Monaco, April 19, 2021: A strong Wanda Diamond League season is planned as athletes prepare for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and World Athletics Championships Oregon22.
Three stops on this season’s circuit will be in Asia, including Doha in May and Shanghai and a second event in an as yet unnamed Chinese city, both in August after the Olympic Games.
This year’s Wanda Diamond League will now begin in Gateshead, UK on May 23 following a few minor alterations to the 2021 season calendar, replacing the cancelled event in Rabat, Morocco.
In further changes to the 2021 calendar, Rome’s Pietro Mennea Golden Gala will this year relocate to Florence, while Oslo’s Bislett Games will be postponed from June 10 to July 1 to comply with local coronavirus restrictions.
As Rome’s Stadio Olimpico is already a host venue for this summer’s European Championships in football, the meeting traditionally based in the Italian capital will instead be held at the Stadio Luigi Ridolfi in Florence. The date of this year's meeting will also be changed from June 4 to June 10.
Diamond League Chair Sebastian Coe said: “This is an incredibly important year for our athletes as they prepare for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and less than a year later the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.
“We are all working hard, in extraordinarily difficult and fast-changing circumstances, to deliver events for the athletes rather than cancelling them.”
In the first 13 meetings, athletes will earn points in a bid to qualify for the Final in Zurich on September 8-9 when they have the chance to be crowned Wanda Diamond League Champion in their chosen discipline.
The programme is: May 23, Gateshead, GBR; May 28, Doha, QAT; June 10, Rome/Florence, ITA; July 1, Oslo, NOR; July 4, Stockholm, SWE; July 9, Monaco; July 13, London, GBR; August 14, Shanghai, CHN; August 21, Eugene, USA; August 22, China2, CHN; August 26, Lausanne, SUI; August 28, Paris, FRA; September 3, Brussels, BEL; September 8-9, Zurich, SUI.