Azu, Duplantis, Kipyegon in action at Diamond League opener
The 16th Diamond League season begins in Xiamen, China on Saturday as athletics' Olympic stars begin to build towards their shot at world glory in 2025, live on the BBC. The series will see athletes compete for points in 32 disciplines across 14 meetings in a bid to qualify for the winner-takes-all two-day finals in Zurich in August.That takes place just over two weeks before the start of the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan in September.It is also the first year in which the Diamond League must compete with Michael Johnson's new Grand Slam Track for athletes' attention.Of the three remaining Grand Slam Track events, only one clashes directly with Diamond League competition - with the Miami Slam on 2–4 May taking place at the same time as the meet in Keqiao, China on 3 May.The Diamond League has increased its prize money to the highest level in its history, with a total prize pot of $9.24m (£6.95m) on offer across the series.That includes $500,000 (£375,000) at each of the 14 series meetings, and $2.2m (£1.7m) at the Diamond League final.Watch the Diamond League action on the BBC Red Button, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app from 12:00 to 14:00 BST on Saturday.
Who to watch out for in Xiamen
After winning the first global title of his career with world indoor 60m gold in March, Great Britain's Jeremiah Azu begins his push for outdoor success.The 23-year-old will have Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo, American Christian Coleman and South Africa's Akani Simbine for company in a stacked race.Swedish pole vault star Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis competes in the men's pole vault after breaking the men's world record for an 11th time in February.In Xiamen one year ago, Duplantis posted the earliest world record in a Diamond League season before going on to win a fourth trophy.Having announced this week that in June she will attempt to become the first woman to run a sub-four minute mile, three-time Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon will contest the women's 1,000m in Xiamen.The Kenyan, whose personal best is just 0.17 seconds slower than the world record of two minutes and 28.98 seconds, is joined in that race by Olympic 800m silver medallist Tsige Duguma and GB's Erin Wallace.Elsewhere, Britain's Amy Hunt lines up in the women's 200m against Jamaica's two-time world champion in the event Shericka Jackson, while Morgan Lake competes against Ukraine's Olympic high jump champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh.The inaugural Diamond League men's 300m hurdles features the event's world record holder Karsten Warholm, while four-time global champion Grant Holloway goes in the men's 110m hurdles.
Key Diamond League timings
10:15 BST - Women's high jump featuring GB's Morgan Lake and Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh10:35 BST - Men's pole vault featuring world record holder Mondo Duplantis11:40 BST - Men's 110m hurdles featuring Olympic champion Grant Holloway11:50 BST - Women's 200m featuring GB's Amy Hunt and Jamaica's two-time world champion Shericka Jackson 12:01 BST - Men's 100m featuring GB's Jeremiah Azu and Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo12:10 BST - Women's 1,000m featuring three-time Olympic gold medallist Faith Kipyegon and GB's Erin Wallace12:52 BST - Men's 300m hurdles featuring Norway's world record holder Karsten Warholm
How does the Diamond League work?
Athletes will compete for points at the 14 regular series meetings from April to August. Points are awarded on a scale from eight for first place to one for eighth place. After the 14th meeting in Brussels, the top six ranked athletes in the field events, the top eight in track events from 100m up to 800m, and the top 10 in the distances from 1500m upwards qualify for the final. The two-day finals are a winner-takes-all competition to be crowned Diamond League champion in each event.
Diamond League calendar 2025
26 April - Xiamen, China03 May - Keqiao, China16 May - Doha, Qatar25 May - Rabat, Morocco06 June - Rome, Italy12 June - Oslo, Norway15 June -Stockholm, Sweden20 June - Paris, France05 July - Eugene, USA11 July - Monaco19 July - London, England16 August - Silesia, Poland20 August - Lausanne, Switzerland22 August - Brussels, Belgium27-28 August - Zurich, Switzerland
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