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Diamond League meetings will no longer feature the 200m, 3,000m steeplechase, discus or triple jump at all of its events in 2020.
Athletics’ governing body the IAAF said it did research on the popularity of events and wished to cut the length of meetings for a “90-minute broadcast”.
There will be 12 disciplines staged at each of the 15 Diamond League meetings.
The 3,000m steeplechase and 200m will feature at 10 meetings, while two will stage the discus and triple jump.
None of the four disciplines removed from the ‘core’ list will form part of the Diamond League Final in Zurich in September.
“Our objective is to create a faster-paced, more exciting global league that will be the showcase for our sport. A league that broadcasters want to show and fans want to watch,” IAAF president and Diamond League chairman Lord Coe said.
“However, we understand the disappointment of those athletes in the disciplines not part of the 2020 Diamond League season.”
British sprinter Adam Gemili appeared to show his surprise over the move by tagging the Diamond League Twitter account in a tweet featuring a gif of actor Tom Hanks mouthing “really?”.
American world 200m champion Noah Lyles tweeted: “Wow, no 200m.”
The 2020 Diamond League begins in Doha on 17 April.
The IAAF said its decision followed research on the popularity of events which was conducted in China, France, South Africa and the USA, while surveys were carried out in Belgium, Great Britain and Switzerland.
Click-throughs on Diamond League social media videos also helped guide the governing body.
Discus, triple jump and the 3,000m steeplechase ranked lowest in terms of popularity, while the 200m was taken off the core list as organisers felt its inclusion alongside the 100m meant the schedule would be “too congested, particularly in an Olympic Games year”.
Former world 400m hurdles champion Dai Greene tweeted: “There’s no such thing as a boring event, it’s how you present it to the public that’s the problem.”
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