Diamond League Finals in Brussels: A global performance check

It will be sparkling on the next two evenings in Brussels' King Baudouin Stadium. The best athletes of the season start at the final of the Diamond League: 32 disciplines, only final competitions. And it's worth it: a total of 2.24 million dollars (1.93 million euros) in prize money will be paid out, and each winner will receive a diamond and 30,000 dollars (25,850 euros) as a trophy. In some selected “plus competitions” this is even double.

Two days of celebration for athletics fans who can look forward to compact, high-quality sport. 16 champions are chosen each evening within four hours. Even experts have to look closely so as not to miss any highlights. Here you jump, there you throw, you fly behind, you sprint in front, you run around it.

After the European Championships in Birmingham, the next showdown for the core sport of Olympic sport. And also for the German athletes, who once again made themselves the focus of the football-weary audience at the European Championships in England - presented themselves in a friendly manner and celebrated a total of 21 medals - another chance to show themselves.

But at this point the anticipation is clearly dampened. After the 14 meetings held as part of the Diamond League, around 240 participants qualified for the final weekend. Six in each of the technical disciplines, eight in the running distances up to 800 meters, and ten in the longer ones.

The number of German participants at the final in Brussels: a total of eight. In competition with African runners, Jamaican sprinters and American experts who compete in all sorts of disciplines, it is immediately apparent where European athletics stands in comparison to the rest of the world.

The other top nations from Birmingham are only traveling to the European capital Brussels with a small squad: according to the current starting list there are four Dutch, five Italians and eight Brits. In total, 63 European athletes made it through - apart from the almost two dozen Belgians who are allowed to fill the fields via wildcard in order to delight the home audience.

So only a quarter of the qualified participants come from the old continent. This correlates with the results at recent major events worldwide: At the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, all Europeans together won 47 medals in 49 disciplines, and at the Olympic Games in Paris they won 46 medals in 48 competitions, i.e. almost a third each. The Germans won five medals in Tokyo and four in Paris.

As beautiful as the athletics festivities in Birmingham were to see, as successful as the European Championship evenings were for the German team, they only had a limited impact on global performance. It was a lavish celebration – at the B level of the sport.