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The 16th Diamond League season begins in Xiamen, China on Saturday as athletics’ Olympic stars begin to build towards their shot at world glory in 2025, live on the BBC. <\/b><\/p>\n
The series will see athletes compete for points in 32 disciplines across 14 meetings in a bid to qualify for the winner-takes-all two-day finals in Zurich in August.<\/p>\n
That takes place just over two weeks before the start of the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan in September.<\/p>\n
It is also the first year in which the Diamond League must compete with Michael Johnson’s new Grand Slam Track<\/a> for athletes’ attention.<\/p>\n Of the three remaining Grand Slam Track events, only one clashes directly with Diamond League competition – with the Miami Slam on 2\u20134 May taking place at the same time as the meet in Keqiao, China on 3 May.<\/p>\n The Diamond League has increased its prize money to the highest level in its history, with a total prize pot of $9.24m (\u00a36.95m) on offer across the series.<\/p>\n That includes $500,000 (\u00a3375,000) at each of the 14 series meetings, and $2.2m (\u00a31.7m) at the Diamond League final.<\/p>\n Watch the Diamond League action on the BBC Red Button, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app from 12:00 to 14:00 BST on Saturday.<\/p>\n On Friday, BBC Sport announced it has agreed a deal to broadcast the Diamond League for the next five years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n