With all the fanfare around USAs and the straightforward wildcard entry given to defending World champions, there’s a backroad to Tokyo that’s scarcely discussed by American fans: the bye awarded to Diamond League champions.

In years past, the Diamond League Final has taken place after the World Championships. So winners of the DL Final got wildcard entries to the following year’s Worlds. But this year, with the global championship taking place in September—after the Diamond League final—the final stop on the DL circuit carries a whole lot more weight, because winners there get to go to Worlds. 

Presumably most athletes who win their event in Zurich will have already qualified for Worlds. But given the tremendous depth of talent in the U.S., that isn’t guaranteed to always be the case.

For instance, Olympic 400m champ Quincy Hall—a late scratch at Pre, citing an injury—is not entered for USAs at all. That means he’s definitively out for Tokyo, right? WRONG. Hall has earned enough points on the Diamond League circuit to currently find himself in the Diamond League Final. If he can sort out his injury and race once or twice more after USAs in order to secure his lane in the final, he can still rep Team USA by winning in Zurich in late August.

In this scenario, there would be four American men racing the 400m at Worlds, despite one of them not contesting the national championship, and despite the 2023 World winner being Jamaica’s Antonio Watson. Even if Hall remains too banged up to race, were the Diamond League Final held today, Christopher Bailey, Jacory Patterson, and Vernon Norwood would all be in the field. Obviously, the preferred pathway for any athlete is the cleanest one: finish top three at USAs. But assuming these three men’s racing plans take them back to Europe after Eugene, they could totally crap the bed this weekend and keep the dream alive in Zurich.

The women’s 200m squad is shaping up to be one of the hardest to make in the entire meet. Gabby Thomas is the reigning Olympic champ and doesn’t look to have lost a step since Paris. Melissa Jefferson-Wooden has cemented herself as a bonafide 200m threat, and not just a 100m specialist. McKenzie Long and Jameesia Ford have each run under 22 seconds this season and come in ranked second and fourth in the world, respectively. 

Then there’s Anavia Battle, who has run just the 11th fastest time by an American this year, 22.27 with a slight tailwind. On paper, she shouldn’t even make the final at USAs. However, Battle has already secured her lane for the Diamond League Final, going a perfect four-for-four in Diamond League 200m action this year. This isn’t to say she doesn’t have a faster time in her legs, or that she won’t rise to the occasion at USAs—but it does look like Battle has been playing the long game all outdoor season, using the Diamond League circuit as some smart insurance for lining up in Tokyo.

There’s another way an athlete can hedge their bets at USAs by keeping a Zurich-emblazoned ace up their sleeve. Let’s look at Nico Young, who, unlike Battle, is heavily favored to finish top three. Hell, he’s got the second best seed time in the two events he’s entered! But the 10,000m comes first, and racing 25 laps around the track takes a toll on the body. The 5000m final is just three days later. Brutal stuff, especially if the pace is an honest one in the 10,000m.

As the outdoor American record-holder in the 5000m, surely Young likes his odds at contending for a global medal there. But if he isn’t feeling it on the starting line or simply is outrun by fresher 5000m specialists, that doesn’t mean his 12.5-lap dreams are done for. He could theoretically scrap the USAs 5000m and expand his post-10,000m recovery period from a few days to multiple weeks, if he thinks that gives him a better shot. By virtue of his 5000m DL win in Oslo, Young is currently ranked high enough to get an invite to the DL Final—where the 5000m qualifiers will race a 3000m. He’d need to nab a few more DL points at Silesia, Lausanne, or Brussels. But if he races in Zurich, he’s proven he has the closing ability to win Diamond League races.

Maximalist readers are likely asking their screen right now “wait, so can a country send five athletes in one event if they have the World champ, the DL champ, and three more studs in on ranking or standard?”

In a word: no. There is a hard cap of four athletes per event, per country. Historically, when given the option USATF always fills its fourth spots with the World champ and top-three non-World champ finishers from USAs.

That’s tough stuff for an athlete like Courtney Lindsey, whose best event is the 200m—where the U.S. lays claim to the defending World champ: Noah Lyles. Thanks to a string of solid showings on the circuit, Lindsey has already earned his lane in the 200m in Zurich. He could break the tape and emerge as DL champion, but if he didn’t finish top three at the U.S. champs (or top four assuming Lyles is in the mix), he’ll be hoping he gets the nod for relay duty come Tokyo.

And finally, there’s one factor we haven’t accounted for when discussing the Diamond League wildcard: friendship. Suppose the top four finishers in the men’s 5000m at USAs are: Grant Fisher, Nico Young, Cole Hocker, then Cooper Teare. In this extremely presumptuous scenario, Hocker could opt for a mini-Euro trip to place in two remaining Diamond League 5000m races, qualify for the final, which, remember is a 3000m, and win it (he’s run the second fastest indoor 3000m ever and has an all-time great kick!), thus ensuring he gets to line up next to his pal and training partner Teare in Tokyo. It’s not likely, but it is possible.

Some of these hypotheticals are more likely than others, but one thing’s for sure. You’re going to want to tune into the Zurich Diamond League Final just in case.

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