SUM SET TO GET DIAMOND TROPHY: World bronze medallist to race in Zurich meet tonight

ATHLETICS-DIAMOND-GBR Kenya's Eunice Jepkoech Sum crosses the finish line to win the women's 800m final during the IAAF Diamond League Birmingham Grand Prix athletics meeting at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, central England, on June 7, 2015. AFP PHOTO / BEN STANSALL

World 800m bronze medallist Eunice Sum will be crowned with the IAAF Diamond Race Trophy when the Weltklasse meeting, the 13th IAAF Diamond League stop, gets underway in Zurich, Switzerland, tonight.

Sum, who rose from a volleyball player at Itigo Girls High School in Nandi County to a world beater on the track, will be crowned alongside Christina Schwanitz and Tianna Bartoletta, the trio who have all been imperious in this season’s Diamond Race.

All three athletes now have a lead of eight points or more, meaning that they only need to compete in Zurich in order to claim the Diamond Trophy.

Both shot-putter Schwanitz and Eunice Sum have won four out of six Diamond League clashes this season, while long jumper Bartoletta has three wins to her name, her points tally bolstered by second-place finishes in New York and Monaco.

But in many of the disciplines which will conclude in Zurich, there is barely a hair’s breadth between those still in the running for the Diamond Trophy.

In the men’s 200m, there have been four different victors over the six races so far, leading to a field so open that it is led by a man who hasn’t a single victory to his name. Anaso Jobodwana has finished second four times this year. He is now on nine points, just a whisker ahead of Alonso Edward and Zharnel Hughes.

The men’s 400m is nearly as close. The first half of the season was dominated by Diamond Trophy holder Kirani James, but after his shock defeat in Paris to Wayde van Niekerk, the Olympic champion has seen his lead shortened dramatically. He is now just two points ahead of the young South African.

Two other world champions who will be gunning for the Diamond Trophy in Zurich are Asbel Kiprop and Zuzana Hejnova.

Kiprop is third in the men’s 1,500m Diamond Race, having been outgunned so far by Ayanleh Souleiman and Silas Kiplagat.

With only a two-point gap between him and the top, though, the newly re-crowned world champion will be confident of winning the Diamond Trophy.

Hejnova, meanwhile, overturned Kaliese Spencer’s 10-point lead with three straight wins since Paris. She is now two points ahead of Spencer, and the battle between the two of them is one to look forward to in Zurich.

All season long, the world’s top track and field stars have vied for valuable Diamond Race points in the first 12 IAAF Diamond League meetings. Even with just the two finals to go –Zurich (tonight) and Brussels (on September 11) –much could still change in the standings.

Double points are on offer in the finals, meaning only an eight-point lead at this stage guarantees overall victory in the Diamond Race and the finals are the perfect conclusion to the 2015 season.

And there is still a chance for the victors of Beijing to garner yet more success; a chance for those who were disappointed in China to claim redemption and a chance for all athletes to get their hands on a $40,000 (Sh4.1m) cash prize and the spectacular Diamond Trophy.

There is a wealth of athletes who remain agonisingly close to Diamond Race glory Jairus Birech, steeplechase fourth-placed in Beijing, and pole vaulter Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou have leads of seven and six points in their respective Diamond Races.

Two finals take place tonight in Zurich, where 16 different Diamond Races will reach their ultimate conclusion.