Diamond League 2024: Mondo Duplantis and Sha'Carri Richardson in action in Xiamen
- Published
With 15 meetings taking place across four continents this will be the biggest Diamond League season to date
Mondo Duplantis and Sha'Carri Richardson are among athletics' global stars set to compete as the new Diamond League season begins in Xiamen, China.
Watch on the BBC as the first of 15 meetings takes place on Saturday, with the series culminating in September's Diamond League Final in Brussels.
Several exciting match-ups have already been announced as athletes build towards the Paris 2024 Olympics, with Britain's Josh Kerr and Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen renewing their rivalry over the mile in Eugene on 25 May.
The Prefontaine Classic will also reunite Keely Hodgkinson with Kenya's world champion Mary Moraa and American Olympic champion Athing Mu before their expected battle for the 800m medals this summer.
Ten Diamond League meetings are scheduled to take place before Paris, with London offering the final opportunity for Olympic preparations on 20 July.
In addition to the Diamond Trophy, each of the 32 champions crowned across the 16 disciplines in Brussels will receive $30,000 (£24,000) in prize money.
You can watch the action from Xiamen on the BBC Red Button, iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app from 12:00 to 14:00 BST on Saturday.
China double-header begins 15th Diamond League
The first two meetings take place in China, and reigning Olympic and world champion Duplantis will begin his bid for a fourth successive title by competing in both Xiamen and Suzhou.
The 24-year-old Swede, who has broken the world record seven times, has Americans Christopher Nilsen, Sam Kendricks and KC Lightfoot for company.
World 100m champion Richardson, 24, begins her campaign by racing over 200m in Xiamen, before she is joined by Jamaica's world 200m gold medallist Shericka Jackson and Britain's Daryll Neita in Suzhou one week later.
World indoor 60m champion Christian Coleman starts his Diamond Trophy defence in the 100m by taking on 2022 world champion Fred Kerley and Jamaican sprinters Yohan Blake and Ackeem Blake.
Looking further ahead, British world indoor 800m medallist Jemma Reekie will test herself against Moraa in Doha in May as she looks to put herself in contention at Paris 2024, before Moraa meets Hodgkinson and Mu later that month.
Also in Doha, recently crowned world indoor pole vault champion Molly Caudery is set to go up against joint world champions Katie Moon and Nina Kennedy.
What to watch out for in Xiamen
All times BST.
10:35 Olympic champion Qatari Mutaz Essa Barshim goes head-to-head with world indoor champion Hamish Kerr in the men's high jump
11:30 Sweden's Mondo Duplantis competes in the men's pole vault
12:17 Puerto Rican Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn faces the previous two women's 100m hurdles world champions
12:47 World 100m champion Sha'Carri Richardson takes on fellow Americans Tamara Clark and Anavia Battle over 200m
12:55 Great Britain's Ethan Hussey races in a men's 800m field which includes world champion Marco Arop from Canada
13:53 The final event of the day, the men's 100m, features Americans Christian Coleman and Fred Kerley against Jamaica's Yohan Blake and Ackeem Blake
How does it work?
Athletes will compete for points at the 14 series meetings from May to September.
Those points are awarded on a scale from eight for first place to one for eighth place.
After the 14th meeting in Zurich, the top six ranked athletes in the field events, the top eight in track events from 100m-800m, and the top 10 in the distances from 1500m upwards each qualify for the final.
The final is then a winner-takes-all competition to be crowned Diamond League champion.
Diamond League calendar 2024
20 April - Xiamen, China
27 April - Suzhou, China
10 May - Doha, Qatar
19 May - Marrakech, Morocco
25 May - Eugene, USA
30 May - Oslo, Norway
2 June -Stockholm, Sweden
7 July - Paris, France
12 July - Monaco
20 July - London, England
22 August - Lausanne, Switzerland
25 August - Silesia, Poland
30 August - Rome, Italy
5 September - Zurich, Switzerland
13-14 September - Brussels, Belgium