere, the Diamond League has switched from IMG to Infront on the subject of a broadcast associate. There are additionally plans to launch a brand new Diamond League web site quickly which can, amongst different issues, try and simplify the continued frustration felt by followers referring to how and the place to observe the conferences stay on tv.
There are not any plans, nonetheless, to broaden the present road athletics occasions at Diamond League conferences. The primary day of the two-day ultimate in Zurich, as an illustration, will see some jumps and the shot put within the metropolis centre with nearly all of different occasions the next day within the Letzigrund Stadium.
Mondo Duplantis (Getty)
“We wish to carry athletics to the individuals and we see these occasions as being primarily a promotional software,” says Stastny. “However they are often expensive to organise so we’ll in all probability simply proceed to have some metropolis occasions at three or 4 conferences a 12 months similar to Zurich, Lausanne and Stockholm.”
There will probably be no experiments with the controversial lengthy leap take-off zone in 2025 both. However Stastny doesn’t rule it out getting used within the Diamond League in future.
Malaika Mihambo (Getty)
“Our sport is conventional and historic but it surely must evolve over time in any other case we’d nonetheless be leaping with out a runway and doing a standing lengthy leap as we did 100 years in the past,” he says. “We principally are not looking for a 3rd of all lengthy leap makes an attempt to be with purple flags on the stadium or fouls on TV on a regular basis.”
Stastny attracts comparisons with the ‘ultimate three’ thought, which was launched to carry extra drama to discipline occasions however was criticised to start with earlier than the foundations have been subsequently tweaked a bit to appease the critics.
“There was an actual shit storm and resistance after we launched the ‘ultimate three’ thought,” Stastny says, “however we talked to the athletes and coaches they usually bought used to it.
“So I feel if new components are launched then individuals get used to it. If we introduce it (take-off zone) in 2026 will depend upon what number of jumps are authorized or not authorized and whether or not we’re actually bettering the product or not.
“We don’t have it at our conferences however we would in future. We must wait firstly to see what World Athletics’ analysis of the 2024 season and what the 2025 season will start. It (the take-off zone thought) wants to enhance the providing of that self-discipline.”
Yaroslava Mahuchikh (Getty)
Diamond League fixtures in 2025
Xiamen CHN April 26
Shanghai/Keqiao CHN Might 3
Doha QAT Might 16
Rabat MAR Might 25
Rome ITA June 6
Oslo NOR June 12
Stockholm SWE June 15
Paris FRA June 20
Eugene USA July 5
Monaco MON July 11
London GBR July 19
Silesia POL August 16
Lausanne SUI August 20
Brussels BEL 22 August 22
Ultimate in Zurich SUI August 27-28
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