Usain Bolt arrives by rickshaw for the IAAF Golden League in Zurich's Letzigrund Stadium (© Getty Images)
Weltklasse Zürich will mark the 2010 season highlight for sprint superstar Usain Bolt, 5000m World and Olympic titleholder Kenenisa Bekele, 400m World champion Sanya Richards-Ross. On 19 August 2010, 16 of 32 event finals of the newly initiated IAAF Diamond League will be staged at the Zürich Letzigrund Stadium.
In August, Weltklasse Zürich will again draw the top stars of track and field to the Letzigrund Stadium. Three days before the opening fixture of the first IAAF Diamond League season in Doha, Qatar (14 May 2010), the Zürich promoters are presenting an impressive line-up for the 2010 edition of the legendary meeting.
Six IAAF Diamond League Ambassadors have been confirmed by Zürich today: World and Olympic Champion at 100m and 200m Usain Bolt (JAM) who’ll run 200m, and World and Olympic 5000m and 10,000m Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) who’ll take on the 5000m, Shelly-Ann Fraser (JAM) and Barbora Spotakova (CZE) respectively the World and Olympic 100m gold medallist and the Olympic champion, and the World record holder in the Javelin Throw, will perform in their gold medal winning specialties, and Sanya Richards-Ross (USA) will challenge her eternal rival Allyson Felix (USA), the triple World 200m champion, over the 400m.
These Ambassadors are just a few of the names headlining the Weltklasse Zürich lists of athletes for the event on Thursday, 19 August 2010.
Double Score and Attractive Bonus System to Honour Performances
Weltklasse Zürich will stage the first of two finals of the new IAAF Diamond League. Meeting Director Patrick K. Magyar is convinced that the series will be appealing to both the fans and the world’s best athletes, citing two new approaches in the top-tier of the modified competition structure: “On the one hand, the Diamond Race - the overall score of the season - will award double the amount of points for the result in the final event. And only athletes, who compete in their respective final events, will be eligible to win the Diamond Race. On the other hand, whereas the prize money schedule will be somewhat lower than in the past, a very attractive bonus system will be in place to honour outstanding performances. This, too, seems to be a motivating factor.”
First 200m triumph in Zürich for Usain Bolt?
100m World record holder Usain Bolt will be one of the athletes on the hunt for the Diamond Trophy and the corresponding prize money (the exact amount will be announced in Doha on Friday). The multiple Olympic and World champion will compete in the Zürich 200m race for the second time after 2007. Whereas the Jamaican sprint hero was a confident winner in the 100m races of the last two years, he is yet to score the first win in the half lap event. His opponents are still to be determined.
But Patrick Magyar firmly intends to present the cream of each and every discipline: „There are not many ‚fixed stars’ in the athletics universe. Therefore, we consider it essential to invite them early on, so that they are able to prepare for our meeting in an ideal manner“.
More star names
The extraordinary star cast this year will also include: 110m Hurdles World record holder Dayron Robles (CUB) and 400m Hurdles Olympic and World Champion Melaine Walker (JAM).
Magyar even expresses hope that another of the IAAF Diamond League Ambassadors Russian pole vault queen Yelena Isinbayeva might be at Weltklasse Zürich, despite her taking a break from competing. “Yelena has not entirely ruled out the possibility of jumping in a few meetings towards the end of the season. If she decides to compete, we will of course invite her to return to Zurich this year.”
‘Big Shot Event’ at Zürich Main Station
For the first time in the long history of the traditional Zürich meeting, the event venue is not limited to Letzigrund Stadium: On the eve of Weltklasse Zürich (18 August), the world’s best shot putters will compete at Zurich Main Station. A top favourite for the Big Shot Event - an IAAF Diamond League final event - will most probably be Olympic and World Champion Valerie Vili from New Zealand.
And although the male competitors will perform unofficially, the line-up for the men’s shot put will be an impressive one, as well: Tomasz Majewski, the Olympic Champion from Poland, for instance, has already confirmed his appearance.
“We would like to make athletics accessible to as many people as possible,“ Meeting Director Patrick K. Magyar explains the decision to organize the Shot Put event at the main station. “We also have a very special treat in store that will involve the Swiss Shot Put legend Werner Günthör. And thanks to the co-operation with Rail City Zurich, UBS, and other sponsors, we will be able to put together a unique exhibition at Zurich main station, which will be open to visitors on Tuesday afternoon and until Wednesday night. The exhibition will be an exciting feature of our event this year, and of course, World Athlete of the Year 2008/2009 Usain Bolt will play a part in it.
Swiss Athletes: Envisaging the 2014 European Championships
In view of the European Athletics Championships to be held at Letzigrund Stadium in 2014, Weltklasse Zürich further reinforces its support to Swiss athletes. Sports Director Andreas Hediger, who - together with Swiss Athletics - guides the Swiss Starters 2014 project regrets that not more athletes enrolled in the project will be able to secure a spot in the international programme of Weltklasse Zürich meeting already this year: “We are confident that our 4x100m relay team will be able to shine again in the Zürich Trophy. They broke the national record last year, and they will certainly try again, this year. In addition to the relay sprinters, Nicole Büchler will compete in the pole vault, and Lisa Urech in the 100m hurdles.” Urech is one of the most promising talents in Swiss athletics, and therefore, the promoters have included an extra 100m h race in the international programme of events. The race will feature mostly strong European athletes.
“The new IAAF Diamond League offers the opportunity to organize some races to suit our local talents. And we will of course be happy to do so,” Andreas Hediger explains. The national programme will be designed to offer a high-quality competition platform for Swiss talents. Finally, there will also be a top-class wheelchair race.
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