Canadian runners in favour of Diamond League changes for 2021 season

Canadian sprinter Aaron Brown says he will be better prepared for the Tokyo Olympics next summer.

All it took was a decision earlier this month by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF) that the Diamond League would return to a full 32-discipline program for the 2021 track and field season.

In late 2019, the IAAF announced a reduction to 24 disciplines for the 2020 season. Included in that was a partial reduction of the 200 metres, Brown's signature event. That reduction was further exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic that allowed just five Diamond League events to be held.

Under the new format, the professional circuit has reinstated the 200, 3,000 steeplechase, 5,000, triple jump and discus. The 5,000 was dropped in March 2019 while the others were either cut partially or completely for 2020 as official points-scoring events and from the Diamond League Final due to what the organization termed "fading interest."

"I love this, not just for myself but for the sport in general," Brown told CBC Sports recently. "I don't know of anyone who was in favour of the decision to eliminate certain events … and I'm glad World Athletics chose to listen and adapt to what the public wanted.

"It will better help prepare me for Tokyo because it serves as high-level competition against the best in the world and I can race during the season with a schedule I'm used to."

In 2018 and last season, Brown competed in the 200 at six Diamond League competitions, with identical fourth-place finishes at each Final.

Emmanuel nearly in tears over decision

The 2019 Canadian champion said he was "confused" by comments from the IAAF that Diamond League organizers felt holding the 200 in 2020 would be too "congested" alongside the 100, particularly in an Olympic year. The Olympics were subsequently postponed to July 2021 due to the pandemic.

Athletics Weekly reported in 2019 that the 200 was the fifth most popular discipline in the Diamond League.

"When you want to grow the sport, I'm not sure how too much of your most viewed product can be interpreted as a bad thing and reduced to congestion," Brown told CBC Sports. "I am glad we no longer have to question that line of thinking."

Fellow 200 runner Crystal Emmanuel said she "almost cried" last year when learning of the event being cut.

"I really enjoyed competing at Diamond League and the Diamond League Final," said the Toronto native. "I always get excited to compete with the best athletes in the world and I am looking forward to every opportunity next year."

WATCH | Crystal Emmanuel places 2nd at 2019 Bislett Games:

Crystal Emmanuel is 2nd in Diamond League 200m

5 years ago

Duration 1:34

The Canadian sprinter posted her best time of the season at 22.89 seconds in Oslo, Norway

Three weeks ago, Diamond League released its provisional calendar for next season consisting of 14 competitions beginning May 23 in Rabat and ending with the Sept. 8-9 Final in Zurich.

Among the other changes:

• The dual format for the Final — involving Brussels and Zurich — will be replaced by a single Final in Switzerland. Besides the winner of each event receiving $30,000 US, a further $30,000 will be distributed amongst the other competitors.
• A return to two-hour world broadcast feed from the planned 90 minutes for 2020.
• A new prize money structure of $7 million US — at each meet, a total of $25,000 will be available in each discipline.
• A new award for the "Best Performing Athletes" for the men and women who deliver "consistent, high performances through the season" in sprints, hurdles, distance events, jumps and throws. Each of the 10 athletes will also receive $50,000.

"It's great to see more money being offered to us as athletes," Emmanuel said. "It will help since we've all experienced a down year due to COVID-19."

• Field events — discus, javelin, long jump, shot put and triple jump — will follow a "Final 3" format in which three athletes qualify for a "final" with all previous marks wiped out. The format, used in the long jump showdown at the Aug. 23 Diamond League in Stockholm, was strongly criticized by The Athletics Association, a group representing track and field competitors from around the world.
• Seven of the competitions at the Diamond League Final will be held as "street events."

"[The goal was] to advocate for athletes, and I am so proud of the work we have done so far on this issue," American distance runner and TAA vice-president Emma Coburn said in a statement about the Diamond League decision. "I'm really pleased that athletes have a win."

Canadian distance runner Moh Ahmed said he wasn't surprised at the changes.

"This is something I predicted would happen based on how the [5,000] played out at the world championships in Doha," he said from his home near Portland, Ore.

Men's 5,000 'exciting, deep'

In an exciting men's final on Sept. 30, 2019, Ahmed won a bronze medal in 13 minutes 1.11 seconds while Muktar Edris and Ethiopian teammate Selemon Barega broke 13 minutes for gold and silver. All 14 finishers ran under 13:45.

"I do not think there are too many events in the world as exciting or with the same depth as the 5,000," said Ahmed, who lowered his national mark to 12:47.20 in July, the 11th fastest in history. The Somalia-born athlete who was raised in St. Catharines, Ont., said he would attempt to fit Diamond League in his race schedule in 2021.

2021 Diamond League calendar

• Rabat — May 23
• Doha — May 28
• Rome — June 4
• Oslo — June 10
• Stockholm — July 4
• Monaco — July 9
• London — July 13
• Shanghai — Aug. 14
• Eugene — Aug. 21
• China — Aug. 22
• Lausanne — Aug. 26
• Paris — Aug. 28
• Brussels — Sept. 3
• Zurich — Sept. 8-9