Diamond League 2026 - everything you need to know

Keely Hodgkinson begins an outdoor season in which she will seek to break the long-standing women's 800m world record by testing her speed over 400m at the Rome Diamond League on Thursday, which is live on the BBC.

Britain's Olympic 800m champion has made clear her intention to topple Czech athlete Jarmila Kratochvilova's 43-year mark this summer, ideally on home soil at the London Diamond League event in July, after smashing the world indoor record in February.

Before then, the 24-year-old starts her racing preparations in Rome, where she will line up with a 400m personal best almost one second slower than any of her rivals.

The decision to "throw myself in at the deep end", she says, is to demonstrate her one-lap potential following a speed-focused training block - something which injuries have prevented her from doing prior to her past two outdoor seasons.

"Hopefully bringing down that 400m time is going to make that first lap of the 800m feel nice," Hodgkinson said.

"I think it will give me some confidence. If anyone is like 'Keely has got no speed', I'll be like 'yes I do, thank you'.

"The 400m for me is a bit of fun, something different. The line up in Rome is crazy but I think it's good to put myself in a position where, on paper, I'm going in as the slowest. I'm looking forward to challenging myself."

Hodgkinson, who has a 400m personal best of 51.61 seconds, is joined in the 400m by Britain's 2025 world indoor champion Amber Anning - one of six athletes in the line-up who have gone sub-50.

Also in Rome, British sprinter Jeremiah Azu contests a star-studded men's 100m headlined by reigning Olympic champion Noah Lyles, while Dina Asher-Smith and Amy Hunt go head-to-head with world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden in the women's 200m.

Georgia Hunter Bell, Laura Muir and Revee Walcott-Nolan compete over 1500m, while two-time world indoor pole vault champion Molly Caudery is also in action.

Watch coverage live on BBC Three and the BBC Sport website and app from 20:00 BST on Thursday.

The Diamond League - athletics' premier one-day meeting series - consists of 15 stops, this year culminating in a two-day final in Brussels in September, which will precede the inaugural season-ending World Athletics Ultimate Championship.

Thursday, 4 June (All times BST)

After Rome, Hodgkinson will race over 800m at Diamond League meetings in Stockholm and Eugene before heading to London.

Training partner Hunter Bell and reigning world 800m champion Lilian Odira will also be competing at the Prefontaine Classic as the three medallists from Tokyo are reunited in Eugene.

Josh Kerr has announced he will attempt to break the long-standing men's mile world record at the London Diamond League meeting this summer.

The London Athletics Meet will be a key date in the diary of many British stars, with a women's 200m showdown between relay team-mates Hunt, Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita among the standout events.

After improving the pole vault world record for the 15th time by clearing 6.31 metres in March, the unstoppable Duplantis returns to Stockholm - where he set his first world record on home soil last year - with Paris, London and a city event in Lausanne also among his targets.

Australia's teenage sensation Gout Gout will take on Olympic champion Tebogo over 200m in his Diamond League debut in Oslo.

Meanwhile, Olympic 100m gold and silver medallists Noah Lyles and Kishane Thompson meet in Silesia.

Athletes compete for points across 32 Diamond League disciplines at the 14 regular series meetings in a bid to qualify for the finals in Brussels in September.

After the 14th stop in Zurich in August, the top six athletes in field events, top eight in track events from 100m up to 800m, and top 10 in distances from 1500m upwards, will qualify for the finals.

The two-day finals are a winner-takes-all showdown to be crowned Diamond League champion in each event.

All Diamond League events will be shown on the BBC until 2030 after a new multi-year deal was agreed last year.

The total prize money remains the same as 2025, when it was increased to $9.2m (£6.8m) - including $500,000 (£370,000) at each of the 14 series meetings, and $2.2m (£1.6m) at the Diamond League final.

However, the prize money structure has been altered to provide higher earnings to the winners of eight selected 'Diamond+' disciplines' at each meet, which offer $20,000 (£14,800) at series meetings and up to $60,000 (£44,400) at the finals.