What you need to know about (and how to watch) Diamond League track & field

Justin Piercy · CBC Sports

· Posted: Apr 25, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

The outdoor athletics play is underway and the world's champion way and tract athletes are acceptable to vie successful this year's Diamond League.

Here are the answers to the astir often asked questions astir the elite way and tract bid earlier its archetypal halt successful Xiamen, China, connected Saturday.

What is the Diamond League?

The Diamond League is simply a bid of 15 elite athletics meets that instrumentality spot in 13 antithetic countries dispersed crossed 4 continents (Europe, Asia, Africa, North America). This year's play runs from April through August.

What events are contested?

There are 32 antithetic disciplines (16 for men and 16 for women) over the season, with each subject contested a full of 7 times implicit 14 meets. Here is simply a afloat list of the events included this season:

• 100m
• 200m
• 400m
• 800m
• 1,500m
• 3,000m / 5,000m
• 110m hurdles (men), 100m hurdles (women)
• 400m hurdles
• 3,000m steeplechase
• High jump
• Pole vault
• Long jump
• Triple jump
• Discus
• Shot put
• Javelin

What's connected the line?

The athletes vie for 2 things astatine each event: prize wealth (more connected that below) and points.

The points are awarded successful narration to their performance, and if they accumulate enough, it will qualify them for the two-day Diamond League Final. That's the 15th and last lawsuit of the season, wherever adjacent much prize wealth is connected the line, positive the rubric of Diamond League champion.

How does the points strategy work?

When an jock competes astatine a Diamond League event, they volition gain points comparative to their result. Here's a breakdown:

• 1st place: Eight points
• 2nd place: Seven points
• 3rd place: Six points
• 4th place: Five points
• 5th place: Four points
• 6th place: Three points
• 7th place: Two points
• 8th place: One point

Athletes are looking to accumulate capable points to scope the Diamond League Final and vie to beryllium crowned the wide play champion.

There are different allotments successful the final, depending connected the discipline:

• For the 100m-800m events, the top-eight point-getters volition marque the final
• In the 1,500m and long-distance events, the last volition see the top-10 point-getters
• The tract events volition spot the top-six point-getters make the final

How overmuch wealth is astatine stake?

The Diamond League volition connection up a caller league-record $9.24 cardinal US successful full prize money this season. All prize wealth is wholly gender-equal, with precisely the aforesaid rates for men's and women's athletes successful each discipline.

This is the breakdown successful prize wealth for each Diamond Discipline lawsuit (all figures successful US):

This play volition besides diagnostic a prime fig of "Diamond+ Disciplines" – 4 astatine the bid meetings and 8 astatine the Final – successful which athletes tin gain higher prize money. Top prizes scope from $30,000 for wins astatine bid meetings and $50,000 for Diamond League Final winners.

When and wherever are the meets happening?

There are 15 meets this season, including the final. Here is the afloat docket of Diamond League events this season:

What's antithetic astir this Diamond League season?

There are 2 wrinkles to this season, opening with the information that it's a world-championship year. Not lone does that mean that the Diamond League tin beryllium utilized arsenic a means of sharpening skills up of worlds, it besides provides a pathway of reaching them. The victor of the last successful each respective subject is granted a spot successful the satellite championships (with a fewer exceptions).

The different alteration to this season is the emergence of another way league that's attracted high-calibre talent. Grand Slam Track began cognition this year, with 4 meets connected their contention calendar.

While galore elite way and tract athletes will vie successful Grand Slam Track, engagement successful that league doesn't bounds their availability to vie anyplace else, including the Diamond League.

Which Canadian athletes are competing?

Shot enactment prima Sarah Mitton volition statesman her quest to repetition arsenic the Diamond League Final winner when she competes at the archetypal stop of the play successful Xiamen, China, connected Saturday (7 a.m. ET, CBCSports.ca, CBC Gem). Mitton, of Brooklyn, N.S., is caller disconnected her second world indoor title, and the lone Canadian scheduled for the Xiamen meet.

Other Canadians competing at future Diamond League stops volition beryllium confirmed arsenic commencement lists are released.

If past twelvemonth is immoderate indication, determination volition be robust practice from Canada. Last year's participants included world-renowned athletes specified as sprinter Andre De Grasse, rod vaulter Alysha Newman, and 800m specializer Marco Arop.

Who are the different large names to ticker for?

Olympic and satellite champions abound astatine this year's Diamond League series. That includes men's rod vault satellite and Olympic champion Mondo Duplantis, women's 1,500m Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon, 400m hurdles satellite champion Karsten Warholm, and women's 100m satellite champion Sha'Carri Richardson.

How bash you ticker the events?

All Diamond League events volition stream live connected CBCSports.ca and connected CBC Gem.

There were besides beryllium respective events broadcast connected CBC Sports Presents on CBC TV and streaming connected the CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem platforms. For a afloat broadcast docket of athletics events this season, click here.