The IAAF Diamond League, the 14-meeting elite circuit in the world athletics season, has adopted a championship-style model with the finalists competing for a prize pool of $3.2 million, organisers announced Wednesday. In previous seasons, athletes accumulated points throughout the Diamond League season with the overall winner of each of the 32 events being the athlete with the most points irrespective of whether they won the final.
But in a major restructure aimed at throwing up a "dramatic showdown between the world's best athletes", competitors will from next season earn points in the first 12 Diamond League meetings to qualify for two final meetings where $100,000 will be at stake in each of the 32 Diamond disciplines, including $50,000 for each winner.
"After seven seasons which have established the IAAF Diamond League as our premier circuit it is important to assess its impact and build for the future," said IAAF president Sebastian Coe, also chairman of the Diamond League board. "These decisions are the first step to growing the attractiveness of the series." The 2017 season kicks off in Doha on May 5 before moving on to Shanghai, Eugene, Rome, Oslo, Stockholm, Paris, Lausanne, London, Rabat, Monaco and Birmingham. The two finals will be held in Zurich and Brussels on August 24 and September 1 respectively.
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