Coronavirus: Lausanne Diamond League organisers seek ‘other options’

The meeting director, Pierre Tenger, said while he hoped to hold a meeting in cooperation with the Zurich event, the format “had not yet been decided“.

The Diamond League season, which had been due to start in Doha on April 17, has been heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Lausanne Diamond League meeting will not take place on August 20 because of restrictions linked to the coronavirus pandemic but organisers said Thursday they were looking at “other options“.

The meeting director said he instead hoped to hold a joint Swiss event with the Zurich Weltklasse, one of the Diamond League’s traditional highlights that is scheduled to take place on September 11.

“With a heavy heart we have had to take the decision to not go ahead with the Athletissima on August 20,” organisers said in a statement.

They said it was “impossible to allow a large number of people to gather in a restricted space before the end of August“.

But they said they were looking at “which alternatives and which formats could still be possible to give athletes the possibility of competition“.

The meeting director, Pierre Tenger, said while he hoped to hold a meeting in cooperation with the Zurich event, the format “had not yet been decided“.

The Diamond League season, which had been due to start in Doha on April 17, has been heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meetings in June in the US city of Eugene and in Paris have already been postponed. The next meeting on the circuit due to take place is in London on July 4