How does the Muller Grand Prix Birmingham fit into the 2018 IAAF Diamond League series?
The IAAF Diamond League: in short…
The IAAF Diamond League is prestigious and world-class 14-part series which culminates in two separate finals in Brussels & Zurich respectively.
From Shanghai to Rabat, the series stretches far and wide across the world, with the UK being fortunate enough to serve host to two of the 14 meetings, the second and final of which is in Birmingham this year as the Muller Grand Prix Birmingham heads to Birmingham on Saturday 18 August.
How does the Diamond League work?
Each year, each of the 14 IAAF Diamond League meetings will be allocated a total of <link https: www.diamondleague.com fileadmin shared_storage documentstorage idl_disciplineallocation2018_final_perdiscipline.pdf>14 official Diamond League events* which are to take place at their event.
For context, Diamond League events at the 2018 Muller Grand Prix Birmingham will include the men’s 800m and women’s pole vault, within which athletes can earn points towards qualifying for the final at which their event is to take place. In the case of the aforementioned events, the men’s 800m final will take place in Brussels and the women’s pole vault in Zurich.
*IAAF Diamond League events in Birmingham are as below:
MEN: 100m, 400m, 800m, 110m hurdles, 3000m steeplechase, high jump, javelin
WOMEN: 200m, 1500m, 5000m, 400m hurdles, pole vault, long jump, shot put
And how does the scoring and route to the finals work?
Based on their finishing place, athletes can earn a maximum of 8 points for the win, with 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 or 1 points then awarded for ranking 2nd to 8th respectively.
Come the conclusion of meeting 12/14, the final stop of the IAAF Diamond League series at which athletes can score points to qualify through to their event final, the top 8 or 12 athletes (depending on the discipline) will then be awarded a start in the final of their event in either Zurich or Brussels*.
*Using the women’s 200m, for example, athletes will be able to pick up points in Shanghai, Rome, Paris, Rabat, London and Birmingham as they compete for a place at the Brussels final – the breakdown of which events are to take place where can be found <link https: www.diamondleague.com fileadmin idl_default _processed_ b csm_iaafdiamondleague_infographic_newformat2017_e4ac2bfb52.gif>here.
Is there anything else of note to be aware of at this year’s Muller Grand Prix Birmingham?
With Birmingham being stop 12/14 of the 2018 IAAF Diamond League series (and the last non-final meeting), the meeting at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium will mark the final chance for athletes to secure qualification points in a handful of events.
On the women’s side this includes the 200m, 1500m, 5000m 400m hurdles, long jump, shot put and pole vault, with male competitors in the 100m, 400m, 800m, 3000m steeplechase, 110m hurdles, javelin and high jump also being offered a final opportunity to score qualification points in a bid to make their respective event final.
Can other events take place aside from official IAAF Diamond League events?
Yes, be it development races for young athletes or accompanying world-class events containing global stars, typically each of the 14 IAAF Diamond League meetings add additional events.
Of the additional events at last year’s Muller Grand Prix Birmingham, Briton Jake Wightman took a brilliant win in the Emsley Carr mile to become the first British winner in the event since 2005, while Poland reigned supreme in the innovative mixed hammer challenge.
Additional events for 2018’s Muller Grand Prix Birmingham programme are below:
MEN: long jump, Emsley Carr mile
WOMEN: 100m hurdles, 1000m
The events set to take place at the 2018 Muller Grand Prix Birmingham can be found <link https: birmingham.diamondleague.com list_results_bham external-link-new-window internal link in current>here.
The home page for the IAAF Diamond League can be found <link https: www.diamondleague.com home external-link-new-window internal link in current>here.