Petr Stastny, chief govt of the Diamond League, on Grand Slam Observe, lengthy leap take-off zones, road athletics and extra
It’s 15 years for the reason that Wanda Diamond League was created and 2025 will see a lot of modifications. This season will function 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 carried out 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 govt of the Diamond League, denies this.
“Our prize cash enhance isn’t a response to any new mission,” Stastny says. “We knew 5 years in the past we might elevate the prize cash in 2025.
“Staging an athletics competitors in the best way we do requires a giant 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 revenue,” he says. “Being a prime athlete wants numerous focus, self-discipline and practise and so they need to be paid nicely.”
Nevertheless, he says fixture clashes should not supreme. Grand Slam Observe’s second assembly in Miami on Could 2-4, for instance, coincides with the second of 15 Diamond League conferences in 2025 in Shanghai, China, on Could 3.
“We normally 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 taking place in 2025.”
Stastny admits there was minimal communication between the Diamond League and Grand Slam Observe over fixture clashes. “We don’t method others and so they don’t method us. We really feel it may very well be carried out 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 carefully with World Athletics, nonetheless, on the final calendar modifications this season which is able to see this summer time’s main championships in Tokyo happen in September after the complete 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 by means of 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 is able to, amongst different issues, try to simplify the continued frustration felt by followers regarding how and the place to look at 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 prefer to convey athletics to the individuals and we see these occasions as being primarily a promotional instrument,” says Stastny. “However they are often pricey to organise so we are going to in all probability simply proceed to have some metropolis occasions at three or 4 conferences a 12 months comparable to Zurich, Lausanne and Stockholm.”
There will likely 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 nevertheless it must evolve over time in any other case we’d nonetheless be leaping and not using a runway and doing a standing lengthy leap as we did 100 years in the past,” he says. “We mainly don’t need 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’ concept, which was launched to convey extra drama to subject occasions however was criticised to start with earlier than the principles have been subsequently tweaked a bit to appease the critics.
“There was an actual shit storm and resistance once we launched the ‘ultimate three’ concept,” Stastny says, “however we talked to the athletes and coaches and so they received used to it.
“So I feel if new parts are launched then individuals get used to it. If we introduce it (take-off zone) in 2026 will rely upon what number of jumps are authorized or not authorized and whether or not we’re actually enhancing 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 concept) wants to enhance the providing of that self-discipline.”
Yaroslava Mahuchikh (Getty)
Diamond League fixtures in 2025
Xiamen CHN April 26
Shanghai/Keqiao CHN Could 3
Doha QAT Could 16
Rabat MAR Could 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
Last in Zurich SUI August 27-28
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