When the 2026 Diamond League season kicks off in Shanghai on Saturday, the Swiss trio will be focusing primarily on Ditaji Kambundji. Jason Joseph and Joceline Wind will also be competing in China.
16.05.2026, 05:00
16.05.2026, 09:49
SDA
Eight months after her World Championship title, the athlete from Bern will be competing in the 100 m hurdles again - and for the first time as the hunted. The starting position has changed. Ditaji Kambundji made Swiss sporting history in Tokyo last September when she won World Championship gold in 12.24 seconds and became the first Swiss female outdoor world champion in athletics.
Since then, the Swiss athlete of the year is no longer a challenger, but an athlete who wants to beat everyone. This is precisely what makes the Diamond League opener in China so special.
The 23-year-old herself is approaching this new role with calm. "It's not possible to run 12.24 for the whole season," she says at the media meeting in Bern, looking ahead to the coming months. It is not the outliers at the top, but consistency that is important to her at the start of the season. Consistency is the prerequisite for confirming her triumph. In 2025, she only ran under 12.40 seconds in the gold medal race. This should be the case more regularly this season and the average time should drop.
Gold after bronze and silver?
This year, her plans are focused on the European Championships in Birmingham in August. She wants to be in top form there. After bronze in 2022 and silver in 2024, gold would be the next step at a European Championships. However, the World Indoor Championships in Torun last March showed that The international competition has moved closer together and is getting better and better. In Poland, Ditaji Kambundji narrowly missed out on a medal in fourth place, despite running a strong 7.75. Devynne Charlton won gold in a world record time of 7.63 seconds. "The standard in this discipline is so high. It spurs everyone on to run faster. It's a positive cycle," says the athlete from Bern.
The hurdles sprinter is now expecting exactly the same level in China. In Shanghai, the Swiss athlete will face world record holder Tobi Amusan, Olympic champion Masai Russell and Jamaican Diamond League winner Ackera Nugent, among others. Ditaji Kambundji is the only European in the field.
Joseph and Joceline Wind also at the start
The opening event in China marks the start of a long Diamond League season with a total of 15 meetings on four continents, including Athletissima and Weltklasse Zürich, and the final in Brussels at the beginning of September. In addition to Ditaji Kambundji, Jason Joseph will also be competing in the 110 m hurdles and Joceline Wind in the 1500 m in Shanghai.
Joseph deliberately only completed a short indoor season in order to prepare specifically for the summer. "I just wanted to get confirmation from the two competitions that the training is working," he explains.
The World Championship final in Tokyo was a complete failure for Joseph. The mishap at the start overshadows the fact that he took another step forward in 2025 and qualified for a World Championship final with confidence.
From hurdle 6 onwards, hardly anyone stands a chance against the Basel native. If the start and acceleration work, then the 27-year-old embodies world class. "A new version of me was born last year. I feel I've been on a higher level since then," he emphasizes. A hunter who can be dangerous to anyone.
Joceline Wind, on the other hand, is making her debut at a Diamond League meeting outside of Switzerland after attracting attention in the winter with Swiss indoor records over 1500 m, 1 mile and 2000 m.
