Zurich, May 11: Zurich’s “Weltklasse” IAAF Diamond League athletics meet has attracted a star-studded line-up, including sprint king Usain Bolt and long-distance master Kenenisa Bekele, organisers said on Tuesday.
Olympic and world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser of Jamaica will run in the 100m sprint in the Swiss city on August 19, while US 400m world champion Sanya Richards-Ross and Allyson Felix, a two-time Olympic silver medallist and three-time world champion in the 200m, will face off over one lap.
The meeting will be one of the last in the Diamond League series which begins on Saturday in Doha, and act as a final for 16 of the 32 events with double the points tally available, Weltklasse said in a statement.
Triple Olympic and world sprint champion Bolt, who soared ahead of an Olympic class field in the 100m in Zurich last year, is due to start in the 200m this time around.
Bekele, a triple Olympic gold medallist and five-time world champion, is slated for the 5000m race.
The organisers said they were still filling the field, especially against Bolt.
“There are not many ‘fixed stars’ in the athletics universe. Therefore, we consider it essential to invite them early on, so that they are able to prepare for our meeting in an ideal manner,” said meeting director Patrick Magyar.
— AFP