The three women who stood on the javelin podium at last year&rsquo;s World Championships will take to the runway at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting &ndash; in Tokyo on Sunday (19).
The highly popular world champion Haruka Kitaguchi will have the support of the entire stadium in the Japanese capital as she takes on a field that includes Flor Denis Ruiz of Colombia and Mackenzie Little of Australia.
Kitaguchi has won both of her competitions so far this year, throwing a season&rsquo;s best of 62.97m at the Diamond League meeting in Suzhou where Little and Ruiz finished second and third respectively.
Since then, however, Ruiz won gold at the Ibero-American Championships with a world-leading South American record of 66.70m, so the 33-year-old will head to the Japanese capital full of confidence.
China&rsquo;s Dai Qianqian, winner at the Diamond League meeting in Xiamen, and New Zealand&rsquo;s Tori Peeters add further depth to the field.
Three other winners of global titles feature in the men&rsquo;s jumps.
China&rsquo;s 2022 world champion Wang Jianan takes on 2016 world indoor champion Marquis Dendy in the men&rsquo;s long jump. Dendy recently got the better of Wang by just one centimetre in Suzhou, so another close competition can be expected in Tokyo.
But in-form Australian champion Chris Mitrevski is unbeaten so far this year and is fresh from an 8.32m PB at the Australian Championships and an 8.24m victory in Osaka.&nbsp; Yuki Hashioka carries Japanese hopes in this event, having jumped a best of 8.28m this year, while Asian champion Lin Yu-Tang of Chinese Taipei is also one to watch.
Korea&rsquo;s Woo Sanghyeok, the 2022 world indoor champion, highlights the men&rsquo;s high jump field. So far this year, the 28-year-old has jumped 2.33m indoors and then took bronze at the World Indoor Championships. Last weekend in Doha, he cleared a season&rsquo;s best of 2.31m.
Australia&rsquo;s Brandon Starc, USA&rsquo;s world indoor finalist Vernon Turner, and Japan&rsquo;s Asian Games bronze medallist Tomohiro Shinno are also in the line-up.
Elsewhere in the field events, Japan&rsquo;s Ryohei Arai and Genki Dean take on Latvian duo Rolands Strobinders, Patriks Gailums in the men&rsquo;s javelin.
<h2>Highly competitive hurdles</h2>
Japanese record-holder Rachid Muratake faces compatriot and Asian champion Shunya Takayama in the men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles, but Senegal&rsquo;s Louis Francois Mendy and USA&rsquo;s Eric Edwards will be trying their best to prevent a victory for the host nation.
Kenya&rsquo;s Wiseman Mukhobe will have the same aim in the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles as he takes on World University Games sprint hurdles champion Ken Toyoda, two-time national champion Kazuki Kurokawa, and Kaito Tsutue, the fastest Japanese athlete this year. Just 0.11 separates the PBs of all four men.
Oceanian record-holder Zoe Hobbs lines up as the fastest woman in the 100m, but many eyes will be on rising Australian talent Torrie Lewis, who upstaged a quality field to win the 200m in Xiamen last month.
Liberia&rsquo;s Emmanuel Matadi and Japan&rsquo;s Hakim Sani Brown lead the entries for the men&rsquo;s 100m. Canada&rsquo;s Brendon Rodney should also feature, in both this event and the 200m, where he takes on Cuban record-holder Reynier Mena.
Japanese record-holder Kentaro Sato and namesake (but no relation) Fuga Sato jumped to first and third respectively on the Japanese all-time 400m list last year. They recently teamed up to secure Japan&rsquo;s Olympic qualification in the 4x400m at the World Relays in Nassau, but this Sunday&rsquo;s race will be their first individual 400s of the season.
The focus of the endurance events will likely be fall on the women&rsquo;s 1500m. Multiple Japanese record-holder Nozomi Tanaka takes on Australian duo Georgia Griffith and Sarah Billings, both of whom set sub-four-minute PBs in Xiamen last month.
In the women&rsquo;s 5000m, Kenya&rsquo;s in-form Margaret Akidor takes on Australia&rsquo;s Rose Davies.

Seiko Golden Grand Prix

The three women who stood on the javelin podium at last year’s World Championships will take to the runway at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix

World Championships javelin rematch the highlight in Tokyo

Meeting International Mohammed VI d’Athlétisme de Rabat/Marrakech

World record-holders, Olympic gold medallists and world champions will collide at the Meeting International Mohammed VI d’Athlétisme

Field event giants clash in Marrakesh

Olympic champion Damian Warner, Olympic silver medallist Anouk Vetter and their fellow global medallists Ashley Moloney, Emma Oosterwegel and Lindon Victor form part of the formidable fields set for the Hypomeeting in G&ouml;tzis, this season&rsquo;s third World Athletics Combined Events Tour Gold meeting, this weekend (18-19).
The world-class event will be a key step for many on the road to Rome and path to Paris, with athletes preparing for the European Championships in Italy and the Olympic Games in the French capital.
Warner continues to work towards his Olympic title defence by returning to compete at the M&ouml;sle-Stadium for the 11th time, as a seven-time Hypomeeting decathlon winner.
After six successive victories, the Canadian 34-year-old finished runner-up to his compatriot Pierce LePage last year and that top two was repeated at the World Championships in Budapest three months later as LePage took the title ahead of Warner and Grenada&rsquo;s Lindon Victor.
Now Warner is back in G&ouml;tzis as a four-time world medallist and he&rsquo;ll renew his rivalry with Victor, who is also in the line-up.
Victor has had one 400m outing so far this year, while Warner&rsquo;s performances at the Bryan Clay Invitational last month included a 13.65 110m hurdles, 15.15m shot put and 4.80m pole vault.
Moloney, meanwhile, has already completed a decathlon this year and he goes on the hunt for a performance that will secure him a place for Paris. The 24-year-old, who set his Oceanian record of 8649 to win his Olympic bronze in Tokyo, competed in G&ouml;tzis last year but withdrew before the 1500m, while his campaign at the World Championships in Budapest also came to an early end. He finished 13th with 8038 on his debut in G&ouml;tzis in 2019, receiving the 'rookie of the meeting' award.
Two other athletes on the entry list have also surpassed 8400 points in their careers so far: Switzerland&rsquo;s Simon Ehammer and Estonia&rsquo;s Johannes Erm. After deciding to focus on the long jump in Budapest, where he finished ninth, Ehammer rebounded to win the Diamond League title in the individual discipline at the end of the season. He returned to global combined events action at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow in March, where he won the heptathlon with a national record score of 6418.
Erm was also in PB form in Glasgow and his 6340 points earned him world indoor bronze.
In G&ouml;tzis they will be joined by Erm&rsquo;s compatriot Risto Lillemets, the European indoor bronze medallist who was second at the Multistars last month, plus Brazil&rsquo;s South American champion Jose Fernando Ferreira Santana, USA&rsquo;s Devon Williams and Germany&rsquo;s Tim Nowak.
<h2>Can Vetter regain heptathlon crown?</h2>
After winning the Hypomeeting heptathlon title for the first time in 2022, Vetter withdrew during her title defence last year as a precaution due to achilles discomfort.
She was back in medal-winning form in Budapest as she bagged bronze to go with the world silver and bronze medals she had already claimed in Oregon and London, respectively, as well as her Olympic silver from Tokyo.
In G&ouml;tzis two years ago, Vetter became the first Dutch heptathlon winner in the event&rsquo;s history with a then national record score of 6693. She improved again less than two months later, scoring 6867 to secure her world silver in Oregon.
She&rsquo;s not the only Olympic medallist in action, however, as she faces her compatriot Oosterwegel, who claimed bronze in Tokyo and then finished fifth at the World Championships in Budapest. Her PB is the 6590 she set in Tokyo.
USA&rsquo;s Taliyah Brooks recently matched her PB of 6330 to retain her Multistars title and four weeks on she is back in action. She&rsquo;ll be joined by her compatriots Erica Bougard and Annie Kunz, who have both surpassed 6500 in their careers so far, plus Michelle Atherley and Allie Jones.
Switzerland&rsquo;s Annik Kalin and Austria&rsquo;s Ivona Dadic and Verena Mayr also have 6500-plus PBs and add further strength to the field as they target performances that will put them in the running for Paris. Like Brooks, 2018 world indoor pentathlon silver medallist Dadic also contests her second heptathlon in a month. Continuing her comeback after injury, she competed at the Multistars but withdrew before the 800m. The 2019 world bronze medallist Mayr finished fifth in the pentathlon at the World Indoor Championships in March, while Kalin &ndash; the world indoor long jump fifth-place finisher in Glasgow &ndash; is back in multi events action after finishing runner-up at Decastar in September.
Also competing on home soil is Sarah Lagger, while others looking to make an impact will be Germany&rsquo;s Sophie Weissenberg and Vanessa Grimm, and Great Britain&rsquo;s Holly Mills.

Olympic champion Damian Warner, Olympic silver medallist Anouk Vetter and their fellow global medallists Ashley Moloney, Emma Oosterwegel and Lindon Victor form part of the formidable fields set for the Hypomeeting

Global medallists head strong fields for Götzis

Four more creatives will have their work showcased on World Athletics digital channels following their selection to the World Athletics Content Creator Programme.
Following its launch in 2023, the Content Creator Programme returned in January and received thousands of applications from all around the world.
The four selected creatives &ndash; from three different continents &ndash; will now create TikTok, YouTube and Instagram content for World Athletics&rsquo; platforms.
<h3>They are:</h3>
Demitra Carter, a former NCAA All-Conference and Baylor University sprinter from Kansas, USA. During her time at Baylor, where she competed for five years, she received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing and a Master of Science in Education in Sport Management. She is committed to bridging the gap between fans and athletes with her original series Tiny Talks on the Track. You can often find her asking fun questions around the track with a tiny mic in hand. She will be producing Tiny Talks with World Athletics alongside another fun series made to bring fans closer to the sport.
Gabriele Fusar Bassini, an Italian graphic designer. Prior to becoming a graphic designer, he studied cinema and then data science. Athletics has been a part of his life since the age of 11 and he fell in love with the 400m. Combining storytelling with AI and design &ndash; using skills developed during his varied academic journey &ndash; Fusar Bassini&rsquo;s Content Creator Programme project will be to create an alternate reality game (launching at the end of the summer)&nbsp;where mysterious information and messages make up a treasure hunt. It will be a mix of escape room, Sherlock Holmes, fiction and athletics history, with a final prize.
Julia Lillo, a video editor and content creator who was born in Madrid and now lives in Barcelona, Spain. Studying for a communications degree, she has been in love with athletics since she can remember. She had almost finished her third year in medical school when she finally decided to pursue what she truly enjoyed: telling stories and evoking emotion through videos. Through her involvement with the programme, she hopes to help make athletics more thrilling than ever.
Sam Su, a creator born in China and raised in New York City, who is known for his passion for capturing the human experience through art. His love for movies and his playful storytelling abilities allow him to blend a cinematic style with lively documentary photography and films. As an athlete himself, he believes that sport is the heart of community and cultural exchange, and it will always be a big part of his life. Through the programme, he aims to create content that better bridges the gap between the athletes we idolise and the spectators who fuel the sport.
Stay tuned to World Athletics&rsquo; online platforms to engage with the content that these up-and-coming creatives will produce.
<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@worldathletics" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-cke-saved-href="https://www.tiktok.com/@worldathletics">TikTok</a> |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/worldathletics" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-cke-saved-href="https://www.youtube.com/worldathletics">YouTube</a>&nbsp;| <a href="https://www.instagram.com/worldathletics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-cke-saved-href="https://www.instagram.com/worldathletics/">Instagram</a>
World Athletics

Four more creatives will have their work showcased on World Athletics digital channels following their selection to the World Athletics Content Creator Programme

Fresh talent discovered in World Athletics' Content Creator Programme

A vast array of talent will gather at the Gran Premio Cantones de Marcha &ndash; one of the two Spanish legs of this season&rsquo;s World Athletics Race Walking Tour Gold &ndash; on Saturday (18). The competition in La Coruna, a city which has annually hosted this world-class competition since 1987, again offers a top field worthy of a major championships contest.
<h2>Martin, Bonfim and Ikeda in wide open men&rsquo;s event</h2>
The large 73-strong men&rsquo;s 20km event features a mouth-watering line-up that includes the double world champion Alvaro Martin. The 29-year-old Spaniard kicked off his campaign at the Spanish Championships in February when he had to settle for the silver medal behind the emerging Paul McGrath, but his 1:18:35 clocking on that occasion suggests he is on the right path to fight for an Olympic medal at the Paris Olympics. That is his big target this season after confirming he will not defend his two European titles in Rome next month.&nbsp;
At last month&rsquo;s World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Antalya, Martin &ndash; who won the 20km and 35km events at the World Championships in Budapest &ndash; also led one of the Spanish teams that qualified for Paris by placing third alongside Laura Garcia-Caro in the marathon race walk mixed relay. The Olympic fourth-place finisher is a two-time victor in La Coruna, having won in 2017 and 2022.
Yet Martin will face tough opposition, headed by last year&rsquo;s winner in Cantones, world bronze medallist Caio Bonfim, and Japan&rsquo;s Koki Ikeda. The latter is the Olympic silver medallist who set an outstanding career best and world-leading performance of 1:16:51 to win the national title in Kobe in February, while the Brazilian Bonfim is having a busy 2024 and has completed four 20km race walking contests so far, in addition to his presence in Antalya where he secured an Olympic mixed relay berth for his country in the company of Viviane Lyra.&nbsp;
Individually, Bonfim opened 2024 with a national record of 1:17:44 in Taicang where he placed third and then he enjoyed a comfortable 1:22:49 win at the South American Championships in Recife. He followed that with third place in Podebrady last month and then a runner-up finish in Warsaw a couple of weeks ago timed at 1:19:17.&nbsp;
Bonfim will clash again with the athletes who joined him on the podium in the Polish capital: China&rsquo;s Qian Haifeng and Japan&rsquo;s Toshikazu Yamanishi. The 23-year-old Qian holds a 1:18:51 lifetime best set in Taicang in March while the Japanese athlete, who clocked 1:19:37 in Warsaw, is an accomplished major championships performer having two world titles &ndash; from Doha 2019 and Oregon 2022 &ndash; to his name in addition to Olympic bronze. He will be joined by his compatriot Ryo Hamanishi, who was runner-up in Kobe in a PB of 1:17:42 but failed to place in the top spots in Antalya.
Spain&rsquo;s two-time European medallist Diego Garcia Carrera should also be a factor on Saturday as Cantones is one of his favourite events, having won here in 2021 and set his career best of 1:18:58 in 2019. The 28-year-old is fresh from a brilliant third place in Antalya (1:19:51) and heads to La Coruna after a training stint in the altitude of Navacerrada.&nbsp;
Miguel Angel Lopez, Marc Tur and Alvaro Lopez complete a strong Spanish team. Watch out too for Ecuador&rsquo;s world 35km silver medallist Brian Pintado as he dominated the Rio Maior meeting last Saturday in 1:19:57, while the Chinese entry also includes Zhang Jun, who recently set a PB of 1:17:26 in Taicang, plus Li Yandong (1:17:47), Wang Zhaozhao (1:17:48), Cui Lihong (1:18:03) and Zhao Xiangfei (1:18:15).
<h2>Who can stop Garcia?</h2>
The women&rsquo;s 20km contest will be held two hours before the men&rsquo;s and the cast is also of the highest calibre. It is headed by the double world champion Maria Perez, however the 28-year-old Spaniard got injured &ndash; a stress fracture in the sacrum &ndash; shortly after her success in Budapest and underwent surgery last November. After her recovery, Perez returned to competition at the World Race Walking Team Championships in Antalya where she competed in the mixed relay event alongside the 2015 world champion Miguel Angel Lopez. Apart from a 5000m track contest at a low-key national league event a fortnight ago when she took an easy win in 22:09.10, Saturday will mark Perez&rsquo;s first individual appearance since 24 August when the world 35km record-holder followed her 20km title with a 35km win at the World Championships.
Yet Perez is still rounding into form &ndash; and she has confirmed her absence at the European Championships next month &ndash; so the status of favourite in La Coruna should go to Peru&rsquo;s world 35km silver medallist Kimberly Garcia. The 30-year-old is the defending champion at this event and achieved a brilliant double at the 2022 World Championships.&nbsp;
Due to illness, Garcia could not finish in Dudince but she then bounced back strongly with commanding victories in Podebrady with a 1:27:08 time and also in Antalya two weeks later thanks to a 1:27:12 performance. As recently as last Saturday, Garcia also won the Rio Maior meeting, her 1:30:35 clocking suggesting she had this weekend&rsquo;s event on her radar.&nbsp;
The whole Antalya 20km podium will be on show over the flat 1km circuit with China&rsquo;s Ma Zhenxia and Brazil&rsquo;s Erica Sena also lining up. Ma finished seventh in Budapest over 20km and improved her lifetime best to 1:26:07 when winning in Taicang. As for Sena, the evergreen 39-year-old will tackle her third 20km event in less than a month as she also competed in Rio Maior last week, coming third in 1:31:17 just behind Mexico&rsquo;s Alejandra Ortega, also in contention on Saturday. Ortega will race walk in the company of her more illustrious compatriot Alegna Gonz&aacute;lez, who has placed in the top eight at the last three major championships and holds a 1:26:59 lifetime best set last year in Cantones when she finished third.
The never-ending list of top race walkers in contention also includes the first three athletes from the Warsaw meeting: the Chinese pair of former world record-holder Liu Hong and Qieyang Shijie, plus Australia&rsquo;s world silver medallist Jemima Montag. Liu broke the world record here back in 2015 with a 1:24:38 performance and boasts a season&rsquo;s best of 1:26:47 set in Taicang, while Montag clocked an Oceanian record of 1:27:09 in Adelaide in February. As for Qieyang, the London Olympic champion boasts an impressive 1:24:45 PB and she triumphed here in 2018 and has a season&rsquo;s best of 1:27:05. The always mighty Chinese squad also comprises Yang Jiayu, who finished runner-up in Taicang (1:26:07), plus Ji Haiying (1:27:19), Peng Li (1:27:26), Yin Lamei (1:27:36) and Shi Yuxia (1:27:44).
Holder of a season&rsquo;s best of 1:27:21 to come second in Podebrady, Ecuador&rsquo;s Glenda Morejon will want to rebound from her Antalya performance when she was disqualified. The 24-year-old set the world U20 best in Cantones back in 2019 with a superb 1:25:29 and finished a fine sixth at last year&rsquo;s Budapest World Championships thanks to her third ever quickest time of 1:27:40. She was also three places ahead of Brazil&rsquo;s Viviane Lyra, who set a PB of 1:28:25, in Podebrady last month.&nbsp;
Perez aside, the Spanish hopes also rest on Laura Garcia-Caro, who has a season&rsquo;s best of 1:29:03, as well as European 35km silver medallist Raquel Gonzalez (1:29:07) and two top-10 finishers in Antalya: Lidia Sanchez-Puebla and Antia Chamosa.
Weather forecasters predict temperatures in the 14-16&deg;C range by the time of the competition, with a high likelihood of rain and some gusts of wind.
Emeterio Valiente for World Athletics

A vast array of talent will gather at the Gran Premio Cantones de Marcha – one of the two Spanish legs of this season’s World Athletics Race Walking Tour Gold – on Saturday

World's best feature in stacked race walk fields for La Coruna

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is always expected to be seen on the biggest stages in athletics. Yet outside of global championships, that is not a common occurrence as she and her coach, Bobby Kersee, carefully select when, where and why she competes. That rarity is why the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix, held on Friday (17) and Saturday (18) at UCLA&rsquo;s Drake Stadium, is so notable.
McLaughlin-Levrone, the record-shattering Olympic and 2022 world gold medallist in the 400m hurdles, will run on Saturday at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting. It will mark McLaughlin-Levrone&rsquo;s second individual competition of the season, as she joins a number of other stars in beginning to ramp up toward qualifying for the Paris Olympics.&nbsp;
<div><a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-continental-tour/where-to-watch" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/662266efeb1fe998c3e66ae7.png" alt="CTG live stream - Inside Track" /></a>
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As a way to test her speed, she will be racing a different distance than is typical &ndash; and she is far from guaranteed to leave with a victory. Even amid a meeting where star power includes fellow Olympic gold medallists such as Sifan Hassan and Joshua Cheptegei, the intrigue will centre on McLaughlin-Levrone.
Prior to her season opener in April, the 24-year-old had not competed since last July&rsquo;s USA Championships because of an injury that led her to withdraw from the World Championships in Budapest. Her success in 2023 switching to the 400m &ndash; her 48.74 PB putting her at No.10 all time &ndash; has opened the possibilities for her upcoming season, including the Olympics.&nbsp;
At the Los Angeles Grand Prix, at least, her intent is clear: McLaughlin-Levrone will race the 200m. She joins a decorated field that includes Gabby Thomas, Abby Steiner and Jenna Prandini. The competition comes two weeks after McLaughlin-Levrone clocked a wind-assisted 22.38 (2.9m/s) at the Occidental Invitational, as well as 12.71 in the 100m hurdles. The 200m in Los Angeles will be highly anticipated because of how rarely she overlaps with Thomas, who won bronze in the event at the Tokyo Olympics and silver at last year&rsquo;s World Championships.&nbsp;
The race will be Thomas&rsquo;s second of the hour. Only 20 minutes before the 200m start, she will run the 100m in a field including Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith and Twanisha Terry. Letsile Tebogo will run his first 100m of the season to headline the men&rsquo;s sprint, with Kenny Bednarek &ndash; fresh off his world-leading 19.67 in the 200m at Doha &ndash; and Ackeem Blake representing his top challengers.
In the women&rsquo;s 400m, world champion Marileidy Paulino will go up against world 800m gold medallist Mary Moraa. Paulino opened her Diamond League title defence at April&rsquo;s stops in Xiamen and Suzhou, running 50.08 in Xiamen. Moraa, meanwhile, opened her season in March by running 50.57, and has since captured the Doha title at 800m.
While McLaughlin-Levrone races the 200m, the 400m hurdles in Los Angeles features her predecessor as world record-holder &ndash; Dalilah Muhammad &ndash; plus Anna Cockrell.
<h2>Distance night</h2>
The meeting begins on Friday with a distance festival headlined by a deep men&rsquo;s 5000m that is expected to be paced to go well under the Olympic standard of 13:05, and features several competitors who have regularly dipped into sub-13 territory. Cheptegei, the Ugandan Tokyo Olympics champion, three-time world champion and world record-holder, will make his season debut on the track. His competition will include Selemon Barega, the Tokyo Olympics gold medallist at 10,000m, as well as Jacob Kiplimo, Edwin Kurgat, Cooper Teare, Mo Ahmed, Cole Hocker and Abdihamid Nur. Barega, Nur, Kurgat, Ahmed and Kiplimo have already reached the Olympic standard.
Top US athletes dominate the fields of the pole vault. Two-time world indoor champion Sandi Morris leads the women&rsquo;s competition on Friday, with KC Lightfoot and Sam Kendricks &ndash; the No.4 and No.5 all time vaulters &ndash; joining Chris Nilsen in the men&rsquo;s field on Saturday.&nbsp;
This meeting was the site of Ryan Crouser&rsquo;s world record in the men&rsquo;s shot put last year, when his heave stretched the physical limits of the landing area. Though Crouser is not in the field this year, a showdown could still be expected between two-time world champion Joe Kovacs and 2017 world gold medallist Tom Walsh, as they attempt to eclipse Leonardo Fabbri&rsquo;s world-leading mark of 22.95m. Kovacs owns the third-farthest throw this season of 22.01m.
Though Hassan, the Tokyo Olympics gold medallist at 5000m and 10,000m, had initially been scheduled to contest the 5000m, she will run her first 1500m of the season in the meeting&rsquo;s final event in a showdown against Diribe Welteji, the world silver medallist in Budapest last year, with Elise Cranny and Kate Snowden also in the running. The race comes only six days after Hassan ran 14:58 unchallenged, essentially all by herself, in a 5000m at Occidental College in Los Angeles in what was her first race since the Tokyo Marathon.&nbsp;
The men&rsquo;s 1500m includes members of distance running&rsquo;s old guard and emerging talents. Matthew Centrowitz, the Rio Olympic 1500m gold medallist, said in March this will be his last season. In this race he will face 17-year-old Cameron Myers, who ran 3:33 in February, and 19-year-old Reynold Cheruiyot, whose already owns a personal best of 3:30.30 from last year. Also entered is Ollie Hoare, who has run sub-3:30.
The men&rsquo;s 400 will see Michael Norman return to a familiar discipline after he focused last year on the 100m, only for his season to be shortened by injury. Norman, the 2022 world champion at 400m, will face Kirani James and Vernon Norwood.
Andrew Greif for World Athletics

Global gold medallists and thrilling showdowns set to highlight the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event

McLaughlin-Levrone, Hassan and Cheptegei among stars in Los Angeles

A world U20 long jump record of 8.36m* by Mattia Furlani and a 22.95m shot put performance by Leonardo Fabbri were the standout results at the Savona International Meeting, a World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger event, on Wednesday (15).
Furlani soared a marginally wind-assisted 8.44m (2.2m/s) in Savona last year before jumping 8.34m indoors in Ancona in February, missing the world U20 record by a single centimetre.
But he has made history three months on, jumping 8.36m (1.4m/s) on his second attempt in Savona to add one centimetre to the previous world U20 record of 8.35m set by Russia&rsquo;s Sergey Morgunov in 2012.
The Italian 19-year-old opened his campaign with a leap of 8.25m and decided to pass his remaining four attempts after breaking the record.
&ldquo;Finally! I have been looking for this result for a long time and it means a lot,&rdquo; Furlani told the Italian athletics federation. &ldquo;It means that we are working well and on the right path, on the threshold of two very important events such as the European Championships in Rome and the Paris Olympics.&rdquo;
Fabbri was another athlete to make a big statement ahead of the continental event on home soil and the Olympic Games in Paris.&nbsp;
The world silver medallist, who also claimed world indoor bronze in March, added 7cm to his shot put PB with a 22.95m throw that improved the almost 37-year-old Italian record of 22.91m set by Alessandro Andrei.
Fabbri surpassed 22 metres with four of his attempts, also throwing 22.67m, 22.47m and 22.45m before his record-breaking 22.95m in the final round.
As well as it being a world lead and an Italian record, Fabbri&rsquo;s performance sees him replace Andrei at No.5 on the world all-time list behind only Ryan Crouser, Joe Kovacs, Randy Barnes and Ulf Timmermann.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
💪 IL VIDEO DEL 22.95 DI FABBRI L&rsquo;abbraccio pi&ugrave; bello, quello tra Leonardo Fabbri e Paolo Dal Soglio! 22,95 a Savona nel peso, battuto Andrei dopo 37 anni, Leo diventa il quinto al mondo di ogni epoca, il secondo di sempre in Europa 🔴🎥 Atletica Italiana<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/atleticaitaliana?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#atleticaitaliana</a> <a href="https://t.co/fU3cUiulG4">pic.twitter.com/fU3cUiulG4</a>
&mdash; Atletica Italiana (@atleticaitalia) <a href="https://twitter.com/atleticaitalia/status/1790816523373740088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2024</a></blockquote>
Another Italian record fell in the women&rsquo;s 100m and it fell twice. First Zaynab Dosso clocked 11.12 (1.4m/s) in the heats to take 0.02 off the national record she had jointly held with Manuela Levorato, before the world indoor 60m bronze medallist improved again to 11.02 (0.9m/s) to win the final.
In the men&rsquo;s 400m, Great Britain&rsquo;s Charlie Dobson followed his strong mixed 4x400m performances at the World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24 with an individual season opener of 44.46 to improve his PB by more than half a second.
In the women&rsquo;s race, Ireland&rsquo;s Sharlene Mawdsley ran 51.43 to win just ahead of Great Britain&rsquo;s world and Olympic 800m silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson, who ran a PB of 51.61 on her season debut.
Her compatriot Jeremiah Azu won the men&rsquo;s 100m final in 10.08, while Jamaica&rsquo;s Omar McLeod took the 110m hurdles in 13.37 and Britany Anderson won the 100m hurdles in 12.88.
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competition/calendar-results/results/7205385?eventId=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Results</a>
*Subject to the usual ratification procedure

A world U20 long jump record of 8.36m by Mattia Furlani and a 22.95m shot put performance by Leonardo Fabbri were the standout results at the Continental Tour Challenger event

Furlani jumps world U20 record, Fabbri throws 22.95m in Savona

Global gold medallists Molly Caudery and Andre De Grasse are among the athletes announced for the Ostrava Golden Spike, with less than two weeks to go to the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting.
A top javelin clash has also been confirmed for the event on 28 May, with Neeraj Chopra, Jakub Vadlejch and Anderson Peters renewing their rivalry in Czechia.
After winning world indoor pole vault gold in Glasgow in March, Great Britain&rsquo;s Caudery enjoyed a successful start to her outdoor campaign as she won on her season opener in Doha.
At that Diamond League meeting the 24-year-old cleared 4.73m and won on countback from world champion Nina Kennedy. In Ostrava her competition will include Czech record-holder Amalie Svabikova, last year&rsquo;s Golden Spike winner Tina Sutej and 2016 Olympic champion Katerina Stefanidi.
Canada&rsquo;s De Grasse is the Olympic 200m champion who most recently helped his nation qualify for the men&rsquo;s 4x100m at the Paris Olympics with their performance at the World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24.
In Ostrava he will race the 100m, going up against another Olympic gold medallist &ndash; the already announced Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs.
Also named for the field are Trayvon Bromell, Ryiem Forde and Reece Prescod.
After taking the top three spots at the Doha Diamond League, the global gold medal trio of Vadlejch, Chopra and Peters will clash again at the Ostrava Golden Spike.
In Doha, Czechia&rsquo;s Olympic silver medallist Vadlejch prevailed, throwing 88.38m to win by just 2cm ahead of India&rsquo;s Olympic and world champion Chopra. Grenada's two-time world gold medallist Peters was third with a 86.62m throw.
In Ostrava, they will join the already announced Mondo Duplantis, Gianmarco Tamberi, Haruka Kitaguchi, Steven Gardiner and Ewa Swoboda.

Global gold medallists Molly Caudery and Andre De Grasse are among the athletes announced for the Ostrava Golden Spike, with less than two weeks to go to the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting

Caudery, De Grasse and top javelin clash announced for Ostrava

World record-holders Femke Bol and Mondo Duplantis have been announced for the Wanda Diamond League meetings in Silesia and Stockholm, respectively, as they continue to work towards their Diamond League title defences.
Dutch star Bol &ndash; who has also previously been named for the Stockholm meeting &ndash; has the chance to claim a fourth consecutive Diamond League 400m hurdles crown at the final in Brussels in September, and the Silesia Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Chorzow, Poland, on 25 August will form part of her preparations.
She will hope to line up there as an Olympic champion, with the Chorzow meeting taking place a couple of weeks after the Games in Paris.
The world indoor 400m record-holder has experienced success in Chorzow before, having set a meeting record of 49.75 in the 400m flat in 2022.
Duplantis could also win a fourth straight Diamond League title in the pole vault in Brussels and his campaign towards the final will include a stop at his home meeting &ndash; the BAUHAUS-Galan in Stockholm, Sweden &ndash; on 2 June.
Duplantis started his season in style when he set the eighth world record of his career with a 6.24m clearance at the Diamond League season opener in Xiamen last month.&nbsp;
He will be hoping for a similar performance in front of home fans in Stockholm, as he builds towards the defence of his Olympic title in Paris in August. He will have something of a dress rehearsal at the Meeting de Paris just five days after the competition in Stockholm, as he has also been announced for that Diamond League meeting at the Stade Charlety.
Among his competition at the BAUHAUS-Galan will be world medallists Chris Nilsen and John Ernest Obiena, plus two-time world champion Sam Kendricks.
Also recently announced for the BAUHAUS-Galan are Fred Kerley and Letsile Tebogo in the 100m and Alison dos Santos and Kyron McMaster in the 400m hurdles.&nbsp;
Kerley has had a solid start to his season with top three finishes in Xiamen and Suzhou, and he will want to get more points in Stockholm as he bids for a third Diamond League Trophy later this year. The stadium record of 9.84 is sure to be a target as 2022 world champion Kerley and double world medallist Tebogo clash at the Olympiastadion.
Dos Santos, the 2022 world champion who claimed the Diamond League title that same year, and McMaster, the two-time Diamond League Trophy winner and world silver medallist, will go head-to-head twice in one week as they are also due to compete at the Oslo Bislett Games on 30 May, where they will be joined by home star Karsten Warholm.
That Diamond League meeting in Oslo, Norway, is also set to feature Kerley &ndash; with Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs among his rivals there &ndash; plus 2012 Olympic champion Kirani James and world silver medallist Matthew Hudson-Smith in the 400m, and Joshua Cheptegei, Jacob Kiplimo, Yomif Kejelcha, Berihu Aregawi, Hagos Gebrhiwet and Telahun Haile Bekele in the 5000m.

World record-holders Femke Bol and Mondo Duplantis have been announced for Wanda Diamond League meetings in Silesia and Stockholm, respectively

World record-holders set for Silesia and Stockholm

The first of three monumental track and field sculptures being temporarily installed in Paris and Strasbourg has gone on public display as part of the celebrations of the Cultural Olympiad of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
World Athletics Heritage and the Museum of World Athletics (MOWA) are delighted to renew their cooperation with the sculptor Pierre Larauza, a Brussels based French multidisciplinary artist, by sponsoring the installation of the three artworks.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/66449726b43ceb5967383edf.jpg" alt="Pierre Larauza's '13 juillet 1985, Paris'" />
Pierre Larauza's '13 juillet 1985, Paris'
</div>
<h2>Engaging art</h2>
MOWA&rsquo;s relationship with Larauza began in September 2021 with the <a href="https://worldathletics.org/heritage/news/mike-powell-sculpture-inaugurated-brussels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inauguration of &ldquo;30 aout 1991, Tokyo&rdquo; &ndash; a sculpture depicting the world long jump record set by Mike Powell in 1991</a>. The artwork is permanently displayed adjacent to Brussels&rsquo; King Baudouin Stadium, engaging with the local community.
The artist invites and encourages all visitors, young and old, to jump and measure their abilities with the world record on the 40-metre long jump runway and landing pit, which sits alongside the artwork.
The giant artwork, in concrete and steel, represents the take-off and, at the exact heights and positions of his shoes, the length of Powell&rsquo;s historic travel through the Tokyo night sky, and his touchdown in the landing pit at 8.95m.
As part of this year&rsquo;s Cultural Olympiad &ndash; Paris 2024, which explores the links between art and sport, a temporary reproduction of Larauza&rsquo;s long jump artwork was opened yesterday in Zenith Paris La Villette. Some 1500 children from across Paris took part in this one-day Olympic cultural festival at Zenith, a multi-purpose indoor arena which is one of the largest in the French capital.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/664496a8b43ceb5967383edc.jpg" alt="&Ccedil;a match au Z&eacute;nith" />
&Ccedil;a match au Z&eacute;nith (&copy; L&eacute;o Joudi)
</div>
<h2>Physical or mental barriers</h2>
One of the other two track and field sculptures by Larauza being displayed in the coming weeks is the &ldquo;20 octobre 1968, Mexico&rdquo; (high jump gold, 1968 Olympic, 2.24m) &ndash; a tribute to the late Dick Fosbury. The artwork measures 1.8m x 1.6m x 2.5m and is created in wood, concrete and plaster. It was first exhibited in the Centre Tour a Plomb, Brussels, in 2020, and demonstrates the height crossed by the athlete, against which our body can be measured. The work is presented as an allegory of the obstacle: this physical or mental wall that we may have been confronted with in our lives, are currently confronted with or will be confronted with one day. What strategy should we choose to break free of it? Fosbury surpassed his wall with the invention of the Fosbury Flop technique.
<h2>The trajectory of the pole</h2>
The third artwork is the &ldquo;13 juillet 1985, Paris&rdquo; (pole vault world record, 6.00m, Sergey Bubka) &ndash; which represents the world&rsquo;s first ever six metres vault, which took place in the Jean Bouin Stadium, Paris, in 1985.
This giant 20m x 4m x 6m installation will be publicly exhibited for the first time in June. Larauza will reproduce Bubka&rsquo;s vault, immortalising a life-size historical movement in sculpture.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6644974fb43ceb5967383ee5.jpg" alt="Pierre Larauza's '13 juillet 1985, Paris'" />
Pierre Larauza's '13 juillet 1985, Paris'
</div>
This work of art, which is constructed from concrete, steel, stainless steel and foam materials, takes a poetic and documentary look at this exceptional movement by faithfully reproducing the trajectory of the pole.
The exhibition of &ldquo;13 juillet 1985, Paris&rdquo; will take place at Carreau du Temple in the centre of Paris, from 26 to 30 June 2024.
The Carreau du Temple, which was built in 1863 as a covered market, has since its reconstruction in 2011 become a prestigious cultural and sporting facility.
Chris Turner for World Athletics Heritage 
<h3>SCHEDULE</h3>
Exhibition at the Zenith, Paris 211 Av. Jean Jaures, 75019 Paris. 14 May 2024
Sculpture &ndash; &ldquo;30 aout 1991, Tokyo&rdquo; (long jump world record, 8.95m).
Exhibition at Carreau du Temple, Paris 4 Rue Eugene Spuller, 75003 Paris 26 to 30 June 2024 Sculptures &ndash; &ldquo;13 juillet 1985, Paris&rdquo; (pole vault world record, 6.00m) and &ldquo;30 aout 1991, Tokyo&rdquo;.&nbsp;
Exhibition at Le Vaisseau, Strasbourg 1 Bis Rue Philippe Dollinger, 67100 Strasbourg 21 May to 14 October 2024
Sculptures &ndash; &ldquo;20 octobre 1968, Mexico&rdquo; (2.24m high jump Olympic 1968 - tribute to the late Dick Fosbury) and &ldquo;30 aout 1991, Tokyo&rdquo;.

The first of three monumental track and field sculptures being temporarily installed in Paris and Strasbourg has gone on public display

First 6.00m pole vault celebrated in sculpture - Cultural Olympiad, Paris 2024

In the latest episode of the <a href="https://worldathletics.org/videos/playlist/latest-videos/6643208abd1e62f3d52101c1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Athletics Inside Track Podcast</a>, released today (14 May), Sanya Richards-Ross, Kelly Sotherton and Richard Kilty host a recap of the World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24 with French runners Gilles Biron and Helene Parisot.
Richards-Ross and Sotherton, who in an earlier episode teamed up with World Athletics President Sebastian Coe and CEO Jon Ridgeon respectively to predict their choices for the podium, had their predictions analysed and rewarded by Kilty. The pair of Richards-Ross and Coe emerged victorious.
Every athlete knows that competing in front of a home crowd is one of the most exhilarating and fulfilling experiences, and both Parisot and Biron expressed that when speaking about their respective teams&rsquo; qualifications to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The women&rsquo;s 4x100m qualification may have come as a surprise to some, but the squad of 10 had been training together for the last two years building a &ldquo;sisterhood&rdquo;, coupled with the extra driving force of competing on home soil.
&ldquo;It was amazing, but we had a little bit of pressure at the beginning of the competition because the goal was to qualify for the Olympics,&rdquo; said Parisot. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a big step and a first step for us on the road to Paris.&rdquo;
While the French men&rsquo;s 4x400m failed to qualify, and will now need to qualify via the performance lists, Biron said the mixed 4x400m team is looking forward to peaking when they step on the track at home.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m proud of the performance we did here, but I don&rsquo;t want to make more pressure on myself (and team) because it&rsquo;s Paris,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s the Olympic Games and we want to all be at our best to perform at the right moment.&rdquo;
With 14 teams now qualified for each of the relay events at Paris 2024, two more teams in each event will wait until 30 June to know if they secure the remaining spots based on performance lists from during the qualification period.
This is the final in a series of World Athletics Inside Track Podcast episodes from Nassau, all available via the usual podcast platforms including on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/inside-track-the-official-podcast-of-world-athletics/id1733061742" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple Podcasts</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6OGo4XNfgZ3GSiXes6OO8u?si=c976714bf56b4d18" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spotify</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;the <a href="https://podcast.sport-social.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sport Social Podcast Network</a> &ndash; while fans can also watch the show on the <a href="https://worldathletics.org/videos" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Athletics website</a>.
With an evolving presenter line-up, the podcast will return later in the year, as an all-star cast will provide a preview to the events at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Find it all on <a href="https://worldathletics.org/inside-track" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Inside Track</a>.

World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24

Sanya Richards-Ross, Kelly Sotherton and Richard Kilty host a recap of the World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24 with French runners Gilles Biron and Helene Parisot

From paradise to Paris: Inside Track Podcast wraps up WRE Bahamas 24

At the age of just 19, Emmanuel Wanyonyi is already a senior world medallist, a world U20 champion, a world record-holder and a World Athletics award-winner.
The Kenyan 800m runner received the men&rsquo;s Rising Star honour at the World Athletics Awards in 2023, a year in which he also became a Diamond League champion and formed part of Kenya&rsquo;s victorious world cross country mixed relay team.
Welcoming <a href="https://worldathletics.org/videos/playlist/latest-videos/66435b50ee56c1f47c0b6f14" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Athletics Inside Track</a> to his home country, Wanyonyi reflects on his breakthrough 2023 season and explains how his successes are adding pressure in an Olympic year.
He also talks about what the Olympics means to him and why his training environment in Kapsabet, Nandi County, is so special.
Click the thumbnail to watch:<a href="https://worldathletics.org/videos/playlist/latest-videos/66435b50ee56c1f47c0b6f14" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/664359b2ee56c1f47c0b6f11.jpg" alt="Wanyonyi" /></a>
&ldquo;I like my job,&rdquo; Wanyonyi says with a big smile.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Kenya is very competitive. Of course in 800m, it is very competitive for me. But I like competition. I like to compete. So, I need to focus my training &ndash; to get on the team for the track at the Olympics is very tough. I need to train well, I need to focus and improve my time, my PB.
&ldquo;The Olympics this year, it&rsquo;s a lot of pressure for me. Everyone trains for the Olympics, so I expect this year&rsquo;s Olympics to be very tough for me. I need to train, I need to commit.
&ldquo;My training mates like Benson Kipruto and Evans Chebet (multiple major marathon winners), they told me: &lsquo;everything is possible&rsquo;. If you believe and you are training well, if you are disciplined &ndash; everything is possible.&rdquo;

Welcoming World Athletics Inside Track to his home country, Wanyonyi reflects on his breakthrough 2023 season and shares his Olympic ambitions

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