The Diamond League on Thursday announced further postponements in the 2020 schedule as both the Prefontaine Classic (June 7) and Paris Diamond League meeting (June 13) will not take place as scheduled due to the pandemic.

That, of course, is no surprise given the current global situation, but there is a silver lining in today’s news: the Oslo Diamond League, scheduled in between the Pre Classic and Paris on June 11, is preparing to contest a new format, dubbed the Impossible Games, which will take place without fans but will feature some of the world’s top athletes.

The Diamond League is calling the event an “alternative exhibition” and the event will follow Norway’s infection control requirements, according to the release.

The pool of athletes able to travel to Oslo for the event will be greatly reduced due to the crisis, but the Impossible Games is still set to feature an all-star cast of athletes:

- Norway’s own Karsten Warholm will make a world record attempt in the rarely run 300m hurdles.

- Swedish discus world champion Daniel Ståhl will compete.

- Mondo Duplantis, who set multiple pole vault world records during the indoor season, will face off against former world record holder Renaud Lavillenie. Lavillenie will compete virtually via his home in Pérignat-lès-Sarliève in France.

The meeting release admits that there are “still a lot of balls in the air” to ensure the meet can go ahead as planned given the unique circumstances, but as it stands now this is very encouraging news for the sport of track and field.