DIAMOND LEAGUE FINAL: SHELLY-ANN-PRYCE PULLS OUT AS THOMPSON-HERAH WILL RUN- WINNER’S PRIZE $30,000.

The season final of the prestigious Diamond League start Wednesday at the Letzigrund Stadium and winner of the athletics trophy will go home with the winner’s prize of $30,000. The event comes weeks after the concluded Tokyo Olympic Games and the top eight athletes based on points accumulated over the series earn the right to compete for the battle for supremacy.

Tokyo Olympic 100m and 200m gold medallist, Jamaican Elane Thomson –Herah will race if she can better her world second fastest time of 10.54s which she achieved in Eugene last month, but her compatriot two time Olympic Champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has announced she will not compete at the Wanda Diamond League in Zurich through her agent Paul Doyle.

Doyle had stated that it wasn’t in the plans, “No, she (Fraser-Pryce) will not (run).” Trackalert.com quoted Doyle. “The Diamond League Final just wasn’t in the plans.” According to Loop

While the world will miss her from the final event, Ivorian Marie –Jose Ta Lou who finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympic will compete in Zurich having earned 28 points at per with Fraser-Pryce. Thompson-Herah, 23 points and Olympic bronze medallist Shericka Jackson, 19 points are all qualified to challenge in both the 100m and 200m with the dream to beat Florence Griffith-Joyner’s 1988 world record- set at the Diamond League meeting in Eugene.

Others expected to compete at the Diamond League are Namibia’s Christine Mboma, US Javianne Oliver, Britain’s Dary Neita, Swiss Ajila Del Ponte, Majinga Kambunndji and World Champion 200m Asher-Smith who finished third in both the Paris (100m) and Brussels (200m) recently after the Olympic Games where she won bronze in the 4x 100m relay.

In the men’s sprints, Olympic 100m silver medallist at the Tokyo Games Fred Kerley is expected to compete and alongside, surprise winner of the 200m Olympic gold, Canada’s Andre de Grasse. In Shot Put two-time Olympic champion American Ryan Crouser will power if he can better his personal best. While, in high jump Mariya Lasitskene, Nicola McDermott of Australia and Yaroslava Mahuchikh will compete and there will be other events such as pole vault at the Diamond League which started in 2010.