2018 Zurich Diary: All Set for Two Days of Pure Athletics, from Weltklasse Media

Diamond League Awards, photo courtesy of Diamond League

This was an excellent build up for the Weltklasse Zurich meeting. I have included this to show you have meets try to reach out to the media and encourage coverage of the meet. The final two DL events of the season should be well attended and are huge events in their countries. The pole vault competition was superb. The TV streaming was one of the best that I have seen all summer.

ALL SET FOR TWO DAYS OF PURE ATHLETICS

Diamond League trophies are up. On Thursday, the best athletes will meet at the Letzigrund stadium for the highlight of the season. Weltklasse Zürich is ready for the European champions, the world champions and the Olympic champions.

Local heroes competing with the world’s top stars

One of the highlights of this year’s edition of Weltklasse Zürich will no doubt be the women’s 400m h race featuring Switzerland’s newly crowned European champion Lea Sprunger. She will be lining up against a field of outstanding hurdlers. And the scenario in the women’s 100m looks equally exciting: Triple European champion Dina Asher-Smith (GBR) and Marie-Josée Ta Lou (IVC), double world championship silver medallist will take centre stage, both have run 10.85 this year. Close on their heels, however, will be 200m world champion Dafne Schippers (NED) and Mujinga Kambundji, the first Swiss sprinter to run a sub 11-seconds race.

Another treat will be the women’s pole vault competition with Olympic, world, and European champion Katerina Stefanidi (GRE). Once again, world indoor champion and world leader Sandi Morris (USA, 4.95) will challenge her. In the men’s 1500m, two Kenyan athletes will try to keep their opponents at bay: world championship silver medallist Timothy Cheruiyot, world leader with a season’s best of 3:28.41, and world champion Elijah Motonei Manangoi (SB 3:29.64).

Jakob Ingebrigtsen one of many up-and-coming stars

The phenomenal 17-year-old Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR), who took gold both in the 1500m and in the 5000m at the European athletics championships in Berlin, one of the sports many up-and-coming stars, will challenge Cheruiyot and Manangoi. In the men’s 200m, world leader Noah Lyles (USA, SB 19.65) will give his all to pick up another Diamond Trophy after his first triumph last year. World and European champion Ramil Guliyev (Türkei) will not simply throw in his hand, however. The noise level during the 200m will definitely reach record heights again, as European championship bronze medallist, national record holder, and crowd favourite Alex Wilson will be lining up against the two.

Spectacular Airshow Featuring the World’s Best Pole Vaulters

The world’s finest pole vaulters will kick off this year’s Weltklasse Zürich athletics gala with a spectacular show at Zurich Main Station on Wednesday night. Fans will be closer to the action than ever and will get to enjoy a breathtaking competition in the unique setting of the magnificent ticket hall of Switzerland’s most busy train station.

Six of the ten athletes competing at Zurich Main Station have already cleared 6.00m – a magic mark – world champion Sam Kendricks (USA), for instance, and world indoor record holder Renaud Lavillenie (FRA), who took the third consecutive European title in Zurich in 2014. Among the favourites for tomorrow’s competition is also Timur Morgunov (independent participant). The 21-year-old Russian claimed silver at the recent European athletics championships in Berlin and joined the illustrious club of 6m jumpers in the process. Members of the same club include 2016 Olympic champion Thiago Braz da Silva (BRA), world championship silver medallist Piotr Lisek (POL), as well as 2015 world champion Shawnacy Barber (CAN). Barber will be meeting Kurtis Marshall (AUS) again, who snatched the Commonwealth Games title from him last April. Pawel Wojciechowski (POL), world champion in 2011, enters the competition with a personal best of 5.93m. Stanley Joseph (FRA) and local hero Dominik Alberto complete the entry list of the extraordinary event. Alberto, a member of the Zurich athletics club LC Zürich is on his way back from an injury. Their competition starts at 6.30pm.

Impressive figures for Weltklasse Zürich

Approx. 15 million TV viewers on all continents will watch the competitions on Thursday night. In addition, SRF2 will provide a live stream of the men’s pole vault event at Zurich Main Station (starting 6.25pm, no geo-blocking) so that viewers anywhere in the world can be part of the extraordinary show.

Overall, around 300 media representatives from all over the world will be present in Zurich. Approx. 600 volunteers ensure smooth operations. And as every year since the inauguration of the new arena in 2007, all seats at Letzigrund Stadium are sold out.