DOHA: The decision to reach out to new audiences through the launch of the Diamond League three years ago has proved to be a wise move, IAAF Chief Lamine Diack said yesterday.
The IAAF Diamond League is an annual series of track and field meetings which were first held in 2010. It was designed to replace the IAAF Golden League, which was held annually since 1998.
While the Golden League was formed to increase the profile of the leading European athletics competitions, the Diamond League’s aim is to “enhance the worldwide appeal of athletics by going outside Europe for the first time.”
In addition to the original Golden League members (except Berlin) and other traditional European meetings, the series includes events in the United States, China and Qatar.
“The Diamond League has established itself, in just three years, in the imaginary of sports fans worldwide,” Diack said.
“Expanding on the Europe-based Golden League, it now reaches a worldwide TV audience greater than anything we ever dreamt for the Golden League,” the Senegalese national added.
The IAAF boss said Doha remained one of the more popular stops on the Diamond League series calendar.
He praised the Doha organisers’ experience as hosts so ‘brilliantly displayed at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships’ and at the inaugural event of each of the three previous Diamond League seasons.
“Doha 2013 will be the best competition in the meeting’s history,” Diack said.
THE PENINSULA
