Stuttgart, Germany - The IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final in Stuttgart will be the final major meeting of the 2008 athletics season, by any measure a superb one for the sport. More than a dozen World records were broken since the early season in May. Five of them came at the Olympics, where an amazing 1.25 million spectators gathered during those ten days. Athletics has proved once more that it is the number one Olympic sport.

Now spectators in Stuttgart’s Mercedes Benz Arena as well as a worldwide television audience will be able to see a sort of replay, when, with the exception of a few who have ended their seasons,  the best athletes of the Olympic year will meet again.

On-form Powell in 100, Merritt-Wariner in 400

The men’s sprints will very much be in the focus on day one on Saturday. At first one might tend to be disappointed because of the absence of Olympic champion Usain Bolt and American record holder Tyson Gay (USA). Bolt ended his phenomenal season while Gay has been dogged by injury since the U.S. trials. But this could well turn into an advantage since former 100m World record holder Asafa Powell seems to be stronger if his toughest rivals are absent. Once again in superb late season form he could be in with something special in the 100m final, which is scheduled for 5:15 pm.

35 minutes earlier one of the greatest duels of the season will see another edition in Stuttgart. In the 400m Jeremy Wariner will be eager to win this one against LaShawn Merritt, who this season had first ruined Wariner’s AF Golden League Jackpot hopes and then succeeded the lanky Texan as Olympic champion, winning by almost a full second. After Beijing Wariner hit back in Zurich, where he was well ahead of Merritt, and he also took the Brussels 400m with Merritt absent. Arriving in Stuttgart after evenly splitting their six meetings this season, the World Athletics Final will be of particular significance for both.

Can US reclaim top spot in the men’s Shot Put?

One of the major surprises in Beijings’s Bird’s Nest had come in the men’s Shot Put. While it would have been no surprise if the US trio of Christian Cantwell, Reese Hoffa and Adam Nelson would have taken all three medals, they ended up with just one, Cantwell’s silver as Poland’s Tomasz Majewski snatched the Olympic gold. Besides Nelson, they will all meet again on Saturday.

Next world record will be a jubilee for Isinbayeva

After she had not broken her World record for almost three years Yelena Isinbayeva  returned to her record breaking form this year. In Rome (5.03 m), Monaco (5.04) and Beijing (5.05) she improved her mark, upping her World record total to 24, including indoors. So the next one will be Isinbayeva’s jubilee world standard. There is a huge reward at stake for a World record - while each winner receives $30,000, a World record boosts the bank account by an additional $100,000. Isinbayeva obviously is the most likely pole vaulter to collect the $30,000 but can she take the bigger prize as well?

Defar, Samitova-Galkina the distance stars to watch

With Tirunesh Dibaba not competing and Meseret Defar in a race, not long ago one would have thought that there could hardly be a more obvious favourite. But others are closing the gap – at least on Defar. The Ethiopian had been beaten into third place by Turk Elvan Abeylegesse where Dibaba won the gold. Then in Brussels Defar was edged out by Kenya’s Vivian Cheruiyot in a fast race (14:25.43 and 14:25.52). Earlier in the season Defar had lost her 5000m World record to Dibaba (14:11.15) but then almost captured it back with a 14:12.88 in Stockholm. At the end of the season this race could get very close.

The 3000m Steeplechase was another long distance event in which a World record was broken this season. And it was an historic mark: Russia’s Gulnara Samitova-Galkina broke the nine minute barrier in the event’s inaugural Olympic final, clocking 8:58.81. Silver medallist Eunice Jepkorir (Kenya) and bronze medallist Yekaterina Volkova (Russia) will also be in the race in Stuttgart, which could become much closer than in Beijing. It will be exactly one week ago that Galkina just edged out Jepkorir in Moscow (9:24.01 to 9:24.08).

The men’s 3000 features 2007’s double World champion Bernard Lagat of the U.S. and defending WAF winner and world leader Edwin Soi.

Javelin Throwers could delight home fans

Germany will rely on their throwers regarding possible success on day one. The women’s Javelin Throw gives them the best chance. It was Christina Obergföll who had won the only medal for Germany at the Olympic Games, taking the bronze. She has qualified for Stuttgart as the leading points’ scorer while Steffi Nerius is second in the ranking. The two showed great form recently when Obergföll won with a season’s best of 69.81m from Nerius, who produced a personal best of 68.34m in Elstal, just outside of Berlin. They will now face Olympic Champion Barbora Spotakova (Czech Republic) in Stuttgart.

While the World Athletics Final is expected to produce more fascinating and high-class action on Saturday and Sunday, this will also be a farewell event. It was with great sadness that athletics enthusiasts learnt about the decision of the local Stuttgart government to tear out the track and use the stadium as a pure football arena in future.

Stuttgart has seen many great athletics event in the past. The IAAF World Championships in 1993 will never be forgotten. In a great atmosphere five World records were broken during those championships. Seven years earlier the European Championships had been a tremendous success as well. As German athletics magazine 'Leichtathletik' reported in this week’s edition there were many more highlights in the years before. One of them came in 1971, when Hildegard Falck became German champion and the first woman to clock a sub-two minute time in the 800m (1:58.5).

Jörg Wenig for the IAAF