Nigeria’s world record holder Tobi Amusan will headline a strong Nigerian contingent at the final Diamond League meeting of the season in Zurich on Thursday, with compatriots Ezekiel Nathaniel and Chukwuebuka Enekwechi also set to compete against some of the biggest names in global athletics.
The iconic Zurich meeting will span two days, with the women’s pole vault taking place at Zurich train station on Wednesday before the main programme moves to the Letzigrund Stadium on Thursday.
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For several athletes, the meeting represents the final opportunity to collect valuable points and secure qualification for the Wanda Diamond League Final, scheduled for Brussels on 4-5 September.
Amusan and several other athletes have already booked their places in the season-ending final, but others will be desperate to add to their points tally in Zurich and keep their qualification hopes alive.
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The Nigerian hurdler will return to Diamond League action for the first time since June, having subsequently competed at the Commonwealth Games, where she won a bronze medal.
Amusan faces a formidable challenge in Zurich as she takes on Olympic champion Masai Russell, who will be looking to maintain her unbeaten run in the women’s 100m hurdles this season.
Russell has enjoyed an impressive campaign, highlighted by her 12.14-second performance in Xiamen in May. The time was just 0.02 seconds outside Amusan’s world record.
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The women’s 100m hurdles field also includes Alaysha Johnson, Nadine Visser and home favourite Ditaji Kambundji, setting the stage for another high-quality battle.
Nathaniel faces Warholm, dos Santos again
Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games champion Ezekiel Nathaniel will be chasing valuable points in the men’s 400m hurdles.
Nathaniel currently sits eighth in the Diamond League standings with 10 points and will once again line up against two of the event’s biggest stars, Karsten Warholm and Alison dos Santos.
The Nigerian’s meeting with the pair comes just days after he faced them at the Silesia Diamond League meeting in Chorzów, Poland.
Enekwechi will also be looking to strengthen his position in the men’s shot put standings. The Nigerian is currently ninth in the Diamond League rankings and faces a field led by world No. 1 Leonardo Fabbri of Italy.
Jamaica’s Rajindra Campbell and New Zealand’s Tom Walsh are among the other leading names in the event.
READ ALSO: INTERVIEW: Amusan reveals injury battle behind Commonwealth Games bronze
Several other global stars will also be in action in Zurich, including Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, Julien Alfred, Audrey Werro, Femke Bol, Cole Hocker and Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
With Zurich marking the final Diamond League meeting before the season-ending final, the stakes will be high for athletes still fighting for qualification.
After the Swiss meeting, only two major events will remain on the global athletics calendar: the Diamond League Final in Brussels from 4-5 September and the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary, later in September.
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