By Noel ‘Bravo’ Francis, Special to TrackAlerts.Com writer 

The 2015 track & field season is coming to a fitting climax. On the heels of the 15th IAAF World Championship, comes the first of two Diamond League finals set for Zurich, Switzerland on Thursday September 3, 2015.

A total of sixteen Diamond Race Trophies will be decided which explains the number of world stars assembling at the sold out Letzigrund Stadium. No fewer than 20 newly crowned champions and other medallists from Beijing will take part in this glittering showpiece. The list of stars includes Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, David Rudisha, Genzebe Dibaba, Wayde Van Niekerk, Asbel Kiprop, Greg Rutherford & Tianna Bartoletta. This exciting meet will be like a World Championship re-run without the rounds.

During the normal course of the Diamond League meetings, points are awarded as follows: 1st– 4 points, 2nd – 2 points & 3rd – 1 point. However, on the final day of competition points are doubled, that is, 1st – 8 points, 2nd – 4 points & 3rd – 2 points. This has added impetus to the following events: In the women’s 100m, Jamaica’s Fraser-Pryce leads with 12 points and is followed closely by Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor of Nigeria on 8 points. Fraser-Pryce who can only be surpassed by Okagbare and Tori Bowie will win outright if she is placed in the top three and Okagbare fails to finish in the top three. The same holds true if Bowie wins and Fraser-Pryce claims a top three finish.

The women’s 400m hurdles final is a straight cat fight between World Champion Zuzana Hejnova (14 pts) and Kaliese Spencer (12 pts). The men’s 400m final will see Kirani James (10 pts) and newly crowned World Champion, Wayde Van Niekerk (8 pts) in another highly anticipated sprint to the finish. In the meantime, South African record-holder Anaso Jobodwana (19.87 secs) will battle with defending Diamond Race trophy winner, Alonso Edward (8 pts) of Panama in the men’s 200m.

Please find mouth-watering schedule & entries below (Jamaica Time):

1:05 pm  Women’s 400m Hurdles – ( Sara Petersen, Janieve Russell, Kaliese Spencer, Zuzana Hejnova, Cassandra Tate, Georganne Moline, Wenda Theron Nel)

1:10 pm  Men’s high jump –   (Derek Drouin, Mutaz Essa Barshim, Bohdan Bondarenko, Donald Thomas, Guowei Zhang)

1:13 pm  Men’s 3000m SteepleChase –   (Evan Jager, Daniel Huling, Ezekiel Kemboi, Jairus Birech, Conseslus Kipruto)

1:20 pm  Men’s Long Jump  –   (Greg Rutherford, Christian Taylor, Marquis Dendy, Jeff Henderson, Jianan Wang, Aleksandr Menkov)

1:29 pm  Women’s 100m  –     (Tori Bowie, Natasha Morrison, VCB, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Michelle Lee-Ahye, Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor)

1:37 pm  Men’s 800m       –     (Mohammed Aman, David Rudisha, Alfred Kipketer, Job Kinyor, Marcin Lewandowski)

1:46 pm  Men’s 400m       –     (David Verburg, Steven Gardiner, LaShawn Merritt, Kirani James, Wayde Van Niekerk, Luguelin Santos, Isaac Makwala)

1:56 pm  Men’s 200m      –      (Isiah Young, Nickel Ashmeade, Alonso Edward, Rasheed Dwyer, Anaso Jobodwana, Miguel Francis, Daniel Talbot)

2:03 pm  Women’s 800m  –     (Rose Mary Almanza, Brenda Martinez, Chanelle Price, Eunice Sum, Sifan Hassan, Lynsey Sharp)

2:13 pm  Men’s 110m Hurdles –  (David Oliver, Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, Orlando Ortega, Sergey Shubenkov, Garfield Darien, Jason Richardson, Shane Brathwaite)

2:19 pm  Women’s 3000m   –      (Shannon Rowbury, Jenny Simpson, Genzebe Dibaba, Mercy Cherono, Almaz Ayana, Irene Jelagat)

2:36 pm  Men’s 400m Hurdles  –  (Annsert Whyte, Kariem Hussein, Rasmus Magi, Niall Flannery, Michael Bultheel)

2:43 pm  Men’s 1500m     –          (Silas Kiplagat, Leo Manzano, Caleb Ndiku, Asbel Kiprop, Ronald Kwemoi, Abdelaati Iguider)

2:55 pm  Women’s 4x100m Relay  –   (Canada, Italy, Germany, Jamaica, USA, Trinidad & Tobago, Switzerland, Norway)

3:00 pm Diamond Race Award Ceremony

About the Author: Noel ‘Bravo’ Francis is a very exciting and creative freelance sports writer from Jamaica specializing in the fields of athletics and cricket. His colourful down to earth yet professional personality makes him a favourite amongst athletes and fans. Readers are often exposed to his detailed knowledge and passion which usually increase their interest in the athletes, events and the sport overall. He has a first degree in Banking & Finance and works in the financial industry. Contact Noel at [email protected]
Follow bravo on twitter @nanthonyfrancis

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