The stars of the track and field world championships are back
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Still enjoying the vibes from Canada’s best-ever performance at the World Athletics Championships? Can’t wait for next year’s Olympics to watch your favourite stars compete again? Well, good news: many of them are right back in action this week in the Diamond League, a global series of one-day meets that make up the backbone of the track and field season.
With only three stops left before the Diamond League Final next month in Eugene, Oregon, the race is on for athletes to qualify for the prestigious season-ender. A lot of big names are slated to compete either Thursday in Zurich, Switzerland or Saturday in Xiamen, China, including three Canadians.
Here’s who and what to watch in the two meets:
Zurich (Thursday)
With the world championships barely in the rearview, there’s always the risk of last-minute withdrawals by athletes in need of a break after their biggest meet of the year. But the current startlists in Zurich are absolutely stacked.
The men’s 200m (3:41 p.m. ET) is headlined by Noah Lyles, fresh off his triple gold in the 100, 200 and 4×100 in Budapest. The three-peat 200m world champion will face fellow Americans Erriyon Knighton and Kenny Bednarek (this year’s and last year’s silver medallists, respectively) along with reigning Olympic champion Andre De Grasse and Aaron Brown of Canada. Lyles, the defending Diamond League champ, ranks 10th in this year’s standings after competing sparingly in the build-up to the world championships, so he needs points to climb into the eight-man Final in Eugene. Brown is tied for second and De Grasse is tied for eighth.
Host Rob Pizzo is joined by 1996 100m Olympic Champion Donovan Bailey for his reaction to the biggest moments from the final days of the 2023 World Athletics Championships.
The women’s 200m (3:04 p.m. ET) should be a victory lap for Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson, who repeated as world champ with the second-fastest time ever. The women’s 100m (2:15 p.m. ET) features American sensation Sha’Carri Richardson, coming off a breakthrough worlds that saw her win 100m and 4x100m gold and 200m bronze. The men’s 1,500m (2:41 p.m. ET) includes Britain’s Josh Kerr, who upset Norwegian star Jakob Ingebrigtsen for the world title in his signature race.
In the men’s high jump, Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi is no doubt still savouring his first world title, which ended a run of three straight by his pal Mutaz Barshim of Qatar. The Olympic co-champions will square off again in the most intriguing of the field events, which also include world and Olympic champs Armand Duplantis of Sweden in the men’s pole vault and Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece in the men’s long jump.
Xiamen (Saturday)
Only one Canadian is slated to compete here, but it’s a great one: Marco Arop, who just became Canada’s first 800m world champion with a masterful performance in Budapest. Arop should face stiff competition in the men’s 800m (7:44 a.m. ET) from Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi and Britain’s Ben Pattison — the silver and bronze medallists at worlds. Arop is tied for fourth in the points chase, so he’s in good shape to make the Final.
A jam-packed 9 days full of highs, lows and so many incredible moments from the very best athletes in the world. Athletics North host, Rob Pizzo is joined by certified track nerd Morgan Campbell to take you through their favourite moments from the 2023 World Athletics Championships.
The men’s 100m (7:35 a.m. ET) features a couple of stars with something to prove. Reigning Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs of Italy and 2022 world champ Fred Kerley of the U.S. both failed to reach the final in Budapest. They’ll face a pair of former world champs in American Christian Coleman (fifth at worlds) and Jamaican Yohan Blake.
Arop is one of eight gold medallists from the Budapest worlds scheduled to compete in China. The others are the Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino (women’s 400m), Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali (men’s 3,000m steeplechase), Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh (women’s high jump), Serbia’s Ivana Vuleta (women’s long jump), Burkina Faso’s Hugues Fabrice Zango (men’s triple jump) and Americans Grant Holloway (men’s 110m hurdles) and Laulauga Tausaga (women’s discus).
How to watch:
The Zurich meet will be streamed live on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem on Thursday from 2-4 p.m. ET. The Xiamen meet will be streamed live on those platforms on Saturday from 7-9 a.m. ET.
You can also watch select events from both meets on the CBC TV network on Saturday from 3-6 p.m. ET. See the full streaming and broadcast schedules here.
