The IAAF Diamond League is a series of track and field events being held from the year 2010 onwards at Qatar Sports Club Stadium in Doha. The IAAF Diamond League is a precious asset for the IAAF and the League is now into its tenth season. The league comprises of 14 of the best invitational track and field meetings in the world. The vision of the IAAF and Qatari officials in 2009 was to construct a new, electrifying event for a world class invitational athletics circuit. The IAAF Diamond League offers the best of athletics entertainment outside the Olympic Games and World athletics Championship.
The Diamond league was intended to replace the IAAF golden league which was held yearly since 1998. The Golden League was in fact formed to amplify the profile of the important European athletics finals while the Diamond League's aim is to increase the universal appeal of athletics by going outside Europe for the first time. Besides the original Golden League members (except Germany) and other traditional European meetings, the series includes events in Qatar, China and United States.
The event meeting in Doha features the following disciplines: 100m, 800m, 5000m, 400m Hurdles, Triple Jump, Shot Put, Pole Vault, High Jump and Javelin for men and 200m, 400m, 1500m, 3000m Steeplechase, 100m Hurdles, Discus Throw and Long Jump for women. There are a total of 16 events as of now, 9 for men and 7 for women.
The IAAF has agreed a new contract with the partners which ensured that the IAAF's continued support of the series to at least 2019. The IAAF Diamond League consists of 14 meetings in Asia, the United States and Europe.
The worldwide TV audience for the IAAF Diamond League is far greater than the earlier Golden League. In the year 2018, the Doha Diamond League Meetings were held at ‘Hamad bin Suhaim’ on 4th May 2018.
2019 Diamond League
The 2019 IAAF Diamond League is the tenth edition of the annual IAAF Diamond League, a 14-leg series of track and field meetings. This is the third edition to feature the recent championship-style system. The 10th edition will open in Doha on 3rd May and continue in Shanghai until three weeks later till 25th May, for a stretch of nine weeks, with an IAAF Diamond League meeting being held every week.
After a four week break, there will be two more meetings, and the two finals one in Zurich on 29th August and the other on 6th September at Brussels. The track season will complete with its finale at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.
The meetings form the top tier of IAAF’s global one-day meeting competition structure and are spread across Asia, Africa, Europe and North America, with a prize money of USD8million being offered across the series.
The series showcases 32 event disciplines that are distributed among the 14 meetings. Athletes will have to earn points in the first 12 meetings to qualify for finals, but, in a championship, the performance of athletes in the finals alone will determine the champion and the prize money would be awarded.
The two final meetings to be held in Zurich on 29th August and Brussels on 6th September will offer $100,000 in each of the 32 Diamond disciplines, including $50,000 for each winner plus the prestigious Diamond Trophy.
2019 IAAF Diamond League Calendar
3 May - Doha, QAT
18 May - Shanghai, CHN
30 May - Stockholm, SWE
6 Jun - Rome, ITA
13 Jun - Oslo, NOR
16 Jun - Rabat, MAR
30 Jun - Stanford, USA
5 Jul - Lausanne, SUI
12 Jul - Monaco, MON
20-21 Jul - London, GBR
18 Aug - Birmingham, GBR
24 Aug - Paris, FRA
29 Aug - Zurich, SUI
6 Sep - Brussels, BEL
Stadium
Official Name: "Hamad Bin Suhaim Stadium"
Capacity
20,000 people together with VIP spaces 10 entries,
Entry Lights in all the corners
Emergency ambulance
10 commentator’s boxes and 1 video scoreboard
10 fixed TV camera stands
Parking
VIP car park for 70 cars
Car park inside the club for 400 cars
Car park outside the club for 200 cars
Outdoor Facilities
One Training Field of 40 x 45 m (+2 m) with lights and grass covered
One Football Training Field of 66 x 106m (+2 m), with lights and grass covered.
One Volleyball field on Ducaturf
One Tennis field on Ducaturf
One Handball field on Ducaturf
One Basketball field on Ducaturf
How to Go?
The stadium is located approximately 2 miles northwest of the port area and 2 minutes (around 1 Kilometer) far from the official hotel “Sheraton" - in the west bay area.
Tickets
Tickets are available in Virgin Megastores in Landmark and Villagio malls.
There are two different types of prices. The entrance fee in all Gates has been fixed at 30 QR while the VIP tickets cost 200 QR.