The Chinese multinational group Wanda signed up in 2019 for a 10-year deal starting in 2020 - the biggest commercial partnership in the history of the sport.

But their arrival was ill-starred given the simultaneous arrival of the coronavirus pandemic which drastically reduced events in 2020 and which, after its recent resurgence in China, led to an announcement on Friday (May 6) that the two planned Chinese Diamond League meetings in Shanghai and Shenzhen had been cancelled, just as they were in 2021.

Into the breach has stepped the Silesia meeting which has its main domain in the swiftly growing second tier of the circuit, the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meetings.

"I’ve got to say Wanda have been brilliant," Ridgeon told insidethegames.

"Because since they signed up in 2019 and started their involvement physically in 2020 it’s been hugely frustrating for us all.

"We’ve not been able to stage the events in China, but they’ve been really good about it.

"One of the advantages of signing a long-term deal is that you can have a slightly more balanced view of things, so yes, it’s frustrating, but there are still plenty more years when Wanda can have that Chinese involvement.

"Ultimately they are buying into a global series.

"The series was compromised in 2020 although we managed to get a good number of events away, but last year we pretty much got the whole thing away and this year we’ll be able to do the same thing again.

"So they are buying into that global reach and it still works for them, albeit they still can’t deliver the two Chinese meets we had planned.

"But that will change and we will be back there in a year’s time."

Meanwhile the World Athletics Continental Tour continues to thrive and grow.

Latest figures reveal that in 2020 there were 28 meetings, including seven Gold standard.

In 2021 the figure rose to 69, with 12 Golds, and this year it is scheduled to be 145, again with 12 Gold standard meetings.

The full interview with Jon Ridgeon can be found in this week's Big Read