Stuttgart, Germany – The sixth edition of the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final takes place in Stuttgart, Germany, on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 September. We begin our event category preview stories with the JUMPS.

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The ENTRY LIST of the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final (WAF) is decided according to the IAAF World Athletics Tour (WAT) Standings.

After the conclusion of the last qualifying meeting before the World Athletics Final, the 7 Athletes having the highest number of points with their best 5 results (4 for throws) will qualify for each event of the World Athletics Final. For the races of 1500m and over, 11 athletes will be qualified. The Athletes for the 8th and 12th (1500m and over) position will be invited at the discretion of the IAAF.

It is a condition that athletes have scored points in at least 3 meetings, and in the case of a tie for the qualification for the World Athletics Final, the Athlete with the best seasonal performance will be qualified. The IAAF will extend invitations, at its discretion, upon receipt of refusals or cancellations.

All qualified athletes are contacted to ascertain that they are fit and willing to compete. Not until those answers are received, wild card entries are decided, and the usual technical meeting is held on the day before the World Athletics Final, can the final start list be made available. Consequently, our previews are as accurate as possible before that time.

Click here for the IAAF World Athletics Tour Standings

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MEN

High Jump -

Some two weeks before the start of the qualifying round in Beijing, world leader Andrey Silnov still wasn’t certain if he would compete in the Chinese capital. Despite his fourth place showing at the Russian championships, he was eventually given the nod and in the end delivered with a gold medal performance.

The 23-year-old, whose rise on the international stage came with his European title in Gothenburg two years ago, has won 11 of his 15 competitions this summer, cleared a world-leading 2.38m in London, produced three of the best five clearances of the season, and brings the momentum from five straight wins to Stuttgart. Clearly, Silnov is the man to beat.

Bouncing back from a few lacklustre seasons was Briton Germaine Mason, whose runner-up finish in Beijing was one of the bigger surprises of the Games. That medal came with a PB-equalling 2.34 jump, but he’s since jumped 2.32 for second in Lausanne, again behind Silnov.

But the sentimental favourite will likely be Swede Stefan Holm, the 2004 Olympic champion, who will end his brilliant career at Gottlieb Daimler Stadium on Saturday (13). A disappointing fourth in Beijing, Holm nonetheless remains a force to be reckoned with at 32, after raising his career outdoor best to 2.37 this season, just a few months after winning his fourth World indoor title.

Hoping to bounce back from Beijing disappointment, where they didn’t reach the final, will be Swede Linus Thornblad, the WAF winner in 2006, and American champion Jesse Williams.

Pole Vault -

Since taking the World Indoor title in Valencia in March, rising Russian star Yevgeniy Lukyanenko has been the most consistent vaulter in the world. Still only 23, Lukyanenko won eight of his 12 outdoor competitions, produced six of the top 13 clearances – the next closest is Brad Walker, with four- and joined the six-metre club in Bydgoszcz, Poland, in July, with a 6.01m effort. Even his Olympic outing, where he captured silver with a leap of 5.85, can hardly be considered a disappointment in a season where he’s never finished worse than second.

Walker, the World leader with a U.S. record 6.04m and reigning World champion, met with brutal disappointment in Beijing, where he failed to qualify for the final. The 27-year-old will be eager to end his season on a high note and defend his Stuttgart title.

When he took the bronze in Beijing, Denys Yurchenko became the first Olympic medallist from Ukraine in this event since legend Sergey Bubka took the gold in 1988. The 30-year-old hasn’t been entirely consistent this season, but he did raise his PB to 5.83, and could be a threat.

Conversely German Alexander Straub, who didn’t make it to Beijing, has been quite consistent on the World Athletics Tour, with several top-three finishes. He could be the hosts best shot.  Others in the hunt include American champion Derek Miles, who was fourth in Beijing, and another German, Fabian Schulze, at his best a 5.80m man.

Long Jump -

Despite a season of ups – a world-leading 8.73m leap in May – and downs – following up that Hengelo leap with a modest 7.92m in Berlin - Irving Saladino nonetheless proved his mettle with his victory in Beijing, and the Panamanian hopes to continue that momentum when he resumes his season in Stuttgart. While remaining the world’s No. 1, his inconsistency this year nonetheless promises a fierce contest on Sunday (14).

Among the most consistent this season has been Hussein Taher Al-Sabee of Saudi Arabia. Despite a poor showing in Beijing, where he was 11th, the 28-year-old collected wins at the AF Golden League stops in Berlin, Oslo and Zurich, and finished second in Paris and Brussels and third in Rome. In Zurich he equalled his 8.35m national record, so late season form could be on his side.

23-year-old South African Godfrey Mokoena, still a relative newcomer to the event’s elite, has managed to deliver this season when it counted most. The World indoor champion in Valencia, he beat more experienced jumpers in Beijing to take the silver.

American veteran Miguel Pate faltered in Beijing but has bounced back well since, taking three straight victories, winning in Gateshead (8.04), Brussels (8.02) and Rieti (8.21). Al-Sabee’s teammate Mohamed Salman Al-Khuwalidi (8.37) could be a factor while Italy’s Andrew Howe is on the comeback trail from injury, and may be able to present a challenge.

Triple Jump -

As a jumper who only came into prominence a year ago, Nelson Evora of Portugal is already piecing together a solid reputation for winning when it matters. A year ago he took an upset victory at the World championships in Osaka with a 17.74m national record, and this year followed up with Olympic gold in Beijing, threatening his career best with a 17.67 leap. He won five of six competitions in his Olympic build-up but ran out of steam in his follow-up in Lausanne. Will he bounce back?

Briton Phillips Idowu would have carried the mantle as favourite into Stuttgart had it not been for his runner-up finish to Evora at the Olympics. With three of the world’s five furthest jumps and a perfect five-for-five record outdoors after jumping to the World Indoor crown in Valencia, the 29-year-old arrived in the Chinese capital as the man to beat, only to fall four centimetres short. He will be eager for revenge.

Others in the mix include Leevan Sands, who reached a Bahamian national record 17.59m to take Beijing silver and most recently followed up with a runner-up finish in Lausanne; Brazil’s Jadel Gregório, sixth in Beijing and winner in Lausanne with a season’s best 17.30m; and Marian Oprea of Romania, fifth in Beijing.

WOMEN

High Jump -

World champion Blanka Vlasic has won 35 of her last 37 competitions. But it will be the two in the loss column that may define the Croatian star's season, by any measure a nine-month emotional rollercoaster. Riding a 34-meet win streak, the longest in the sport, the 24-year-old was an overwhelming favourite in Beijing only to take second there on the count back to Belgian Tia Hellebaut. Her 2.05m leap would be the highest non-winning performance ever. 13 days later she was second again, this time in Brussels, a loss that would cost her $500,000. It’s difficult to imagine that anyone is looking to end their season with a victory in Stuttgart more than Vlasic.

She’ll again face the two women who dented her record: Hellebaut, and Germany’s 2008 breakout, Ariane Friedrich, who beat the Croatian on countback in the Belgian capital.

Hellebaut had a low-key build-up to Beijing, with just one two metre clearance, leaving few to expect the 30-year-old would produce a national record of 2.05m to claim the first Olympic track and field gold medal by a Belgian woman. Jumping with a cold, she wasn’t a factor in Zurich, but in the wet chill of Brussels she stormed back with another two metre effort.

Friedrich was but a 1.94m performer a year ago, but blasted onto the scene indoors this year with a string of PBs that stopped at 2.02. Outdoors she was even better, jumping 2.03 to take the European Cup title in June. A somewhat bizarre travel schedule to Beijing left her flat there where she finished seventh, but she bounced back with a near-perfect scorecard and two-metre leap to play spoiler to Vlasic’s Jackpot ambitions.

Others filling out a strong field include Olympic bronze medallist Anna Chicherova of Russia and American Chaunte Howard.

Pole Vault

After her successful Olympic title defence with her third World record of the year, Yelena Isinbayeva famously said that her rivals “know their place.” The remark would sound brazenly boastful coming from someone else, but the 26-year-old certainly has the credentials to back it up.

With seven victories in as many outings this season, the reigning World champion has produced the world’s four best jumps, and six of the best eight. She added 5.03m, 5.04 and 5.05 leaps to her vast collection of World records. And in her last outing in Brussels, the entire field was already done for the evening before she even climbed out from under her blanket. She has won the last four editions of the World Athletics Final, and there’s little to indicate that she won’t leave Stuttgart without a fifth.

Those fighting for their places behind her will be Beijing bronze medallist Svetlana Feofanova and fourth place finisher Yuliya Golubchikova, who’ll be eying to round out a Russian podium sweep; Olympic fifth place finisher Monika Pyrek (4.75 this year); South American record holder Fabiana Murer (4.80), and German hope Silke Spiegelburg, an Olympic finalist who has improved to 4.70.

Should she make the cut, U.S. record holder and Olympic silver medallist Jenn Stuczynski will be looking to end her season on a high. After her 4.92m U.S. record in Eugene which elevated her to the No. 2 spot all-time, the 26-year-old took three successive runner-up finishes behind Isinbayeva in London, Beijing and Zurich.

Long Jump

One of the most dramatic competitions in Beijing was the women’s Long Jump, where Brazil’s Maurren Higa Maggi edged defending champion Tatyana Lebedeva by a mere centimetre, with a season’s best 7.05m leap, and the two are expected to fight it out again in Stuttgart.

Maggi has pieced together a solid season, winning all but a pair of her 11 competitions since taking silver at the World Indoor championships. Lebedeva hasn’t been nearly as consistent, but always arrives ready.

The pair will be challenged by world leader (7.12) Naide Gomes, the World Indoor champion whose sole subpar outing of the season came in the qualifying round in Beijing where she failed to advance. The Portuguese bounced back in her last outing, beating both in Lausanne.

Others expected to challenge include American champion Brittney Reese, whose first international season was capped by a 6.95 PB in Eugene and a fifth place showing in Beijing. Russian Tatyana Kotova (6.86) and Turkey’s Karin Mey Melis (6.93) could be factors as well.

Triple Jump

Lebedeva came out on the losing end of another ferocious battle in the Beijing Triple Jump, where her 15.32 season’s best was bettered by Francoise Mbango Etone’s 15.39 African and Olympic record, capping a sensational return to competition.

Returning to action after taking two seasons off, the 32-year-old Mbango began her campaign with a solid victory at the African Championships in May before successfully defending her Olympic title. In all, she’s won all but three of her nine competitions heading into Stuttgart.

In their last head-to-head, it was Lebedeva who took the win, leaping 14.94 in Rieti on Sunday to Mbango’s 14.90.

Although she finished just fifth in Beijing, Cuba's World champion and defending WAF winner Yargelis Savigne nonetheless surpassed the 15m mark (15.05) in one of the deepest Triple Jump competitions ever. She’s leaped beyond 15m on three occasions this season, more than any other jumper.

Others capable of pulling off a big jump include Russian Anna Pyatykh and Ukraine’s Olha Saladuha, both Beijing finalists.

At the moment, Greece's Olympic bronze medallist Hrysopiyí Devetzí is on the verge of qualification. If she makes the cut, she’ll certainly be a formidable force.

Bob Ramsak for the IAAF