Robert Harting extends his winning streak in Berlin (© Gladys Chai van der Laage)
Three-time world discus champion Robert Harting, Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford and two-time world shot put champion David Storl are just some of the top athletes set to compete on 31 August at the ISTAF meeting in Berlin, the German leg of the IAAF World Challenge.
Harting, who next week will be defending his European title in Zurich, has won at the ISTAF meeting for the past four years. Having won eight of his nine competitions this summer, the 29-year-old will be hopeful of winning again in front of his home crowd.
Rutherford is fresh from winning the Commonwealth long jump title. The British record-holder has never competed at the ISTAF meeting before, but he has jumped in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. On that occasion, at the 2009 World Championships, he set his first of three national records, leaping 8.30m in the qualifying round.
At this year’s ISTAF meeting, Rutherford will be up against China’s world indoor silver medallist Li Jinzhe, 2010 European champion Christian Reif and Paralympic champion Markus Rehm, who recently leapt 8.24m.
Like Rutherford, Storl has been in PB form this year. In the past six weeks, the 24-year-old has produced his three best outdoor marks of his career, throwing a PB of 21.90m in Schonebeck, then improving to 21.97m in London and most recently winning the German title with 21.87m. He will be looking for another victory in the German capital, having won there last year with 20.91m.
In addition to national heroes Harting and Storl, the recently crowned German champions in each event featured on the ISTAF programme will also compete in Berlin. It means the likes of 100m sprinters Julian Reus and Tatjana Pinto, sprint hurdler Nadine Hildebrand, hammer thrower Kathrin Klaas and pole vaulter Tobias Scherbarth will all line up against some of the world’s best athletes on 31 August.
Organisers for the IAAF
