Diamond League Look for Fresh Change With Major Announcement Amidst Track and Field Community’s Outrage

The 2024 season has been quite exhilarating for the track and field community. While the Diamond League gave them a taste of what to expect, the Paris Olympics raised the bar quite high. But after the sun set on the city of love, the attention returned to the DL circuit. But before they could draw the curtains at the finale in Brussels, track and field legend Carl Lewis’ shocking take landed them in hot water. However, things seem to be taking a turn with the 2025 season approaching. 

The Wanda Diamond League has announced the disciplines and calendar for the new season on October 2. According to the website, the season will take place between April and August next year across a whopping 13 countries. While it will begin in Xiamen, the thrilling series finale will take place over 2 days in Zurich. What can you look forward to? The biggest stars will come together on 4 different continents, competing at 14 different one-day meetings.

Here’s the detailed calendar:

At each of these stops, the disciplines will be staged between 4 and 7 times on the road to the final. However, only the best get to contest in the final. 32 athletes will get to snag the Wanda Diamond League champion title with the Diamond trophy. But they will also receive an increased cash prize for their contention next season at the Weltklasse Zurich finale.

Track and field fans and athletes alike will shift their attention to the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. This time, the Diamond League will have set the stage for what many can expect at the major global championships. The league is looking forward to starting over with a clean slate. But they were recently handed the short end of the stick. What really went down?

The Diamond League upped the ante for the next season

While the rest of the world was preparing to watch the Zurich leg of the Diamond League meet, Carl Lewis shocked the world with his scalding opinion on X. “The Diamond League has always been about collusion and lowering athletes’ control and pay. It needs to go.” The DL prize purse was the lowest in comparison to all existing leagues, and the sprinting legend wasn’t too pleased about it. 

But amid the uproar, they surprised fans with a massive announcement. “Prize money in the Wanda Diamond League will increase to its highest ever level from the 2025 season onwards. 💎 New total over a third higher than recent seasons, with an estimated 270 million USD invested in athletes since 2010 📈” Maybe the uproar helped. After a General Assembly meeting, the DL prize fund catapulted to a whopping $9.24 million. 

However, after factoring in the promotional fees for elite athletes, the total shot up to $18 million. Keeping this in mind, each athlete would walk away with a prize between $30,000 and $50,000 at each series meet. The finale in Zurich will raise that bar by offering a whopping total of $2.24 million! But this still didn’t seem enough considering Michael Johnson’s subtle dig with an announcement of his own. 

“EVERY. SINGLE. SLAM. 💰 Catch the fastest Racers in the world compete for the largest prize money in the sport four times a year!” Set to commence in the spring of 2025, the Grand Slam Track has a significantly larger cash prize with a total of $12.6 million. In fact, if an athlete wins all 4 Slams throughout the year, they could walk away with a whopping $40,000. But with this new announcement, could the Diamond League start over with a clean slate?