European Athletics (EA) – News – Schwanitz hopes to be on the right track in Zurich

Germany's Christina Schwanitz will aim to narrow the gap in the Diamond League race when the final women's shot put event takes place on Wednesday night.

A day before the Weltklasse at the Letzigrund Stadium, this field event takes pride of place. But for the fourth year in a row it is not at the arena, instead it is being staged as a showcased competition at Zurich's main railway station.

The men's and women's events will take place in a special shot put area in the ticket hall and athletes will be able to perform to music of their choice.

But the sound Schwanitz will really want to hear is the thud of her shot landing as far as it can.

She is unlikely to win the Diamond Race because she trails New Zealand's Valerie Adams by four points with four to the winner.

But edging closer to the woman who beat her to gold at the IAAF World Championships would be a good way to end the series; Adams has 16 points from Schwanitz's 12.

In Moscow, European Indoor champion Schwanitz took silver with a personal best of 20.41m as Adams won with 20.88m.

The men's event will not be decided until the final Diamond League meeting of the season in Brussels on Friday week and the Zurich event will have the top three from Moscow, led by Schwanitz's teammate David Storl, the double world champion.

He triumphed in Russia with 21.73m but the man who finished in silver, American Ryan Whiting, is way ahead in the Diamond Race.

He has 14 points from fellow American Reese Hoffa with nine and then Storl with four. Poland's Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski and the Czech Republic's Ladislav Prasil are also in the field, along with Canada's Dylan Armstrong, who was third in Moscow.

European Athletics (EA) – News