REVISED WANDA DIAMOND LEAGUE SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED FOR 2020
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2020 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - Used with permission.

(12-May) -- As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to keep the sports world mostly in lockdown, World Athletics announced today their plans to reopen the Wanda Diamond League for 2020 with a shortened, late summer/early fall schedule.  The world's top tier of professional athletics meetings will kick off in Monaco on August 14 and conclude at a yet-to-be-determined venue in China on October 17.  The series was originally planned to run from April 16 to September 11 with a pause for the now-postponed Tokyo Olympic Games from July 24 through August 9.

Officials were quick to point out that the schedule was provisional given that national, regional and local regulations regarding the staging of sporting events varied widely and were in constant flux.  Officials also said that some meetings had to be cancelled (the Meeting International Mohammed VI D'Athletisme in Rabat, May 31; the Müller Anniversary Games in London, July 4 - 5; and the Weltklasse in Zürich, September 9 - 11), and that there would be no aggregate scoring system leading up to a final.

"The 2020 Wanda Diamond League will not be a structured series of events leading to a final as is usually the case," World Athletics said through a statement.  "Given the current discrepancies in training and travel opportunities, it would be impossible to ensure a level playing field and a fair qualification system during 2020. Athletes will therefore not earn Diamond League points this season, and there will not be a single, 24-discipline final in Zürich as originally planned."

Moreover, the selection disciplines for each meeting organizer to stage will not be centrally governed.  In a back to the future moment, individual meeting organizers can set their own programs and will need to do so at least two months in advance of their meetings.  Some of the meetings many have very short programs with just a handful of athletes.  Some may allow live spectators, while others will be done in a made-for-television format.  All of the key details remain to be worked out.

For some organizers, the weather may well be a factor in deciding what disciplines to hold.  For instance, the average temperature in Eugene, Oregon, for October 4, is a high of 70F/21C and a low of 43F/6C.  Those would be very good conditions for middle and long distance running, but not for sprints.

As previously announced by World Athletics, no marks achieved during the 2020 season will count for Olympic Games qualifying. The Olympic Games qualifying window re-opens in December.

Here is the provisional 2020 Wanda Diamond League schedule:

In August:
14-Aug: Monaco
16-Aug: Gateshead
23-Aug: Stockholm
02-Sep: Lausanne
04-Sep: Brussels
06-Sep: Paris
17-Sep: Napoli
19-Sep: Shanghai
04-Oct: Eugene
09-Oct: Doha
17-Oct: TBD location in China

   NOTE: The Diamond League Final will return to Zürich for 2021 and 2022 --Ed.


PHOTO: Athletes competing at the 2019 Prefontaine Classic (photo by John Nepolitan)