Tokyo’s star names reassemble at Diamond League final

The 12th meeting of the summer series draws the finest athletes from around the globe to the Swiss city as they vie for the prestigious Diamond League trophy and the winner’s prize of US $30,000.

Series winners will also receive a wildcard for next year’s World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon and the Zurich organisers have laid on a mouth-watering feast of athletics for both today’s events in the city centre and Thursday’s inside the Letzigrund Stadium.

Back-to-back Olympic 100m and 200m champion Elaine Thompson-Herah is the star attraction in a tantalising Women’s 100m race, after running a blistering 10.54s in Eugene last month.

The Jamaican is now the second fastest woman of all time – and she may face the third in Zurich, with her compatriot and predecessor as Olympic champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce expected to compete.

Marie-Josee Ta Lou, who has run 10.78 this year and British duo Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita are also on the provisional start list.

World 200m champion Asher-Smith may choose to focus on the longer event, though, where she would face equally stiff opposition in Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson and Christine Mboma of Namibia.

Asher-Smith, 25, finished third in both Paris (100m) and Brussels (200m) recently after a rollercoaster Olympics, which she finished with Bronze in the 4x100m relay after injury marred her individual events.

In the Men’s sprints, Canada’s Olympic 200m champion Andre de Grasse and American 100m Silver Medallist Fred Kerley are named in both events.

It should come as no surprise that Norway’s Karsten Warholm will start the 400m hurdles as the overwhelming favourite.

After shattering the world record with a scintillating 45.94 to win Gold in Tokyo, Warholm ran a modest 45.51s over the flat in Lausanne and will be eager to return to his best in front of a capacity crowd.

His compatriot Jakob Ingebrigtsen, 20, is listed for both the 1500m and 5,000m. (BBC)