Key storylines from the 2022 Diamond League Final in Zurich 

The Zurich Diamond League is set to take place this week from 7-8 September, with nothing less than the titles of Diamond League Champion on the line.

The one-off finals follow 12 global competitions where athletes have accumulated points for the opportunity to battle for glory in Zurich. Now the time for talk is over, 32 champions will be crowned this week as the best of the best vie for one of the greatest prizes in sport.

This week's competition represents only the second time the Diamond League Final has taken place in a single city since the series moved to a championship final format in 2017.

Will favourites cement their positions at the top of the podium? Will new faces arise to shock the athletics world? Find out all you need to know about the Diamond League Zurich below.

When and where is the Zurich Diamond League?

The Diamond League Final will take place between 7 and 8 September at the Zürich Letzigrund stadium, a venue with a capacity of 26,000 for athletics events.

The stadium has held the Weltklasse Zürich (now part of the Diamond League) since 1928, following its construction in 1925.

The competition kicks off with the men’s and women’s shot put at 16:55 on 7 September and ends with the men’s 200m at 22:00 on 8 September. In total there will be 32 champions crowned over the two-day event, each of whom will take home a Diamond Trophy.

Key storylines from the Diamond League Final in Zurich

Here are some of the stars to watch for in Zurich.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson and Noah Lyles eye history in the sprints

One of the main events athletics fans across the world will be watching like hawks is the women’s 100m final where the newly-crowned world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will continue her quest to break the women’s world record set all the way back in 1988 by Florence Griffith-Joyner.

While back-to-back Olympic 100m and 200m champion Elaine Thompson-Herah will not be racing in the final, Fraser-Pryce - the fastest woman in the world this year - will be pushed to the line by American trio Aleia Hobbs, Sha'Carri Richardson and Twanisha Terry, as well as fellow Jamaican Shericka Jackson who delivered a rare defeat to Fraser-Pryce in the recent Diamond League in Brussels.

Speaking of Jackson, the 28-year-old is in nothing short of the form of her life having posted the third-fastest 200m time in history at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon. She will be aiming to improve on her gold-winning time of 21.45 seconds in the 200m final in Zurich.

In the men’s 200m, another Oregon history-maker will battle for the title of Diamond League Champion. Fresh from breaking the American 200m record en route to gold at the Worlds, Noah Lyles will face his young rival Erriyon Knighton who recently won his first Diamond League crown in Brussels.

Can Mondo Duplantis, Yulimar Rojas and Tobi Amusan break their own world records in Zurich?

World record may well be on the line at the Zurich Diamond League and three stars will be aiming to improve upon their own world-best marks in Zurich. Sweden’s Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis will aim to go higher than the 6.21m he set in July, however he enters the competition having suffered a rare defeat at the Diamond League in Brussels where he failed to jump 5.91m on three occasions.

Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas is out in a league of her own in the women’s triple jump. The reigning Olympic champion set her world record of 15.67m at Tokyo 2020 and has a stated aim of not only breaking that mark again but also jumping farther than the mythical 16 metres. Will Zurich be the stage of her greatest triumph to date?

At the World Athletics Championships, Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan obliterated the women’s world 100m record with a time of 12.12 and enters the Diamond League final as the reigning world, Commonwealth and African champion.

READ MORE: How Tobi Amusan became the fastest 100m hurdler ever

Faith Kipyegon, Sifan Hassan and Jakob Ingebrigtsen aim for distance titles

Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon has been imperious over the 1500m distance in recent times, with the two-time Olympic champion adding a second world title to her name this summer. Less than a month ago, she proved her class by setting the second-fastest 1500m time in history with 3:50.37 - missing out on the world record by just 0.3 seconds.

In the 5000m, Olympic champion Sifan Hassan leads an all-star cast that includes world 5000m champion Gudaf Tsegay and 5k road race world record holder Ejgayehu Taye. Hassan has had something of a subdued season following her heroics in Tokyo that saw her win 5000 and 10,000m gold, as well as bronze in the 1500m. However with such high-quality competitors in the field, expect fireworks on Wednesday.

The men’s 1500m will see Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen eager to prove a point after he lost out on the world title in Oregon to a surging Jake Wightman. While Wightman will race in the 800m final in Zurich, Inegbrigtsen will be back racing the metric mile as he looks to win another major title this year after his 5000m World Championships victory and European 1500m gold in Munich.

Will Mutaz Barshim and Yaroslava Mahuchikh fly highest in Switzerland?

Following the fairytale ending of the Tokyo 2020 men’s high jump competition, where Mutaz Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi shared gold in a gesture of shared friendship, the two will once again be reunited in competition in Zurich. Barshim enters the final having added a third world high jump gold to his trophy cabinet in July and will again be the favourite heading into the Diamond League Final.

In the women’s competition, Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist and two-time world silver medallist Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine will as always be one to watch. She set a world lead of 2.05 at the Brussels Diamond League and will have an eye on the world record of 2.09 when she competes in Zurich.

Grant Holloway and Femke Bol face season-defining hurdles

The USA’s Grant Holloway was in a league of his own at his home World Championships in July, walking away from the competition with a second world title after his first victory in 2019. However, in Zurich, he is likely to face stiff competition from Olympic champion Hansle Parchment, who sat out the final of the Worlds through injury.

In the women’s 400m hurdles, watch out for Dutch speedster Femke Bol who won gold in the 400m hurdles, 400m flat and 4x400m relay at the European Championships. While world record holder Sydney McLaughlin will not be racing in Zurich, Bol and Rio 2016 Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad will both be expected to lay down blistering times.

READ MORE: Grant Holloway's next hurdle

Zurich Diamond League 2022 schedule

Wednesday 7 September (all times local time)

Shot Put (Women): 4:55 pm

Shot Put (Men): 4:55 pm

Pole Vault (Women): 5:30 pm

5000 Metres (Women): 5:35 pm

High Jump (Men): 6 pm

5000 Metres (Men): 7:10 pm

Thursday 8 September

Triple Jump (Women): 5:35 pm

Triple Jump (Men): 5:35 pm

High Jump (Women): 5:55 pm

Discus Throw (Men): 6:15 pm

Discus Throw (Women): 6:15 pm

400 Metres (Women): 7:04 pm

400 Metres (Men): 7:15 pm

100 Metres Hurdles (Women): 7:25 pm

3000 Metres Steeplechase (Women): 7:33 pm

Pole Vault (Men): 7:40 pm

110 Metres Hurdles (Men): 7:52 pm

1500 Metres (Women): 7:59 pm

Javelin Throw (Women): 8:20 pm

Javelin Throw (Men): 8:20 pm

100 Metres (Women): 8:23 pm

3000 Metres Steeplechase (Men): 8:31 pm

100 Metres (Men): 8:49 pm

400 Metres Hurdles (Women): 8:59 pm

400 Metres Hurdles (Men): 9:09 pm

800 Metres (Women): 9:19 pm

800 Metres (Men): 9:31 pm

200 Metres (Women): 9:42 pm

200 Metres (Men): 9:52 pm