The Japan Times - Duplantis kicks off Diamond League season in China

The US-born Swede will be joined by Kenya's middle-distance queen Faith Kipyegon, Norway's hurdles king Karsten Warholm, Botswana's Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo and Nigerian 100m hurdler Tobi Amusan in what promises to be a high-octane start to the 15-meet series.

This year's Diamond League crosses four continents and 15 cities en route to the two-day series final in Brussels on September 4-5.

With no Olympic Games or world championships in 2026, the Diamond League, which has a total prize-money pool of $9.24 million, will also act as a perfect run-up to World Athletics inaugural season-ending Ultimate Championships in Budapest on September 11-13.

"With competitors from around 100 countries and an ever growing fanbase on all seven continents, the Wanda Diamond League is a truly global series which delivers reliable, championship-level track and field competitions to athletes and fans across the world," said Diamond League CEO Petr Stastny.

"In the coming years, the series will remain on the cutting edge of innovation in athlete services and fan engagement, while continuing to provide a crucial foundation for the sustainable growth of the sport as a whole."

The Diamond League will also not have to contend this year with Michael Johnson's Grand Slam track series.

That ill-fated bid to reinvigorate interest in athletics outside Olympic years was curtailed in its inaugural 2025 season, with Grand Slam filing for bankruptcy in December, with millions owed to athletes.

- Karalis in the wings -

All eyes in China will be on Duplantis, who will open his outdoor season in a loaded pole vault field that includes Greece's Emmanouil Karalis, who moved to second on the world all-time list in February with a 6.17m clearance in Athens.

The field also includes two-time world champion Sam Kendricks of the US and double World Championship bronze medallist Kurtis Marschall of Australia.

Duplantis, unbeaten since 2023, set his 15th pole vault world record earlier this year, clearing 6.31m in Sweden.

The two-time Olympic champion and triple world gold medallist has said he intends another bid for a world record when the Diamond League series rolls round to Monaco, where he has relocated to live.

"I feel that a world record is needed and it would be fantastic if I was able to do that here," Duplantis said of his plans for Monaco.

Whenever Duplantis is in a meet, however, his excellence is never far from shining through and only the bravest of punters would bet against him winning in China, while a world record bid also never seems that too far away, form and fitness notwithstanding.

While the likes of Duplantis, Kipyegon, Warholm and American Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles have for many seasons been the standout names, much is expected from first-time world champion Jamaican Oblique Seville and American Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, who both starred on the Diamond League circuit before shining in the sprints in Tokyo last year.

H.Takahashi--JT