This archive report was first published on 28 August 2019.
Published on August 28, 2019, the Weltklasse in Zurich is set to host the first 16 2019 IAAF Diamond League champions on Thursday night.
The event promises to be a dress rehearsal for the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, which get underway in just over one month’s time.
Across 16 disciplines, the field assembled includes five Olympic champions, 11 world champions, and 12 defending Diamond League champions, all having earned the right to battle it out for the series crown in a championship-style format adopted two years ago.
Every athlete arrives at their respective final with an equal opportunity of winning their discipline’s Diamond Trophy and its accompanying $50,000 winner’s top prize, as well as a wildcard entry for next month’s IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019.
The women’s 400m hurdles will be among the evening’s most anticipated races, featuring Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad in her first race since her sensational 52.20 world record run at the US Championships on July 28.
She’ll face Sydney McLaughlin, who finished second in Des Moines in 52.88, the second-fastest performance of her young career. Muhammad holds a 4-1 edge lifetime over the 20-year-old.
