In one month’s time, the IAAF Diamond League gets underway in Doha with the first meeting of the 2017 series being held on May 5.
In its biggest restructure since the series began in 2010, this year’s IAAF Diamond League will adopt a championship-style model whereby athletes earn points at the first 12 meetings to qualify for the two finals.
In previous seasons, athletes accumulated points throughout the IAAF Diamond League season with the overall winner of each of the 32 events being the athlete with the most points, irrespective of whether they won the final.
This year, the winners of each discipline in the finals will be crowned as IAAF Diamond League champions, earning a $50,000 bonus and the Diamond Trophy.
The scoring system has also changed for 2017. Whereas previously only the top six finishers in each event earned points, the top eight will now be rewarded. Eight points will go to the winner, seven points to second place and so on, with one point going to the athlete in eighth place.
Each discipline will be staged six or four times before the finals. At the end of the 12 qualification meetings, the top seven, eight or 12 athletes (depending on the discipline) will be invited to compete in the final. In case of a tie, the best legal performance of the qualification phase wins.
At each of the 12 qualification meetings, all disciplines have the same prize money – 1st – US$10,000, 2nd – US$6000, 3rd – US$4000, 4th – US$3000, 5th – US$2500, 6th – US$2000, 7th – US$1500, 8th – US$1000, plus rewards for 9 to 12th place finishers in distance races and ninth-lane runners in sprints.
The prize money is increased for the finals – 1st – US$50,000, 2nd – US$20,000, 3rd – US$10,000, 4th – US$6000, 5th – US$5000, 6th – US$4000, 7th – US$3000, 8th – US$2000.
With a dramatic end-of-season showdown between the world’s best athletes, the IAAF Diamond League finals will now offer a true climax to a four-month race across four continents.
The 2017 IAAF Diamond League calendar is as follows: May 5 – Doha, QAT, 13 May – Shanghai, CHN, May 27 – Eugene, USA, Jun 8 – Rome, ITA, Jun 15 – Oslo, NOR, Jun 18 – Stockholm, SWE, Jul 1 – Paris, FRA, Jul 6 – Lausanne, SUI, Jul 9 – London, GBR, Jul 16 – Rabat, MAR, Jul 21 – Monaco, MON, Aug 20 – Birmingham, GBR, Aug 24 – Zurich, SUI, Sept 1 – Brussels, BEL.
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