While some fans look ahead to the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship next week, there is plenty for athletes to accomplish at this week's Diamond League Final, especially for four Canadians.

Sprinters Andre De Grasse and Audrey Leduc, along with middle-distance runner Marco Arop and shot put star Sarah Mitton, will compete for a trophy and the $30,000 US top prize in their disciplines on Friday or Saturday in Brussels.

Most participants have qualified by earning points on the Road to the Final, which took place at 14 series meetings across four different continents between April and August.

In a related development, forty reigning world and/or Olympic champions will be in action at King Baudouin Stadium for the 50th edition for the Allianz Memorial Van Damme track and field meet.

Mitton, one of three Canadians competing Friday, will try to capture the Diamond League Trophy for a second time in three years in Belgium.

A year ago, she was stripped of the title following a successful protest of her winning throw.

Furthermore, watch live coverage of the two-day Diamond League Final on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. Coverage from Brussels begins Friday at 2 p.m. ET, and continues Saturday at 2 p.m.

The Brooklyn, N.S., native's second attempt measured 20.67 metres but, following a review by judges, Mitton was ruled to have stepped out of the throwing circle before the shot hit the ground, thereby making her throw invalid. It also appeared she clipped the front toe board.

Mitton's second-best throw was 19.99, which bumped her to third place in the standings. Friday’s shot put competition begins at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Additionally, de Grasse clinches Diamond League Final spot, joining fellow Canadians Arop, Mitton

Mitton wins her 1st Diamond League Trophy weeks after Olympic heartbreak

On July 29, the 30-year-old successfully defended her women’s title at the Commonwealth Games, in control from start to finish and delivering a best throw of 19.88 metres.

It is worth noting that nine days later, Mitton threw 20.65 for the win at the Powerfest Throws Meet in Fleetwood, Pa., one centimetre off her season best and three shy of the Canadian record she set in Fleetwood on May 11, 2024.

Mitton defends Commonwealth Games shot put title in Glasgow

Arop placed third a year ago before taking bronze at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

In the broader context, last Aug. 28 in Zürich, Arop trailed his Kenyan rival Emmanuel Wanyonyi by less than one metre at the finish line for third in one minute 42.57 seconds while battling an injured right Achilles tendon.

Arop 3rd at 2025 Diamond League Final ahead of world title defence

Arop loses lead, places 4th at Lausanne Diamond League

Notably, he enters this year’s Final race at 2:42 p.m. ET healthy and well-rested, having only raced twice since June 28, including a 1:42.13 victory in his hometown of Edmonton, less than a second off his 1:41.20 Canadian record.

Before last year’s Final, the 2024 Olympic silver medallist raced seven times in a 13-week period.

Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi wins Diamond League 800m race, Edmonton's Marco Arop finishes 4th

Significantly, leduc required only one Diamond League appearance this season to qualify for the women’s 200 in her first Final.

She collected six points for a third-place finish in Rabat, Morroco on May 31 and finished 16th in the season standings. Eight athletes ahead of the Gatineau, Que., native in the standings declined an invitation to Friday’s race at 3:41 p.m. ET.

The top seven athletes earn automatic invites, with Diamond League organizers able to activate a national wild card if they wish, but that wasn’t an option in the women’s 200.

Meanwhile, a month ago, the 27-year-old Leduc helped Canada to a Commonwealth Games silver medal in the women’s 4x100 relay.

She didn’t advance to the individual 200 final but twice was victorious in the distance in June at the Canadian championships (for a third time) and the inaugural Senior Pan American Athletics Championships in Medellín, Colombia.

Leduc and De Grasse claim Canadian 100m titles in rainy Ottawa

On a related note, de Grasse sprints to his second 200-metre win of season under 20 seconds

De Grasse will step on the track Saturday at 2:44 p.m. ET for the men’s 200. He is fresh off a 20.03-second performance at last week’s Weltklasse Zürich track and field meet to earn a fifth trip to the Diamond League Final, qualifying seventh in an eight-man field.

On Sept. 17, 2023, the seven-time Olympic medallist shocked the field at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., to become Canada’s first Diamond League Trophy recipient since Dylan Armstrong in shot put 12 years earlier. Priscilla Lopes-Schliep is Canada’s only other Diamond League Trophy winner, capturing the women’s 100 hurdles in 2010.

In a related development, now, the 31-year-old will try to be the first Canadian to prevail in consecutive appearances at the league’s season-ending competition.

Andre De Grasse stuns field to capture Diamond League 200m title

A win for Arop, De Grasse or Leduc in Brussels will guarantee them a spot in the World Athletics Ultimate Championship, which has a prize pot of $10 million US. That isn't the case for Mitton as women's shot put won't be contested in Budapest, Hungary. Olympic champions in 2024 and last year's world championship gold medallists automatically qualified.

Furthermore, first, Mondo Duplantis (pole vault), Valarie Sion (discus) and Emmanuel Wanyonyi (800 metres) are reigning world and Olympic champions hoping to be crowned Diamond League champions.

Other notable non-Canadian athletes in Brussels:

Meanwhile, a men’s one-hour race scheduled for Brussels on its 400m track, was called off by organizers. Frenchman Jimmy Gressier, the reigning 10,000m world champion, had planned to break Mo Farah's world record of 21.330 kilometres and 53.3 laps, set in 2020 at King Baudouin Stadium.

Additionally, rory Linkletter, the 2024 Canadian Olympian in the men’s marathon, was set to compete after successfully defending his national half marathon title on Aug. 16 in Edmonton.

Instead, the Calgary-born father of three will continue preparations for the half marathon at the Sept. 19-21 World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.

It is worth noting that doug Harrison has covered the professional and amateur scene as a senior writer for CBC Sports since 2003. Previously, the Burlington, Ont., native covered the NHL and other leagues for Faceoff.com. Follow the award-winning journalist @harrisoncbc

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