Determining a regular-season champion in track and field is an inexact science. Many methods are used weighing some combination of season-best performances, head-to-head records, and major championship victories. But it’s hard to encapsulate all those metrics in a sport as fluid as track and field. 

The current Diamond League system is the best option: bringing the top point scorers from the year to finals for one winner-take-all race. 

Because it requires some participation throughout the season, some big stars don't make the cut because they simply don't race frequently enough.  

The qualifiers have been announced for Zurich and Brussels next Thursday and Friday, so it's worth a look to see who is—and isn't—going to be part of the apex of the regular season. There may be some shifting in the start lists when some athlete scratch, but here are a few fields with some notable absences ranging from Wayde Van Niekerk in the 400m (he was hurt) to Noah Lyles in the 100m (didn't quite have enough points).

Men’s 100m

Who Qualified: 

Ronnie Baker

Christian Coleman

Reece Prescod

Akani Simbine

Mike Rodgers

Jimmy Vicaut 

Yohan Blake

Bingtian Su 

Who's Missing: 

World No. 2 Noah Lyles (9.88)

World Champion Justin Gatlin (10.03)

It wasn’t long ago that the best sprinters in the world would spend most of the summer avoiding each other. That is no longer the case. Noah Lyles, Christian Coleman, and Ronnie Baker have raced with regularity in 2018, a side effect to the post-Bolt era. 

Because we’ve seen Lyles mix it up this year in the 100m, naturally track fans are little greedy and want to see it at least one more time before the season ends. 

But Lyles just missed out on qualifying in the 100m (he is safely in the 200m) by one point. If he took second instead of third in Birmingham last week (or if Yohan Blake took sixth instead of fourth) Lyles would be on the line in Brussels. 

The field is also missing 2017 world champion, Justin Gatlin. Gatlin raced only one Diamond League meet in 2018 so his absence is no surprise. But with the continued ascendence of the young American stars, it would have been interesting to see just where Gatlin matched up with Lyles, Coleman, and Baker. 

Men’s 400m

Who Qualified:

Abdalleleh Haroun

Paul Dedewo 

Fred Kerley

Matthew Hudson-Smith

Steven Gardiner

Isaac Makwala

Baboloki Thebe

Who's Missing: 

World No. 1 Michael Norman (43.61)

World Champion Wayde van Niekerk 

There were no surprises in qualifying or last-minute drama in the men’s 400m. But the race will be without the world leader, Michael Norman, and the defending world champion, Wayde Van Niekerk. 

Norman shut his season down after two appearances in Diamond League 200m races. Van Niekerk tore his ACL in a rugby match last fall and despite some speculation that he could return to the track in the late summer, he did not race at all this season. 

"I ran a very smart and controlled race and I'm happy with the turnout."
- @USC_Track_Field's Michael Norman on running a 44.66 to punch his ticket to the #ncaaTF 400m finals. pic.twitter.com/ncWJVljzG5

— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) June 7, 2018

Norman vs Van Niekerk will be one of the most anticipated races in 2019. Norman’s 43.61 is a ways from Van Niekerk’s 43.03, but those personal bests indicate neither man’s form heading into 2019. Norman looks nowhere near his ceiling in the event and Van Niekerk will be rebounding from a major injury for the first time in his career.

As for the Diamond League final, it serves a bridge to next season and a method of testing who could possibly challenge Van Niekerk and Norman next year. Gardiner has broken 20 seconds in the 200m and 44 seconds in the 400m this year, while Haroun, Kerley, and Makwala have put up top-10 marks this year.  

Men’s 1500m

Who Qualified:

Timothy Cheruiyot

Elijah Manangoi

Ayanleh Souleiman

Filip Ingebrigtsen

Charles Simwoto

Samuel Tefera

Aman Wote

Brahim Kaazouzi

Jakub Holusa

Sadik Mikhou

Taresa Tolosa

Charles Da’Vall Grice

Who's Missing: 

World No. 4 Jakob Ingebrigtsen (3:31.18)

Olympic Champion Matthew Centrowitz (3:31.77)

There will be one Ingebrigtsen in the field, but not thee Ingebrigtsen. Filip has had a spectacular season and thus far his career accomplishments are ahead of his 17-year-old brother. But who doesn’t want to see Jakob go against a Diamond League field again? 

His last time out in Monaco, he placed fourth in 3:31. That earned him five points, but since it was his only Diamond League race of 2018 it wasn’t enough to qualify him for the final. 

The prospect of a 17-year-old competing at the highest level is enticing enough. But Jakob isn’t a novelty. He belongs in any discussion of the 12 best 1500m runners in the world. 

Rules are rules, though, and I’m sure he’s content with ending his season with two European Championships gold medals and personal bests in the 1500m and 5000m. The 12 men in the 1500m final are probably happy he’s not there as well.  

There will also be no Americans in the field. Matthew Centrowitz is the only American who accrued Diamond League points, but his two points were only good for 20th. 

Women’s 5000m

Who’s There: 

Hellen Obiri

Agnes Tirop

Letesenbet Gidey

Lilian Rengurek

Genzebe Dibaba

Caroline Kipkirui

Eilish McColgan

Sifan Hassan

Hyvin Kiyeng

Jenny Simpson

Senbere Teferi

Gudaf Tsegay

Who’s Missing: 

World No. 7 Shelby Houlihan (14:34.45)

World Silver Medalist Almaz Ayana (N/A)

She’s already running the 1500m, but this year you want to see Shelby Houlihan compete in every race possible. Without her and Ayana (who has not competed at all in 2018), it’s still a solid race with Dibaba, Obiri, and Hassan—all of whom are capable of running under 14:20. 

But Houlihan has shown this year that she can potentially crack this event at the international level in ways that other American women haven’t been able to. Her 14:34 broke the American record and puts her seventh on the world list. If the race went slowly and came down to a kick….well, I think we all know how that would go.  

Women’s 400m Hurdles

Who Qualified:

Janieve Russell

Dalilah Muhammad

Shamier Little

Sage Watson

Georganne Moline

Lea Sprunger

Wenda Nel

Who’s Missing:

World No. 1 Sydney McLaughlin (52.75)

World Champion Kori Carter

McLaughlin hasn’t raced since the NCAA Championships, and yet she will end the year as the top performer in the event by a wide margin. 

Her 52.75 is 0.57 ahead of the next-fastest mark of the year. Even with that gap, it would be intriguing to have her in a Diamond League setting. As dominant as McLaughlin has been, she has yet to do it at an international meet. 

All of her success and records this year came in NCAA competition. Remember, it was only one year ago when she was sixth at the U.S. Championships. That sort of finish underscores her rapid transformation from precocious to dominant. Who knows how fast she could run if there was someone near her heading into the straightaway? That question will have to wait until 2019 to be answered.