As well as Farah, recently crowned world champions and reigning Olympic champions will be in attendance contesting sixteen Diamond League titles in the Letzigrund Stadium, with the remaining finals taking place in Brussels on September 1st.

Six-time world and four-time Olympic champion Farah will take on Ethiopia’s Muktar Edris in the 5000m final, a rematch between the 34-year-old and the man who beat him to gold at the World Championships in London.

World bronze medalist, Paul Chelimo of the USA, leads the challenging pack that includes the top six from London.

Farah, who won his last track race in the UK on Sunday at the 12th Diamond League meet of the season, will focus on road racing and the marathon following Thursday’s final.

Dafne Schippers and Elaine Thompson are joined by Shaunae Miller-Uibo in the 200m final. Schippers, who successfully defended her 200m world title, will hope to finish her season in style with a Diamond League trophy and the US$50,000 on offer to each winner.

However, Jamaica’s Olympic champion Thompson has a point to prove after a disappointing World Championships and comes into the final with a recent victory over 100m in Birmingham.

It will be an interesting final with 400m Olympic champion Miller-Uibo also among the field. The last time the three contested a 200m race Miller-Uibo was the winner.

The World and Olympic champion Caster Semenya goes for a twentieth straight 800m win, starting as the strong favourite in the 800m final. The challengers include world silver medallist Francine Niyonsaba and Margaret Wambui of Kenya.

Meanwhile, in the men’s 1500m final all podium placed athletes at the World Championships line up in the field. Kenya’s world champion Elijah Motonei Manangoi starts as favourite but faces compatriot Timothy Cheruiyot and Norway’s Filip Ingebrigtsen, who won silver and bronze respectively in London, while GB’s Jake Wightman also competes.

USA’s Emma Coburn, who impressively lead an American one-two in London, faces Olympic champion and world record holder Ruth Jebet of Kenya in the 3000m steeplechase final.

Justin Gatlin, the newly-crowned world champion aims for a fourth Diamond League title. The American will face Britain’s CJ Ujah and Adam Gemili, as well as Akani Simbine of South Africa and Jamaican Asafa Powell.

Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas and Isaac Makwala of Botswana lead the field in the men’s 400m final.

Norwegian star Karsten Warholm steps back on the track after his surprise 400m hurdles win at the World Championships.

He goes out hard and holds on for dear life.

Norway’s @kwarholm the dominant force in #IAAFworlds men’s 400m hurdles final. pic.twitter.com/WrKjbAbmj8

— IAAF (@iaaforg) August 9, 2017

Aiming to go one better than the 21-year-old in the 400m hurdles final is the Olympic champion Kerron Clement, and Turkey’s Yasmani Copello, with Britain’s Jack Green also featuring.

World champion Sally Pearson faces Dawn Harper Nelson and Sharika Nelvis and Britain’s Eilidh Doyle in the women’s 400m hurdles final.

Other British athletes in action include the world silver medallists Asha Philip, Desiree Henry, Dina Asher-Smith and Daryl Neita, reuniting to contest the Zurich trophy in the women’s 4x100m relay against strong American, Jamaican and German teams.

The javelin final sees a duel between Germany’s recent world champion Johannes Vetter and Olympic champion Thomas Rohler.

While in the women’s event, the world and Olympic champions also battle it out, Czech Barbora Spotakova and Croatia’s Sara Kolak. The same theme continues in the women’s shot put, with China’s world champion Gong Lijiao facing American and Olympic champion Michelle Carter.

Colombian Caterine Ibargüen has dominated in women’s triple jump in recent years, however she a new adversary in world champion Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela. The pair will battle it for the Diamond League triple jump title.

Newly-crowned world champions lead the way on in the men’s jumps. Luvo Manyonga of South Africa in the long jump, Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim in the high jump, and Sam Kendricks of the US in the pole vault who will all aim to end their season’s with a Diamond League trophy.

The track and field action in Zurich begins a day earlier, with the women’s pole vault on Wednesday (August 23) evening at Zurich’s central train station.

Olympic and world champion Katerina Stefanidi will take in USA’s Sandi Morris and Robeilys Peinabdo in the non-Diamond League event.

The post Zurich hosts First Diamond League Final, With Mo Farah Facing Edris in Last Track Race appeared first on Fast Running.

The athletes unveiled, include 800m star Caster Semenya, Bahrain’s first-ever Olympic gold medallist, Ruth Jebet, and USA’s Emma Coburn.

The addition of Semenya, Jebet, and Coburn adds to an already world class line up set to take part in the opening Diamond League meeting of 2017.

Rivals Dafne Schippers and Elaine Thompson go head to head in the women’s 200m, and in the men’s 400m, stars LaShawn Merritt and Kirani James will line up.

With Semenya now unveiled, the women’s 800m race sees three Olympic medallists facing off: South Africa’s Caster Semenya, Margaret Wambui from Kenya, and Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba.

In the women’s 3000m steeplechase, world record holder, and reigning Olympic gold medalist Jebet, will line up against Olympic silver medalist Hyvin Kiyeng, and US record-holder and Olympic Bronze medalist, Emma Coburn.

Quick Doha Athletics facts

• Doha’s first major athletics event was the Doha Grand Prix in 1997.
• In 2010, Doha staged the first-ever IAAF Diamond League fixture.

10 years of Doha Athletics Promo video

Watch the highlights from 10 yrs of amazing athletics in Doha! What will happen this yr? https://t.co/hMDnxfFrsA #DLDoha @Diamond_League ? pic.twitter.com/3eOcGCkK7G

— Doha Diamond League (@dldoha) March 24, 2017

Full 2017 IAAF Diamond League calendar

5 May – Doha, QAT
13 May – Shanghai, CHN
27 May – Eugene, USA
8 Jun – Rome, ITA
15 Jun – Oslo, NOR
18 Jun – Stockholm, SWE
1 Jul – Paris, FRA
6 Jul – Lausanne, SUI
9 Jul – London, GBR
16 Jul – Rabat, MAR
21 Jul – Monaco, MON
20 Aug – Birmingham, GBR
24 Aug – Zurich, SUI
1 Sep – Brussels, BEL

The post Star athletes including Caster Semenya, unveiled for Diamond League opener in Doha appeared first on Fast Running.