1. The Road To The Final
Introduced last season, the championship format continues in the 2018 IAAF Diamond League, with athletes set to take their first steps on the Road To The Final in Doha this week.
In each Diamond Discipline, the stars have the chance to pick up points at a series of meetings on the Road To The Final, and the highest scoring athletes over the course of the season will book their place in the IAAF Diamond League Final in Brussels or Zurich.
The winner of each event in the Final is crowned IAAF Diamond League Champion in their discipline, and gets their hands on the iconic Diamond Trophy.
2. Röhler dreams of 100m
Thomas Röhler got the IAAF Diamond League off to an incredible start in Doha last year when he threw an enormous 93.90m to set the tone for an extraordinary season in the men’s javelin.
Having just missed out on the Diamond Trophy, Röhler will be hungry for more this season, but being crowned IAAF Diamond League Champion is not his only goal.
The German star also wants to clear the 100m mark, as he admitted in a recent interview with the IAAF Diamond League. If the conditions are right, he claims, then anything is possible.
3. Legends hoping to bounce back
Having won the Diamond Trophy in every single year since the competition’s inauguration in 2010, Renaud Lavillenie was finally beaten at the eighth attempt last year, when Sam Kendricks claimed the Diamond Trophy in Zürich.
Caterine Ibargüen suffered a similar fate in the women’s triple jump, negotiating a tough battle with Yulimar Rojas in the Road To The Final, only to lose to Olga Rypakova in the Final itself, surrendering the Diamond Trophy for the first time since 2012. Both she and Lavillenie will no doubt be hoping to bounce back this season.
4. Rising stars
The IAAF Diamond League has, in recent years, often been the backdrop for some of the best young stars to announce their arrival on the international stage.
Omar McLeod, Kendra Harrison, Karsten Warholm and others have all made huge impacts in their first few Diamond League performances in recent seasons, and this year may well see others step up and join them.
With the likes of Christian Coleman set to make their Diamond League debuts this season, there is reason enough in many Diamond Disciplines for the established stars to keep one eye over their shoulder.
NEW: For more on the rising stars of 2017 and 2018, tune in to the IAAF Diamond League podcast
5. Schippers v Thompson reloaded
It was the sprint duel of the last few years, and Elaine Thompson and Dafne Schippers are set to resume their rivalry when they go head to head in the women’s 100m in Doha this week.
Though both Tori Bowie and Shaunae Miller-Uibo also challenged for the major crowns last season, Schippers and Thompson remain the favourites to win the Diamond Trophy in the 100m and 200m.
If previous years are anything to go by, Friday’s clash in Doha could set the tone for what will be an enthralling battle on the Road To The Final.