Athletics fans in Zurich will be excited to be able to watch an all-star cast perform at Letzigrund Stadium on Thursday, 29 August. The line-ups for all 17 events of the night’s international programme of events and for the two shot put events of Weltklasse Zürich at Zurich Main Station on Wednesday will resemble those of the championship finals in Moscow.
All in all, 15 reigning Olympic champions and 19 new world champions will be competing at this year’s edition of the meeting. There will be two sprint stars, Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser, with even two individual championship titles.
„We always want to present the best athletes of the world in all our events. And at this stage, it looks like we will manage to achieve our objective again, this year,“ Meeting Director Patrick K. Magyar commented. „The line-up is truly impressive. The athletes arriving from Moscow will carry a total of 56 medals in their luggage. And more than 50% of our cast was placed in the top eight positions of their event at the championships.“
Defar vs. Dibaba – clash of the two queens of long-distance running
The entry lists suggest a whole series of highlights for the meeting night. On top of the list of special treats will be the sprint events and the men’s high jump. Meeting Director Patrick K. Magyar is particularly looking forward to the women’s 5000m: „The athletes of the Moscow 10000m podium will be running against the three medallists of the 5000m. The race will include the two queens of long distance running, Meseret Defar (ETH, Olympic and world champion 5000m) and Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH, Olympic and world champion 10000 m). A very rare, exciting scenario,” Magyar explained. And indeed, the two athletes have been racing each other on very few occasions so far. In the past seven years, they ran in the same race at one meeting only.
High jump show with all eight Moscow finalists
Sometimes, the Weltklasse Zürich fields are even “better” than world championship finals: In the men’s 100m race, the top six athletes of the Moscow final will run against Walter Dix (USA), who had missed the championships because of an injury, and against the best European sprinter, Adam Gemili (GBR), who placed fifth in the championships’ 200m final. In the 110m h, former world record holder Dayron Robles (CUB) will challenge the 7 fastest hurdlers of the Moscow final. There will be even two world champions in the women’s 200m, as both Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and 400m gold medallist Christine Ohuruogu (GBR) are on the entry list for the race. Finally, the field for the men’s high jump is a promise for an exciting, suspense-packed competition: The top eight athletes of the memorable championship final will all compete at Letzigrund Stadium, including the event’s high flyer, Bohdan Bondarenko (UKR).
Six Swiss athletes and a women’s relay race in the international programme
Six Swiss athletes will try to prevail in the prestigious fields: World championship competitor Mujinga Kambundji (200m), U23 European championship bronze medallist Selina Büchel (800 m), and long jumper Yves Zellweger will make their Weltklasse Zürich debut this year. In addition, local pole vault heroes Nicole Büchler and Anna Katharina Schmid, as well as long jumper Irene Pusterla will be facing the world’s athletics elite.
The seventh Zürich Trophy will be a women’s 4x100m relay race this time – and another Swiss highlight. After six successful performances of the national men’s relay team, the country’s fastest female sprinters will get an opportunity to run in the exciting race that traditionally wraps up the programme of events. The Swiss quartet had approached the 43-second barrier with their race in Moscow (43.21). Next week, they will be running against the world champions of Jamaica (incl. Shelly-Ann Fraser), as well as the teams of the USA, the Netherlands, of Ukraine, Germany, and Italy.
Marcel Hug: a home win for the five-time world champion?
Many Swiss athletes will compete in the Young Diamonds Challenge – the national programme of events. An early highlight of the meeting will be the men’s 1500m wheelchair race in which Marcel Hug, five-time world champion in Lyon, will challenge international top athletes.
Stadium tickets sold out! Last-minute tickets on 26 August
All stadium tickets for Weltklasse Zürich 2013 were sold several weeks ago. 25 000 spectators will be attending the first of two IAAF Diamond League final events at Letzigrund Stadium. However, there is one final opportunity to secure a ticket: A number of tickets that become available as a consequence of ticket contingent adjustments will go on sale on 26 August.
Champions of the Moscow World Championships at Weltklasse Zürich (as at 19 August 2013)
- Usain Bolt (JAM/100m and 200m; to run the men’s 100m in Zurich)
- LaShawn Merritt (USA/400m)
- Mohammed Aman (ETH/800m)
- Asbel Kiprop (KEN/1500m)
- Ezekiel Kemboi (KEN/3000m SC)
- David Oliver (USA/110m h)
- Bohdan Bondarenko (UKR/high jump)
- Aleksandr Menkov (RUS/long jump)
- David Storl (GER/shot put; at Weltklasse Zürich Zurich Main Station on Wednesday)
- Robert Harting (GER/discus throw)
- Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (JAM/100m und 200m; to run the women‘s 200m and the 4x100m relay race in Zurich)
- Christine Ohuruogu (GBR/400m; to run the women’s 200m in Zurich)
- Eunice Jepkoech Sum (KEN/800m)
- Meseret Defar (ETH, 5000m)
- Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH/10000 m; to run the women’s 5000m in Zurich)
- Zuzana Hejnova (CZE/400m h)
- Brittney Reese (USA/long jump)
- Valerie Adams (NZL/shot put; at Weltklasse Zürich at Zurich Main Station on Wednesday)
- Christina Obergföll (GER/javelin throw)
<link templates iaafdiamondleague pagetypes _blank>Click here for provisional entry lists and timetable
19 August, 2013
