I recall, in the 1990s, the late James Dunaway was trying to explain to me the significance of the Zurich Weltklasse. The Weltklasse gained stature after the second World War, as US soldiers began to compete in the Weltklasse.
The Weltklasse meeting has always been a meet like few others in Europe. The picking of the Weltklasse as the 2020, 2021 Diamond league championships is a good move. It also shows the prestige of the meet.
The history of the Zurich Weltklasse is well documented, and this is how Stuart Weir shows the exciting post card series.
1928
1988
2009
Weltklasse highlights
The Weltklasse (World class) athletics meet in Zurich was first held in 1928. It is sometimes called the “one-day Olympics” because of the quality of the field. 25 World records have been set at the meet. These include Armin Hary of Germany becoming the first human to run 100m in 10.0 seconds.
The Letzigrund Stadium was built in 1925. It has been extensively rebuilt a number of times and since 1937 has been owned by the City of Zurich. The stadium is also home to Zurich’s two soccer teams, FC Zurich and Grasshoppers.
To celebrate its history, the event has produced a set of postcards which recall the great moments of the event.
1928 Paavo Nurmi (Finland) 5000m race in 15:18.3
1960 Armin Hary (Germany) 100m in 10.00
1988 Carl Lewis (USA) 100 m 9.93
1995 Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) 5000m 12:44.39
2009 Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia) PV 5.06m
2013 Usain Bolt (Jamaica) 100m in 9.90
2017 Mo Farah (GB) Final track race.
Photos: Weltklasse
