byRBR AdminThe 2022 Diamond League has 14 exciting meets across the globe this summer and fall. World Athletics put this piece together to preview the Diamond League.
Diamond League, photo from Rome Diamond League
In little more than two weeks’ time, the 2022 Wanda Diamond League will get under way in Doha as the Qatari capital hosts the 13th series of the sport’s premier one-day meetings.
Throughout the circuit, which spans five months and takes in 14 cities around the globe, the world’s best athletes will battle it out for a place in the Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich on 7-8 September.
After the season opener in Doha on 13 May and a trip to Birmingham eight days later, athletes will have the chance to test out the host venue for the 2022 World Athletics Championships when the series arrives in Eugene on 28 May. The worlds best will then head to Rabat on 5 June, before returning to Europe for the rest of the month with meetings in Rome, Oslo, Paris, and Stockholm.
Following the World Championships, the Wanda Diamond League will return to China for the first time since 2019, with the Shanghai Diamond League set for 30 July and a stop in Shenzhen, the newest addition to the series, on 6 August.
August will then see the series head to Monaco and Lausanne before the last series meeting in Brussels on 2 September. Those athletes who have earned enough points will then head to Zurich, where the 32 Wanda Diamond League champions will be crowned at a two-day season finale on 7-8 September.
Many of the world’s leading athletes have been confirmed for the first few meetings in the series. Doha, for example, will stage a mouth-watering 400m hurdles clash between Olympic silver medallist Rai Benjamin, Olympic bronze medallist Alison Dos Santos and world bronze medallist Abderrahman Samba – three of the five fastest men of all time.
Olympic champions Mutaz Barshim, Gianmarco Tamberi, Mondo Duplantis, and Neeraj Chopra have also been confirmed for the series opener.
A clash of three global pole vault champions will be one of the highlights of the Muller Birmingham Diamond League later this month. Olympic champion Katie Nageotte takes on two-time world indoor champion Sandi Morris and 2016 Olympic champion Katerina Stefanidi.
Elsewhere in Birmingham, world and Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo faces two-time world indoor champion Ivana Vuleta in the long jump, while two-time world indoor champion Samuel Tefera takes on Olympic bronze medallist Josh Kerr over 1500m.
The fields so far announced for the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene on 28 May are loaded. All three medallists from the women’s 800m at last year’s Olympics – Athing Mu, Keely Hodgkinson and Raevyn Rogers – will be reunited at Hayward Field. They’ll take on world champion Halimah Nakaayi and world indoor champion Ajee Wilson.
Duplantis has also been confirmed, and the world record-holder will face Olympic silver medallist Chris Nilsen, 2016 Olympic champion Thiago Braz and two-time world champion Sam Kendricks.
There will also be world record attempts from Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei in the men’s 5000m and Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey in the women’s one-hour run.
In the men’s 100m, Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs will clash with Olympic 200m champion Andre De Grasse. Other Olympic gold medallists confirmed for the meeting include sprint hurdler Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and one-lap stars Rai Benjamin and Michael Norman.
More stars will be announced for all meetings in the coming weeks, setting the scene for what looks set to be an enthralling year of track and field action.
2022 Wanda Diamond League calendar
13 May – Doha (QAT)
21 May – Birmingham (GBR)
28 May – Eugene (USA)
5 June – Rabat (MAR)
9 June – Rome (ITA)
16 June – Oslo (NOR)
18 June – Paris (FRA)
30 June – Stockholm (SWE)
30 July – Shanghai (CHN)
6 August – Shenzhen (CHN)
10 August – Monaco (MON)
26 August – Lausanne (SUI)
2 September – Brussels (BEL)
7-8 September – Zurich (SUI)
