Jamaica’s former world record holder Asafa Powell makes a return to competitive action as he takes on freshly minted World champion Justin Gatlin in the 100m Diamond League Final in Zurich, Switzerland today at 3:08 pm.

Four other Jamaicans will be in action hunting Diamond League trophies as sprint queen Elaine Thompson lines up in the 200m, along with compatriot Simone Facey, while other Jamaicans Danielle Williams goes in the 100m hurdles and Kimberly Williams in the triple jump.

The winner at the final of each Diamond discipline will become “IAAF Diamond League champion” and be awarded a Diamond Trophy, US$50,000 prize money, plus a wild card for the next IAAF World Championships.

The best athletes of the current season qualified for the final based upon points acquired at the 12 preceding IAAF Diamond League meetings. US$100,000 will be awarded in prize money in each event, with individual event champions collecting $50,000.

Sixteen Diamond League finals will be on show and the new system provides for added suspense and drama, as the points collected at the qualifying meetings have no influence on the outcome of the finals. Everyone starts at zero.

The Weltklasse Zurich meet will feature as many as eight duels between reigning Olympic champions and newly crowned world champions.

Organisers have confirmed that 18 new world champions will be competing at the first of this season’s two IAAF Diamond League finals. The other is in Brussels, Belgium on September 1 and several Jamaicans will be in the thick of things.

Powell, 34, the defending Diamond league champion, who has been out of action since the National Senior Championships in June after aggravating an Achilles tendon injury, qualifies for the final despite running just one Diamond League race, while garnering seven points.

However, a victory for Powell would see him being crowned champion and what would be even better is if he can achieve his 98th sub-10-second race.

It is left to see how Powell, with a personal best of 9.72 and a season’s best of 10.08, will perform in his comeback race.

He will match strides with Gatlin, who is bubbling with confidence after finally conquering Usain Bolt, and with the burden off his back, he could be flying and could lower his season’s best of 9.92 seconds.

South Africa’s Akani Simbine, Chijundu Ujah of Great Britain and Ben Youssef Meite of the Ivory Coast will make this 100m a competitive one, each knowing very well the significance of victory.

Meanwhile, double Olympic champion Thompson, who is fresh from her recovery 100m win in Birmingham, switches to the 200m final where she lines up against World champion Dafne Schippers, Shaunae Liller-Uibo, Marie-Josee Ta Lou and Simone Facey.

Thompson, who has the third fastest time in the world this year of 21.98, will be on the hunt for the first of two Diamond League titles that could see her walking away with a combined US$100,000 payday. Next week she will hunt the 100m crown in Brussels.

Danielle Williams, who lost her World Championship 100m hurdles title, could end the season on a high with victory today. World record holder Kendra Harrison will be missing, but new world champion Sally Pearson, veteran Dawn Harper-Nelson, Sharika Nelvis and world leader Jasmine Stowers are down to compete.

Williams seems to be in the form of her life and it would come as no surprise if she captures the Diamond League trophy and a hefty payday. Her time of 12.56 makes her the fourth fastest in the field, and based on how she looked in the heats at the World Championships, she should go pretty close.

Triple jumper Kimberly Williams has the most difficult task and will have to more than likely surpass her personal best of 14.62 to defeat this top quality field.

Colombia’s Caterine Ibarguen has dominated the triple jump, taking Olympic gold and two World Championships titles. However, in London Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela upstaged her and snatched gold. Rojas is the world leader with 14.96m while Ibarguen has a season’s best jump of 14.89. But Ibarguen has won three out of four IAAF Diamond League competitions.

Veteran Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan is the bronze medallist in London and is also one of the seven championship finalists in the field. Hence Williams will be hard pressed to win, but it’s not beyond her.