We're just a few weeks away from the start of the 2025 Wanda Diamond League calendar, and there's plenty to look forward to.

From some all-star matchups to increased prize money, the start of the Diamond League season provides a lot of intrigue that fans won't want to miss.

We break down some of the top storylines to follow heading into the Diamond League season, which will be streamed LIVE on FloTrack in the U.S. and its territories.

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Olympic Champions Set To Open Up Diamond League Season

The first Diamond League meetings of the season feature nothing less than high profile star power.

A handful of Olympic champions have already announced their commitments to the Xiamen and Shanghai/Keqiao meets  -- Letsile Tebogo, Grant Holloway, Mondo Duplantis, Faith Kipyegon and Karsten Warholm, among others.

Perhaps that's the biggest storyline to note heading into the Diamond League season -- fans will be treated to huge battles between the sport's top stars to kick things off. 

The men's 100m in Shanghai/Keqiao is one example of this. Tebogo, along with Paris Olympic 100m silver medalist Kishane Thompson, Tokyo Olympic 100m gold medalist Marcell Jacobs, Akani Simbine, Christian Coleman, Jeremiah Azu and Xie Zhenye will all get in the blocks to compete on May 3.

That pits two Olympic gold medalists against each other, along with two World Indoor Championships 60m gold medalists (Coleman and Azu), an Olympic silver medalist (Thompson) and an Olympic bronze medalist (Zhenye) all against each other.

But it's not just the sprints that will feature big showdowns. Faith Kipyegon, who owns the mile and 1,500m world records, could go for another world all-time mark in Xiamen in the women's 1,000m to kickstart the season.

Kipyegon currently sits at No. 2 all-time and could look to break the current world record of 2:28.98 set by Svetlana Masterkova in 1996.

In the hurdles, Holloway will contest the men's 110m hurdles at both Xiamen and Shanghai/Keqiao, and Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Karsten Warholm will visit China for the first time to race in Xiamen.

Field Events To Feature High Profile Battles

Each year, the Diamond League features some of the top field events battles of the outdoor season -- and 2025 should likely be no different.

Mondo Duplantis, who has a long history of shining on the Diamond League stage, will waste no time returning to the circuit as he's currently slated to compete in the pole vault at the Diamond League opener in Xiamen. That meet has certainly been kind to him as he reset his own world record at the time to 6.24m in Xiamen in 2024.

But Duplantis isn't the only notable field athlete already committed to early season competitions on the Diamond League circuit. A fun battle in the men's high jump will go down in Doha as Paris Olympic gold medalist Hamish Kerr will jump against multi-time Diamond League champion Mutaz Essa Barshim. That event will be a Diamond+ discipline in Doha on May 16.

Diamond League remains one of the biggest circuits for field events. 2024 alone saw three world records go down in the field (Mondo Duplantis x2 in the men's pole vault, Yaroslava Muhuchilkh in women's high jump), along with a slew of meeting records throughout the regular season.

2025 Season To Debut New Diamond+ Disciplines

To open up the season in Xiamen, the four events receiving the Diamond+ designation are the women's 5,000m, women's high jump, men's 110m hurdles and men's pole vault. 

The league has also already announced Diamond+ disciplines for the three meetings following Xiamen -- Shanghai/Keqiao, Doha and Rabat. Each of the four events feature at least one field competition as a Diamond+ event.

So perhaps there's no surprise that some of the Diamond+ divisions for the first few meets on the Diamond League calendar already have star-studded lineups. For instance, the men's 100m at Shanghai/Keqiao will feature Tebogo, Thompson, Jacobs, Simbine, Coleman, Zhenye and Azu, all of whom have won medals on the world stage.

It's no surprise either that Holloway, who has a long history competing on the Diamond League circuit, will contest the men's 110m hurdles at both the Xiamen and Shanghai/Keqiao meetings. The race will be a Diamond+ discipline at both of them, and that could easily end up being a $40,000 total payout for Holloway if he wins at both meets.

As we're already seeing in the first few meets on the calendar, the Diamond+ addition adds a big draw to competing on the Diamond League for some of the world's best.

Bigger Prize Purse Introduced For 2025 Season

In December 2024, Wanda Diamond League announced a record-high total prize purse for the 2025 season.

This upcoming season, the league will pay out a total of $9.24 million to athletes in prize money, with $500,000 awarded at each of the 14 regular season meetings and $2.24 million at the Diamond League final in Zurich.

Prize money will be awarded for first through ninth place (and beyond for larger fields), with Diamond League race winners receiving a $10,000 pay out. The league is also introducing select Diamond+ divisions at each meet, with winners receiving $20,000 and places second through ninth receiving a higher award than a regular Diamond discipline.

The announcement of the increased prize structure came on the heels of the introduction of the new Grand Slam Track league, which lauds its $12.6 million athlete prize purse.

The increased prize money certainly gives athletes an even greater incentive to participate on the Diamond League circuit. With 14 regular season meetings and a final in Zurich that features an even greater prize money allocation, athletes can certainly earn significant payouts with good, consistent showings on the circuit.

What Is The Diamond League Schedule For 2025?

The 2025 season will be the 16th edition of the Diamond League, and each meet typically features six or seven events for each gender, with each discipline being contested between four and seven times during the season to allow athletes enough chances to accumulate points.

Here is the complete schedule for 2025:

FloTrack Is The Streaming Home For Many Track And Field Meets Each Year

Don't miss all of the track & field action streaming on FloTrack. Check out the FloTrack schedule for more events.

FloTrack Archived Footage

Video footage from each event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloTrack subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscriptions.

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