Press release

Eleven reigning world champions from around the globe are converging on Monaco this week for the first Diamond League meeting that will resemble a regular top-flight international one-day meeting since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As part of World Athletics' clean air initiative and its ongoing research into athletic performance in extreme environments, staff from the Health and Science department recorded environmental and air quality data along the Tokyo 2020 Olympic marathon course in Sapporo, Japan, on Saturday (8), exactly one year before the men’s race is scheduled to take place.

Today marks the anniversaries of three very significant historic world records which were all set in 1960 in Walnut, California.

The World Athletics Heritage Plaque, awarded in December 2018 to jointly honour Paavo Nurmi and the Paavo Nurmi Games, was presented last night at the start of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold Meeting in Turku.

Here is a round-up of updates relating to international competitions, from cancellations to postponements and confirmations.

Johannes Vetter produced his best throw for more than two years to win the javelin at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku on Tuesday (11), providing the highlight of the first World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting of 2020.

Organisers of the AG Memorial Van Damme have announced that world 1500m and 10,000m champion Sifan Hassan will attempt to break the one-hour world record at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Brussels on 4 September.

World discus throw champion Daniel Stahl unleashed his second 70-metre-plus throw of the season to highlight the Sollentuna Grand Prix, a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze meeting, on Monday (10).

As more athletes around the world return to the track for National Championships, one-day meetings and other record-breaking attempts, World Athletics has issued a reminder to Area Associations and Member Federations today about the recently introduced Rule 5, governing competition shoes.

The World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting series finally kicks off on Tuesday (11) with the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland. You can follow all the action on the World Athletics website, its associated platforms and via nearly three dozen broadcasters from around the world.

With just under a week to go until the Wanda Diamond League season kicks off in earnest, Monaco's Herculis meeting has published full entry lists for the first event of the season.

It may be held at a later date than originally planned, but in a year that has already been filled with so much uncertainty, athletes and fans have just two more days to wait until the first World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting of 2020 – the Paavo Nurmi Games – takes place.