The global COVID-19 pandemic has been impeding steady progress of track and field in some parts of the world this season, but the athletics chiefs are hopeful that things will continue to get better as they make adjustments to the 2021 Wanda Diamond League Calendar.
After a disappointing season last year which ended prematurely due to the widespread of the coronavirus, Wanda Diamond League is planning a strong season in an attempt to help with the preparations of athletes coming at the delayed 202 Tokyo Olympic Games in Japan later this summer and the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.
“This is an incredibly important year for our athletes as they prepare for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and less than a year later the World Athletics Championships Oregon22,” Diamond League Chair, Sebastian Coe said. “Competition and training are two very different things so the Wanda Diamond League and our other one-day meetings around the world will give athletes the opportunity to qualify for events, earn World Ranking points and prize money, and benchmark their performances against the competition they will face in Tokyo and then Oregon in 2022.
Adjustments To Wanda Diamond League Calendar
This year’s series will now begin in Gateshead, England, on 23rd May following a few minor adjustments to the 2021 season calendar. The organizers have announced that the Wanda Diamond League season opener will be held in the UK for the first time in 2021, with the Müller Grand Prix selected to get the circuit off and running as a replacement for the Meeting International Mohammed VI in the Moroccan capital. The Rabat meeting was forced to cancel due to the ongoing coronavirus restrictions.
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The Rome Pietro Mennea Golden Gala has been relocated this year to Florence, while the Bislett Games in Oslo, Sweden, has been pushed back until July to comply with local COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
Leading up to the Olympic Games, there are four meetings slated for July including the Muller Anniversary Games in London on July 13, while there are five Diamond League meetings scheduled for a heavy-loaded month of August, leading up to the Weltklasse Diamond League Final which will take place in Zürich, Switzerland over two days on Wednesday, September 8 and Thursday, September 9.
Wanda Diamond League 2021 Calendar
May
23 Müller Grand Prix – Gateshead, England
28 Doha Meeting – Doha, Qatar
June
10 Pietro Mennea Golden Gala Rome/Florence – Florence, Italy
July
01 Bislett Games – Oslo, Norway
04 Bauhaus-Galan – Stockholm, Sweden
09 Herculis EBS Fontvieille – Monaco, France
13 Müller Anniversary Games – London, England
August
14 Shanghai DL – Shanghai, China
21 Prefontaine Classic – Eugene, Oregon
22 China2 Diamond League – China
26 Athletissima – Lausanne, Switzerland
28 Meeting de Paris Paris DL – France
September
03 Allianz Memorial Van Damme – Brussels, Belgium
08 and 09 Weltklasse Diamond League Final – Zürich, Switzerland
