African athletes will not lose competition opportunities despite the introduction of a trimmer Diamond League format next year, the sport's world governing body (IAAF) said on Sunday. Diamond League meetings will be reduced from 14 to 12 competitions plus a final, with events longer than 3,000 metres excluded from the programme.
Athletics Kenya (AK) president Jackson Tuwei had criticised the decision, saying it was unfair to drop 5,000m and 10,000m events in which African athletes have traditionally done very well. IAAF President Sebastian Coe and CEO Jon Ridgeon met Tuwei during the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus and provided assurances that Kenyan and other East African athletes would not be disadvantaged, the governing body said.
Coe clarified that the absence of the 5,000m from the official programme would not prevent individual Diamond League meetings from running the event outside of the 90-minute broadcast window.
"We believe that ultimately these changes will be beneficial not only to Kenyan and East African distance runners, but to our leading athletes around the globe, because it will result in a stronger, higher-profile, commercially-successful annual showcase series for our sport," Coe said in a statement https://www.iaaf.org/news/press-release/diamond-league-2020-5000m-kenya.
"And it's important to remember that the IAAF will be creating other continental competition opportunities outside the Diamond League as we redesign the global calendar." The IAAF said the 3,000m was selected because the 5,000m runners, coaches and agents indicated they were unlikely to feature in all six races over that distance during the Diamond League series.
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