The World Athletics Council has today (28) agreed on the host cities of three future World Athletics Series events&nbsp;at their meeting in Tokyo.
The World Athletics Road Running Championships 2023 will be held in Riga, Latvia, the World Athletics Relays 2023 will be held in Guangzhou, China, and the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships 2022 will be held in Muscat, Oman.
Riga will host the inaugural World Athletics Road Running Championships, an event designed to celebrate road running for both elite and mass participation runners. It will incorporate the current World Half Marathon Championships and the new world 5km championships, as well as mass races.
Thirteen cities originally expressed interest in hosting this exciting new event and five cities were taken through to the final round.
The Head of the Local Organising Committee Aigars Nords, who is also the Race Director of Rimi Riga Marathon, added: "We are beyond excited to have won the rights to host the World Road Running Championships in Riga. The team is eager to reinterpret the Championships by focusing on the ordinary runner and positioning the World Championships as the ultimate road running experience. We consider the World Road Running Championships in Riga as a major long-term step to boost athletics and promote an active lifestyle, inspire younger generations, drive sports tourism and showcase the Latvian capital through a unique marriage of sports and culture."
The dates of the event have yet to be finalised but it is expected to be held around September-October of 2023.
The World Athletics Relays will be held in China for the first time in 2023, following the awarding of this event to the port city of Guangzhou, one of China&rsquo;s three largest cities.
The sixth World Relays will serve as a qualifying event for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest and the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The dates have yet to be finalised but the relays are traditionally held in May.
Ouyang Ziwen, Director of Guangzhou Sports Bureau and a member of the bid presentation delegation, greeted the decision.
"It is a great honour and pleasure for Guangzhou to win the bid of the World Athletics Relays 2023," he said. "I would like to express our gratitude to World Athletics for the trust in Guangzhou. Under the guidance of World Athletics and the support of the Chinese Athletics Association, we will get fully prepared and stage a successful and wonderful event in Guangzhou!"
Oman will host a World Athletics Series event for the first time following the awarding of the 2022 World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships to its capital Muscat.
Minsk in Belarus was originally selected to host this event but the World Athletics Council decided to relocate the event after receiving a report prepared by the World Athletics Risk Committee.
The event will now be held in Muscat in March 2022 and organised in partnership by Oman Sail, the Oman Athletics Association and the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Mohammed Al Asmi, Board Member of the Oman Athletics Association, said: "This is a great opportunity to enhance athletics in Oman. We have seen in the past how enthusiastic the Omani people have been for home grown and international events and to be able to bring a major championship to the country has the potential to position athletics as one of the leading sports in Oman. We are excited to provide the stage for the world&rsquo;s best race walkers to perform and anticipate an amazing debut for Oman as hosts of the event."
Oman intends to turn this event into a wider celebration of athletics. As well as the elite male and female 20km race walk events, U20 male and female 10km race walk events and a 35km combined race, it will feature masters categories, 1km and 2km kids' runs and a parkrun festival. 
<h3>Russia Taskforce reports good progress</h3>
In its <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/download/download?filename=73104c87-f679-4bfe-89bd-57ffcffd9f55.pdf&amp;urlslug=Russia%20Taskforce%20Report%20%5B28%20July%202021%5D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report to the Council</a>, the Russia Taskforce confirmed that the suspended Russian Federation (RusAF) was making satisfactory progress against the milestones and KPIs set out in the Reinstatement Plan and had paid the latest invoice of US$431,848 for the reinstatement costs incurred by World Athletics in the quarter ending 31 March 2021.&nbsp;
The Taskforce is hopeful that, under the guidance of Acting President Irina Privalova, and with the assistance of the three international experts appointed to assist in the Reinstatement Plan, RusAF will continue to meet the remaining milestones and KPIs to satisfy all of the conditions set for its reinstatement to membership of World Athletics.
Consequently, the Council resolved that the Authorised Neutral Athlete (ANA) process would remain in effect and that the Council would consider in November whether the ANA quota of 10 athletes that applied to certain competitions in 2021 should be maintained or revised for competitions staged in 2022.
It further decided that the status of RusAF&rsquo;s membership would be put on the agenda for the 53rd World Athletics Congress to be held in November, where the congress will be asked to vote on the following resolution:
Congress resolves, in exercise of its powers under Article 13.7 of the World Athletics Constitution, that the suspension of RusAF&rsquo;s membership of World Athletics will continue until Council decides that all of the conditions set by Council from time to time for the revocation of RusAF&rsquo;s suspension and the consequent reinstatement of RusAF&rsquo;s membership have been met.
However the Taskforce warned that if RusAF stopped making satisfactory progress against the KPIs and milestones in the Reinstatement Plan, or failed to reimburse World Athletics' reinstatement costs on a timely basis in this period, it would recommend that the Council withdraw the proposed resolution to Congress, and propose instead that Congress resolves to expel RusAF from membership with immediate effect. The Taskforce trusts that this will not be necessary.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
World Athletics

The World Athletics Council has today (28) agreed on the host cities of three future World Athletics Series events at their meeting in Tokyo.

Riga, Guangzhou and Muscat to host World Athletics Series events

Canada&rsquo;s Moh Ahmed has been a force on the world distance running scene for the past decade, notably finishing fourth in the Rio Olympics 5000m before snatching the bronze medal at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha.
As he prepares for his third Olympic Games from the Bowerman Track Club&rsquo;s altitude training base in Park City, Utah, he knows he cannot be complacent going forward.
At the Florence Wanda Diamond League meeting on 10 June, Ahmed finished third in the 5000m in 12:50.12 &ndash; not far off his Canadian record of 12:47.20. That splendid result has come to be expected of the 30-year-old. The surprise, however, was that his fellow Canadian Justyn Knight, who had finished runner-up to Ahmed at the Canadian Championships in 2017, 2018 and 2019, claimed fifth in that stellar field with a huge personal best of 12:51.93.
This pair are now the two fastest North American 5000m runners of all-time. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/4d55b20c-67e0-4d57-b206-2d7d01501210.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t say I was surprised,&rdquo; says Knight, 25. &ldquo;It was my first &lsquo;5km&rsquo; in two years. The last one I ran was at the 2019 World Championships. Now we are in 2021, a lot of time has passed and I have been working really hard to improve myself.
&ldquo;I was able to do lots of base training to make sure I was strong enough and then, leading up to that 5000m, I was fortunate enough to get into a couple of good 1500m races. I think I knew where I was at.&rdquo;
The jovial Toronto area native made the final of the 2017 World Championships 5000m, six months before winning the NCAA indoor 5000m title for Syracuse University. Precocious talent doesn&rsquo;t go far enough in describing his ability. But it was a huge 1500m personal best of 3:33.41 in May of this year which signalled a major breakthrough in his specialty was imminent. There is one reason for it.
While most NCAA athletes find themselves in a position where they must change coaches when turning professional, Knight&rsquo;s graduation from university coincided with his coach Chris Fox&rsquo;s hiring as head of Reebok Boston Track Club in 2018.
&ldquo;I was fortunate to leave college and have the same coach,&rdquo; he admits. &ldquo;We had a tremendous amount of success at Syracuse and we accomplished a lot of great things. He knows me really well, I know him really well and he knows how to get me fired up. I listen to the coach and have complete trust and faith in him.&rdquo;
The club is based in Charlottesville, Virginia. Knight jokes: &ldquo;Charlottesville is too long a word to fit on a singlet!&rdquo; With a smile he apologises for the confusion over names.&nbsp;
The area is known for its hills and autumn training includes many repetitions on some of the hilly dirt roads outside the city. Recently, Knight has been &lsquo;honing the speed&rsquo; needed for the Olympics and he believes he will be equally prepared for a &lsquo;sit and kick&rsquo; race or one that is fast from the gun. Surprisingly, one common and seemingly universal training element is missing from his experiences.
&ldquo;I have never done altitude training,&rdquo; he reveals. &ldquo;I have been begging my coach to try it. He actually promised me that after 2020 maybe we could try it, then the Olympics got delayed. Maybe next year I will be lucky. It&rsquo;s something I have always wanted to try but never had the opportunity to do.&rdquo;
A 15-minute interview turns into a two-hour chat as the humble athlete enjoys discussing the history of athletics. Learning that his manager, Ray Flynn, still holds the Irish mile record (3:49.77) comes as a delightful surprise. It is evident he has time on his hands. Because of travel restrictions which required Canadians to quarantine upon returning home he has not been back to Toronto since Christmas. Friends and family are missed.
&ldquo;My days are pretty relaxed, especially during Covid. I don&rsquo;t really go out so to reduce the possibility of coming in contact with the virus,&rdquo; he admits. &ldquo;I have been very fortunate, I have been staying in touch with my friends on FaceTime. I love watching movies, I play a lot of games as well. Sometimes &ndash; and in case my mum reads this &ndash; I do crack open a book every now and then.&rdquo;
Knight laughs at this statement. But beneath the cheerful exterior there lies a dedicated and ambitious athlete who is always seeking improvement. He was ninth in the 2017 World Championships 5000m final while a student-athlete and 10th in Doha two years later. Those experiences, as well as that Florence 5000m, showed him he can run with the best in the world.
&ldquo;I was just happy to break that 13-minute barrier but there are still some improvements that I can make,&rdquo; he declares. &ldquo;Florence was a huge confidence booster, especially because I was running with the talented group I was running with.
&ldquo;Usually I am accustomed to running with the second group, I guess, being part of the chase pack. And in that Florence Diamond League race I was in the top five or six front group. Hopefully I can be in contention to do something special at the Olympics.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61004e5eb643ff4dc4765dd9.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="647" />
 Clearly this young man has ambitions and the talent to perhaps pull off some surprises in the coming years. Ironically, he credits Ahmed&rsquo;s longstanding experiences on the world stage as being an influence. And he lets out a little secret.
&ldquo;Moh has been a huge inspiration to me ever since I started running,&rdquo; he declares with candour. &ldquo;My freshman year in college, back when Facebook was the most popular social media site, I wrote him a message just reaching out to him, just saying: &lsquo;Hey, I look up to you, do you have any tips as a runner?&rsquo; He got back to me fairly quickly.
&ldquo;That meant the world to me and that was kind of the start of our friendship. Just to see Moh throughout the years bring Canadian distance running back with all these Canadian records he has set, and all these championships races he has run in, and how he has always represented us in the best way possible. It&rsquo;s just really nice to have someone to look up to.
&ldquo;Now I am in a position where I am competing alongside him and we have the potential to do something special, at the same time, for Canada &ndash; that would just be a great accomplishment for us both and would mean a lot to our nation as well.&rdquo;
Knight will race only the 5000m while Ahmed is planning the 5000m and 10,000m double in Tokyo. In Doha, the 5000m final was six days before the 10,000m where Ahmed came back to finish sixth in a Canadian record of 26:59.35. In Tokyo, the 10,000m final is on the first night of athletics competition, leaving Ahmed four days to recover before the 5000m heats. 
The Canadian team will first gather in Gifu, Japan, where they will adjust to the time difference and to the heat. Expectations will run high that these two Canadian distance runners will pack a 1-2 punch in the 5000m.
Paul&nbsp;Gains for World Athletics

Moh Ahmed and Justyn Knight will be looking to pack a 1-2 punch at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Ahmed and Knight: Canada’s formidable 5000m duo

Joao&nbsp;Vieira&nbsp;knows what time discos close &ndash; but it&rsquo;s doubtful the Portuguese champion has been in one recently.
The 45-year-old is too focused on adding a second glorious 50km race walk medal from the Tokyo Olympics to the silver he claimed at the 2019 World Athletics Championships.
After wearily crossing the finish line in Doha, he ruefully remarked it was the same hour as clubs showed clients the door. This was the result of an 11.30pm start &ndash; the one sure way to avoid daytime and the worst of the punishing desert heat.
&ldquo;It's now four o'clock in the morning, which is a more proper time to be leaving a disco. I usually go to bed at 10pm,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;However, I feel very good. It's not every day we win a medal, especially at 43."&nbsp;
He&rsquo;s two years older now, but insists his biggest competitor for a place on the Olympic podium is himself.
Curiously, he calls the rest of the 50km field his &lsquo;test partners&rsquo; in what is likely to be the last race in a major at the distance. Even so, he is preparing for another memorable day. To again defy the odds,&nbsp;Vieira&nbsp;believes the secret of staying competitive at an age when most have hung up their trainers, is attention to detail. He is known for his painstaking approach.&nbsp;
Vieira&nbsp;says he carefully &lsquo;listens&rsquo; to his body, plots each and every move, and revels in the coaching from his wife and training partner. Vera Santos won two World Walking Cup medals for Portugal, and made two Olympic and six World Championships appearances.
At one stage her husband coached her, now she coaches him.&nbsp;
Santos said: &ldquo;In 2016 I had a lot of physical problems, and I started to devote myself more to training him on technical aspects."
When Vieira toed the line in Doha, he tied with compatriot Susana Feitor for a stunning 11th appearance in the World Championships. Only Spain&rsquo;s evergreen Jesus Angel Garcia has walked more with 13.
But as 2005 world bronze medallist Feitor points out, it helps somewhat if you&rsquo;ve been a full-time athlete all your adult life. She added: &ldquo;You can imagine if he had another job or goals outside his athletic career, that would make a difference, not only regarding focus but also about the physical management.
&ldquo;When it is possible to combine discipline, focus and physical capacity, with money support from the club or Olympic committee, I guess it is possible to continue and renovate the will and mental power to keep going.
&ldquo;Joao is very methodical about his body, especially regarding recovery or controlling training effort. And also, do not forget his wife is also his training partner.&rdquo;
The pair worked out that in order to survive Doha,&nbsp;Vieira&nbsp;needed to get out on the road at midnight to recreate the race.
She said: &ldquo;We had to change everything to train at that time, so his body could react. In terms of heat, he did several stages at altitude, but could never get close to the conditions.&rdquo;
So, at the university in Coimbra, halfway between Lisbon and Porto, and with the aid of an expert physiologist and assistant,&nbsp;Vieira&nbsp;trained in a chamber where heat and humidity were replicated to bring everything as close to the real thing as possible.
He added: &ldquo;I knew it might not be the best athletes to win medals, but rather the athletes who best adapted to those difficult conditions.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60fff20b3a172cfffd816e57.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" /> Rio 2016 was Vieira's fifth Olympic Games and he finished 31st in the 20km race walk (&copy; Getty Images)
 The Portuguese athlete has a personal best of 3:45:17, set in 2012, that places him a modest 133rd on the all-time list. But as he hinted, it&rsquo;s all about the performance on the day. Rarely do records get broken in championship races.
The all-important question remains.&nbsp;
Why, since he first competed in the 1994 World U20 Championships, and with World Championships 20km bronze from 2013 as well as that Doha silver to go with two European Championships medals, does he want more?
Vieira&rsquo;s answer is simple: he likes what he does.
&ldquo;I still feel motivated after 27 years because I like what I do and I can achieve my goals nationally and internationally,&rdquo; he said.
Santos echoes the thought.
"It's like he says: he wakes up every day like he's 20 years old, and with pleasure and desire to train every day.&rdquo;
Vieira is aware things are going to be different again in Sapporo where the walks and marathons take place. For a start, there is likely to be few spectators, if any.
&ldquo;I think for all athletes it will be strange if we have no spectators. Often, they are the ones who cheer and encourage the athletes,&rdquo; Vieira said. &ldquo;My training cycle right now is split by volume and speed. There is both sea level training and at altitude. Everything depends on working toward the main competition."
For a man with 50km on his mind, Vieira appeared in good form when he produced a very creditable 1:21:40 and 15th place at the 20km La Coruna leg of the World Athletics Challenge - Race Walking series on 5 June.
His best, 1:20:09, dates all the way back to 2006.&nbsp;
Maybe, after these Olympics, the Portuguese, who lives in Rio Maior with Santos and their daughter, will settle down to family life and finally call it a day?
He doesn&rsquo;t think so.
In fact, he&rsquo;s taking a leaf from Garcia&rsquo;s book, who will also line up in Sapporo at the age of 51 for an amazing eighth Olympiad.
Vieira&nbsp;said: &ldquo;I think I'm going to continue after the Olympics. I want to do the next World Cup in 2022.
&ldquo;Jesus Angel Garcia? He is amazing, and has been an example to all athletes with his strength and longevity and dedication to race walking&rdquo;.&nbsp;
Quite obviously, the Spaniard is not the only one.
Paul Warburton for World Athletics

Joao Vieira knows what time discos close – but it’s doubtful the Portuguese champion has been in one recently.

Heading to Tokyo for sixth Olympics, Vieira remains motivated for more

&ldquo;I want to jump the world record,&rdquo; says Yaroslava Mahuchikh as she prepares to make her Olympic debut in Tokyo. Given the 19-year-old&rsquo;s performances so far, that doesn&rsquo;t seem to be an unrealistic ambition.
Four years ago, at the age of 15, the Ukrainian high jump star won the world U18 title in Nairobi with a PB and world age best of 1.92m. Two weeks later she claimed victory at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Gyor, clearing 1.89m. That proved to be just the start.
A year later, and back in that same Hungarian city, she added two centimetres to her PB to win the European U18 title and in the October she soared over 1.95m to triumph at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60fedb26464f3ef63a96820f.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 The teenager continued on her upward trajectory in 2019, matching Vashti Cunningham&rsquo;s world U20 indoor record with a 1.99m clearance in Hustopece, before opening her summer season in Doha with an outdoor PB of 1.96m which saw her &ndash; at 17 years and 226 days &ndash; become the youngest athlete to ever win a Diamond League. She cleared two metres for the first time at the Prefontaine Classic and won the European U20 title in Boras, before a successful return trip to Doha.
There, on the biggest stage of her career so far, Mahuchikh twice improved the world U20 record which had stood since 1989, clearing 2.02m and then 2.04m to become the youngest ever field event medallist at the World Athletics Championships. She again carried that form indoors, improving her world U20 indoor record to 2.01m and then 2.02m a couple of weeks later.
Then the pandemic hit, but the 2019 World Athletics Rising Star still managed to clear two metres in Stockholm, and during the winter of 2021 she won the European indoor title in Torun a month after clearing 2.06m in Banska Bystrica. The highest indoor jump in the world for nine years, that mark moved Mahuchikh to equal third on the world indoor all-time list.
Not a bad start to the career of an athlete who almost became a hurdler. 
<div style="padding: 15px 20px 5px 20px; border: 2px solid #bd94ff;">
<h3><img style="width: 180px; height: 180px; border-radius: 50%; margin-left: 20px;" src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/9f4f1c79-512f-403b-998e-2d3274b9a3d8.jpg?cachebuster=1bab0101-58c2-418f-91b9-40b7d78c792b" alt="Yaroslava Mahuchikh" align="right" />Mahuchikh's high jump progression</h3>
2016: 1.80 2017: 1.92 2018: 1.95 2019: 2.04 2020: 2.02i 2021: 2.06i 
<h3>Mahuchikh's two-metre competitions</h3>
2.00, Palo Alto, 30 Jun 2019 2.04, Doha, 30 Sep 2019 2.01i, Lvov, 18 Jan 2020 2.02i, Karlsruhe, 31 Jan 2020 2.01i, Sumy, 22 Feb 2020 2.00, Stockholm, 23 Aug 2020 2.02i, Kiev, 9 Jan 2021 2.00i, Udine, 27 Jan 2021 2.06i, Banska Bystrica, 2 Feb 2021 2.00i, Sumy, 11 Feb 2021 2.00i, Torun, 7 Mar 2021 2.00, Lutsk, 19 Jun 2021 2.01, Berdichev, 26 Jun 2021 2.03, Stockholm, 4 Jul 2021 2.00, Tallinn, 10 Jul 2021
</div>
 &ldquo;I was a 400m hurdler and coached hurdles, and Yaroslava originally came to me to do hurdles,&rdquo; her coach, Tetyana Stepanova, said in 2019, &ldquo;but it was immediately obvious that her talent was as a high jumper.&rdquo;
Now Mahuchikh has the opportunity to further demonstrate that talent at the Olympic Games and after clearing a world-leading 2.03m to win at the Diamond League in Stockholm earlier this month, she attempted a would-have-been PB of 2.07m. Although unsuccessful on that occasion, it has only fuelled her world record ambition and she has Stefka Kostadinova&rsquo;s 2.09m, set in 1987, in her sights.
&ldquo;My first attempt and third attempt were so close,&rdquo; she said after trying 2.07m. &ldquo;I feel that I can fly higher than 2.07m.&rdquo;
Six days later, after her win with a 2.00m leap at the European U23 Championships in Tallinn,&nbsp;Mahuchikh&nbsp;added: &ldquo;It was a nice evening at the stadium, clearing all heights with the first attempt. I did not continue jumping because the main target is the Olympic Games but I knew this two-metre jump was a very good for me also mentally.
&ldquo;In Tokyo, I want to jump more than 2.05m, 2.07m... I want to jump the world record.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60ff096f2d382c12061e35ef.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="676" /> (&copy; Dan Vernon)
 Earlier this year,&nbsp;Mahuchikh was able to spend time on some of her other passions, including fashion and beauty when she appeared in&nbsp;Vogue Ukraine's May 2021 issue. But then it was back to business.
So what will she have been focusing on in these final few weeks before Tokyo, in order to make her world record goal a reality?
&ldquo;More technical training, to improve any mistakes,&rdquo; she explained. &ldquo;I want to go to the Olympics full of energy and jump every height on the first attempt.&rdquo;
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

“I want to jump the world record,” says Yaroslava Mahuchikh as she prepares to make her Olympic debut in Tokyo. Given the 19-year-old’s performances so far, that doesn’t seem to be an unrealistic ambition.

Mahuchikh ready to fly even higher

Being a world record-holder, Olympic silver medallist and European champion, Liese Prokop is one of the greatest Austrian athletes of all time. The former pentathlete, who died in 2006 aged just 65, has always remained a popular figure. After her sports career she entered politics, where her trajectory culminated in becoming her country&rsquo;s Minister of the Interior.
Becoming a successful pentathlete was not easy. Her path first led to winter sports, a trajectory not uncommon for sportspeople in this Alpine republic. Initially, she worked as a ski instructor in Annaberg in the county of Lower Austria, at the ski school owned by Gunnar Prokop, who would later become her husband. High jump initially seemed like a mere hobby.
In the winter season of 1963/64, however, she began to dream about participating in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Gunnar Prokop, who was Liese&rsquo;s athletics coach, would not have been able to finance a trip to Japan. However, the Austrian ambassador in Tokyo secured him a contract as a ski instructor in Japan for the six months following the Olympics. This secured him a plane ticket to Tokyo even before Liese qualified for her first Olympics the following summer. 
<h3>Tokyo Olympics were a learning curve</h3>
Liese&rsquo;s jacket from her team uniform for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Tokyo 1964 Games is a valuable piece that embodies lots of emotional memories. Gunnar Prokop has guarded it at home for years and now has entrusted it to the World Athletics Heritage Collection and the <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/heritage/mowa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Museum of World Athletics (MOWA)</a>. It is a symbol of the beginning of her successful career.
Tokyo represented a learning curve for both Liese and Gunnar. Liese (starting under her maiden name Sykora) failed to progress beyond the high jump qualification stage with a 1.65m jump. A competitor had stepped on her foot with a spike shoe during the warm-up. And Gunnar was inexperienced as a coach.
&ldquo;But on the warm-up field, I saw the American and Russian heroes of athletics for the first time. I witnessed how the athletes yelled at and fought with their coaches &ndash; but three days later they were Olympic champions,&rdquo; confirmed Gunnar. From this he took for his future coaching relationships that an iron fist and discipline were the key to success, earning him the nickname of the &lsquo;slave driver&rsquo; of Austrian athletics.
To this day, Gunnar remembers a specific moment from the closing ceremony of Tokyo 1964 when he looks at Liese&rsquo;s jacket. &ldquo;When the letters &lsquo;Sayonara Mexico 1968&rsquo; appeared in the stadium, we swore to each other that we&rsquo;d become Olympic champions there!" he said.
&ldquo;We trained absolutely single-mindedly, we trained like mad. Now it was for the pentathlon. It wasn&rsquo;t enough for gold, but we did manage silver." 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60fec66deb63e213ddab2e0e.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="665" /> (&copy; IMAGO) 
<h3>Dry shoes</h3>
Liese herself also told the story hundreds of times. At Mexico City 1968 (having married Gunnar in the meantime) she took second place in a memorable pentathlon with 4966 points, behind the West German Ingrid Mickler-Becker (5098). These two athletes remained close friends until Liese&rsquo;s untimely death. Mickler-Becker was even a surprise guest at Liese&rsquo;s 60th birthday celebrations.
In Liese and Gunnar&rsquo;s reports of Mexico 1968, one anecdote about the shotput was repeated often. There had been a torrential downpour, the ring was under water, and Mickler-Becker was slipping around so much that Liese lent her her own shoes. There was one important detail: the Germans had a contract with &lsquo;Adidas&rsquo;, but Liese wore &lsquo;Puma&rsquo; shoes.
Gunnar remembered: "The picture of Becker with those Puma shoes went around the world at the time. Who knows, maybe or even probably, Ingrid might not have become Olympic champion without Liese&rsquo;s help." 
<h3>Austrian, not Australian!</h3>
Before the final 200m run, Liese was in the lead by 22 points ahead of Mickler-Becker, who was known as a strong sprinter. Still, the Austrian was worried that she might once again be left behind on the track. &ldquo;But suddenly I noticed that I was just about able to keep up with the others," she said.
She made it to the finish line in 25.1 and was awarded silver ahead of the Hungarian Annamaria Toth (4959). At the medal ceremony, Liese was briefly close to tears when the Australian flag was raised for her instead of the Austrian flag.
Final results from Mexico 1968: 1. Ingrid Mickler-Beckler 5098 (80m hurdles 10.9; shot put 11.48; high jump 1.71; long jump 6.43; 200m 23.5), 2. Prokop 4966 (11.2; 14.61; 1.68; 5.97; 25.1). 
<h3>European title and two world records</h3>
One year later, however, Liese finally reached the top of the podium. In 1969, she was in the form of her life. In Athens, she became European champion with an emphatic win (5030 points) ahead of the Swiss athlete Meta Antenen (4793). In this year, the pentathlon hurdle distance had changed to 100m, and Liese&rsquo;s results were now: 14.0; 15.20; 1.68; 6.14; 25.6.
In Austria, Liese&rsquo;s fame reached new heights with her legendary pentathlon world record on 4 and 5 October 1969 in the Sudstadt stadium near Vienna. She had set a world record earlier that year in Leoben (Austria) with 5089 points, which Heide Rosendahl (GER) bettered with 5155 points. Liese&nbsp;was so sure that she could beat this result that she announced her intention to set another world record in advance. This led to an unprecedented and frenzied enthusiasm for athletics in Austria. Gunnar Prokop thought that Liese could achieve 5300 to 5400 points, and turned out to be correct: in the end she achieved 5352 points.&nbsp;
Liese was on course for a world record after the first day, after the 100m hurdles (13.5), shotput (14.95m) and high jump (1.75m). This led to 6000 spectators turning up on the second day to watch the last two disciplines.
&ldquo;No Austrian athlete has ever had this effect&rdquo;, wrote the Austrian paper Kronen Zeitung about that Sunday.
Liese jumped 6.62m in the long jump. When it came to the 200m, spectators stood next to the running track and formed a wall to shield her from the wind. Liese finished in 24.6.
Kronen Zeitung celebrated her on the title page, proclaiming in big letters: &ldquo;Liese Prokop is the Best: A Dream World Record!&rdquo;
This was the final word in Prokop&rsquo;s great athletics career, which is still celebrated in Austria. Some of her national records remained for decades. Her shot put record of 16.04m is still the second-best result in Austrian history.
Shortly after the big record in the Sudstadt, in 1969, Liese started her successful politics career. She became Deputy Governor of the county of Upper Austria and was eventually named Austrian Minister for the Interior in 2004. Of course, she also went on to support sports as a politician, especially her beloved athletics.
Olaf Brockmann for World Athletics Heritage

Being a world record-holder, Olympic silver medallist and European champion, Liese Prokop is one of the greatest Austrian athletes of all time.

Prokop's Tokyo 1964 Austrian Olympic blazer joins MOWA

Women&rsquo;s world 10,000m records 29:01.03 Letesenbet Gidey (ETH) Hengelo 8 June 2021 29:06.82 Sifan Hassan (NED) Hengelo 6 June 2021
Women's world U20 indoor 800m record 1:59.03&nbsp;Keely Hodgkinson (GBR) Vienna 30 January 2021
Men&rsquo;s world indoor 60m hurdles record 7.29 Grant Holloway (USA) Madrid 24 February 2021
Men&rsquo;s world 400m hurdles record 46.70 Karsten Warholm (NOR) Oslo 1 July 2021
With a few days&nbsp;until athletics action begins at the Tokyo Olympic Games, the world record marks set by Letesenbet Gidey, Sifan Hassan, Keely Hodgkinson, Grant Holloway and Karsten Warholm have been ratified.
Dutch star Hassan ran 29:06.82 at the FBK Games &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting &ndash; in Hengelo on 6 June to take more than 10 seconds off the world 10,000m record of 29:17.45 which had been set by Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana at the Olympic Games in Rio on 12 August 2016. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60bd1837813a6882312fda14.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="755" /> (&copy; FBK Games)
 That mark would not stand for long, however, as just two days later Ethiopia&rsquo;s Letesenbet Gidey improved the record by another five seconds on the same track in the Dutch city, running 29:01.03 to win the Ethiopian Trials. Both marks have now been ratified.
Gidey, who last year set a world 5000m record of 14:06.62, said: &ldquo;I expected to run the world record. Next I will try again, to run maybe 28:56.&rdquo;
The pair are set to go head-to-head over 10,000m at the Olympics, where double world champion Hassan is also entered for the 1500m and 5000m.
Less than a month after those 10,000m records it was Warholm&rsquo;s turn to add his name to the world record book as the Norwegian two-time world champion clocked 46.70 at the Oslo Bislett Games, the fourth Wanda Diamond League meeting of this season, to break Kevin Young&rsquo;s long-standing world 400m hurdles record of 46.78 set at the Olympics in Barcelona on 6 August 1992. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60de1f09313bdb2f1cf0d5fb.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" /> (&copy; Matthew Quine / Diamond League AG) 
 With Sydney McLaughlin having clocked 51.90 at the US Olympic Trials, it meant that both the women's and men's world 400m hurdles records were broken within the same week.
"It's very special to be the first to beat Kevin Young's world record," said Warholm. &ldquo;All respect to my competitors but it's very special and nice for me to be able to be the first to break that world record. It was important to me.&rdquo;
Over the winter it was another hurdler, Holloway, creating history. Racing at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Madrid on 24 February, the world 110m hurdles champion clocked 7.29 to improve Colin Jackson&rsquo;s long-standing world indoor 60m hurdles record of 7.30 set on 6 March 1994. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6036fca7917bb6236911de32.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="635" /> (&copy; Getty Images)
 &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t say it was a perfect race, but I tied my PR in the heat and that usually means I run faster in the final,&rdquo; said Holloway. &ldquo;I just went out there and executed my race to the best of my ability.
&ldquo;I said before the race that if the record fell, it fell. But my main goal was just to have fun and that&rsquo;s what I did.&rdquo;
Also during the indoor season, Britain's Hodgkinson ran 1:59.03 at the Indoor Track &amp; Field Vienna meeting on 30 January to take exactly two seconds off the previous world U20 indoor 800m record set by Ethiopia&rsquo;s Meskerem Legesse on 14 February 2004.
&ldquo;The race was perfect,&rdquo; said the then 18-year-old Hodgkinson, who retained her British title in June to secure her place on the team for Tokyo. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never gone through the bell that quickly before, but I tried not to panic. It couldn&rsquo;t have gone better, I&rsquo;m really happy.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6015aad2bf7e75dc0f1fc0c1.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="626" /> (&copy; Alfred Nevsimal / &Ouml;LV) 
 The world U20 indoor 800m record was further improved by the USA's Athing Mu on 27 February as she ran 1:58.40 at the SEC Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas. That record was ratified in May. World Athletics

With a few days until athletics action begins at the Tokyo Olympic Games, the world record marks set by Letesenbet Gidey, Sifan Hassan, Keely Hodgkinson, Grant Holloway and Karsten Warholm have been ratified.

Ratified: World records for Gidey, Hassan, Hodgkinson, Holloway and Warholm

Czech Republic&rsquo;s Marcela Vasinova and Slovakia&rsquo;s Peter Frano won the fourth race in the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) World Cup &ndash; the Tatra SkyMarathon in Poland &ndash; on Saturday (24).
Tatra SkyMarathon is one of the six long mountain races in this year&rsquo;s World Cup, featuring 40km with 3300m of ascent. That ascent comes in two huge climbs, so runners had two relentless 1000m uphills to deal with, followed by 1000m descents on a mix of terrain ranging from forest tracks to rocky, technical mountain path.
The conditions were hot and humid, which led to some high profile DNFs.
In the early stages of the men&rsquo;s race, a breakaway group formed fairly quickly once the long, first ascent began. This group included Frano, Poland&rsquo;s Andrzej Witek, Spain&rsquo;s Raul Criado and Poland&rsquo;s Kamil Lesniak, with Dariusz Marek and Marcin Swierc &ndash; both also of Poland &ndash; in contention. A small group also started to pull away in the women&rsquo;s race. It included Vasinova, Britain&rsquo;s Charlotte Morgan and Poland&rsquo;s Katarzyna Solinska, Katarzyna Jakiela-Rzadkosz and Dominika Stelmach.
By the first timing point at around 19km, Criado had broken into a lead in the men&rsquo;s race. But he was hotly pursued by Slovakia&rsquo;s Hrasko and Frano, just 1 minute and 40 seconds behind. At this stage in the women&rsquo;s race, Vasinova had struck out and held a 3-minute lead over the chasing Solinska and Morgan, who were neck and neck.
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60fe9436eb29eff8d67d38a5.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="664" /> Peter Frano races in the Tatra SkyMarathon (&copy; Adrian Kasniar / Ralpu Official)
 The race then began the second climb of 1000m, and subsequent descent, and this really shook up the men&rsquo;s top three. By the second timing point, just after 30km, Frano had not only taken the lead, but he had stretched it out to 5 minutes over Witek, with Criado 2 minutes back from him. The women&rsquo;s top three hadn&rsquo;t changed but the gaps between them had, with 9 minutes now separating Vasinova (who was by now in 10th overall) and Solinska, then a further 9 minutes to Charlotte Morgan.
Frano managed to keep that gap of 5 minutes and he won the men&rsquo;s race in 4:29:18. Witek also held on to second (4:34:39) and Criado put in a gritty performance to finish third in 4:39:45. He just managed to hold off Hrasko, who was 10 seconds behind him in fourth (4:39:55). Poland&rsquo;s Piotr Wolakiewicz rounded out the top five for the men.
The podium positions didn&rsquo;t change for the women either, with Vasinova winning in 5:02:08, Solinska second in 5:12:36 and Morgan third in 5:23:11. Poland&rsquo;s Katarzyna Wilk was fourth in 5:25:03 and Hungary&rsquo;s Iren Tiricz fifth in 5:31:41. All great performances in humid, energy-sapping conditions.
The next stop in the 2021 World Cup is the Sierre Zinal on 7 August.
Kirsty Reade (WMRA) for World Athletics

Czech Republic’s Marcela Vasinova and Slovakia’s Peter Frano won the fourth race in the World Mountain Running Association World Cup on Saturday.

Vasinova and Frano win Tatra SkyMarathon

<h2>Women's 100m</h2>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/athletes?competitionGroup=olympic-games&amp;countryCode=&amp;disciplineCode=100&amp;sexCode=W&amp;urlSlug=the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Entries</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/timetable/bydiscipline/women/100-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/world-rankings/100m/women?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2021-07-13&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/toplists/sprints/100-metres/outdoor/women/senior/2021?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2021 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/sprints/100-metres/outdoor/women/senior?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true&amp;firstDay=1900-01-01&amp;lastDay=2021-07-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/sprints/100-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how it works</a>
Despite all she has achieved in the sport, Jamaican sprint star Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is still working through her to-do list. She continues to tick things off in sensational style.
One of her goals was to break 10.70 for 100m, a feat she accomplished in Kingston on 5 June when she ran 10.63 to become the second-fastest 100m sprinter of all time. &ldquo;I have never run 10.6 before, and what a time for that to happen," she said the following month.
What a time, indeed.
One of the sport&rsquo;s greats, Fraser-Pryce claimed her first global gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and has gone on to become a nine-time world champion, winning her most recent title in Doha in 2019. Coincidentally, the reason she missed the 2017 World Championships was because she was having her first child, son Zyon, with whom she went into labour while watching the women&rsquo;s 100m final.
The 34-year-old is now running faster than ever and the next target on her list will be to become the first woman to win a single individual Olympic athletics event three times, to add to her 100m victories claimed in 2008 and 2012. Valerie Adams in the shot put, Sandra Perkovic in the discus, Barbora Spotakova in the javelin and Anita Wlodarczyk in the hammer are all in a similar position, currently possessing two golds each in their events, but the women's 100m final takes place before all of those throws event finals, so Fraser-Pryce will be the first to attempt claiming a record third gold.
She faces a strong challenge, however, and is one of an impressive eight women to have gone sub-10.90 in 2021.
"I'm excited about women's sprinting,"&nbsp;Fraser-Pryce said. "I've been competing for a good while! And I have seen so many sprinters that have come along in the sport and have done so much work and accomplishment and I think it raises the game. Female sprinting has never been 'off', it's always 'on', and I'm glad that this year is one of those years that they have taken it to another level. I'm excited to see what Tokyo brings for female sprinting and females overall."
Second-quickest this year is Fraser-Pryce&rsquo;s compatriot Elaine Thompson-Herah, the defending champion in both the 100m and 200m who was third at the Jamaican Championships and is just 0.01 off her 10.70 PB from 2016 so far this season. That 10.71 was achieved in&nbsp;Szekesfehervar where she finished top in a strong field.
Splitting them at the Jamaican Championships was Olympic and world 400m medallist Shericka Jackson, who is concentrating on the shorter sprints this year and ran a PB of 10.77 in her semifinal in Kingston. All three are entered for the 100m, 200m and 4x100m in Tokyo.
The 100m entries joining them in having dipped under 10.90 in 2021 are multiple world medallists Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Ivory Coast, who won at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Oslo and ran&nbsp;10.86 in Szekesfehervar, and Blessing Okagbare, who ran a wind-assisted 10.63 (2.7m/s) to win the Nigerian trials and also clocked 10.89 in&nbsp;Szekesfehervar. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/0c8fabc1-d177-4101-bd70-894926ca1035.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="659" />
 Two years ago in Doha, Britain&rsquo;s Dina Asher-Smith won the world 200m title and also claimed silver in the 100m and 4x100m. Entered for all three events in Tokyo, she will again have her mind on a medal treble. Unbeaten this year, her first 100m race since the 2019 World Athletics Championships was the Diamond League meeting in Gateshead on 23 May, which she won in 11.45 (-4.4m/s) in horrendous weather conditions. Since then she has improved to 10.91, while her PB is 10.83 from that 2019 world final. While the British athletics team captain will be hoping to lead by example, she&nbsp;is keeping an open mind as to what she might be able to achieve.
"When we started 2019 you might not have necessarily pegged me for a gold and a silver in Qatar when I started running in May," she said. "In terms of where your chances are, always just wait and see. Even though I am relatively young I have enough experience to know that championships are very unpredictable, so who knows where your chances are, you have just got to stay in shape and stay focused and perform well on the day. I want to put together a good performance in the Olympic Games."
The US trio includes Javianne Oliver, who ran a PB of 10.96 in June, Teahna Daniels and 2015 world 4x100m silver medallist Jenna Prandini, while Dutch two-time world 200m champion Dafne Schippers is entered for both the 100m and her specialist event.
European indoor 60m champion Ajla Del Ponte has improved to 11.07 this season and joins world 200m bronze medallist Mujinga Kambundji on the Swiss team, while Germany&rsquo;s Alexandra Burghardt makes her Olympic debut in a season in which she has set a PB of 11.01. Pan American Games 200m bronze medallist Tynia Gaither of the Bahamas is also just outside 11 seconds this year, with a PB of 11.02 run in Florida in April.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
&nbsp;
<h2>Men's 100m</h2>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/athletes?competitionGroup=olympic-games&amp;countryCode=&amp;disciplineCode=100&amp;sexCode=M&amp;urlSlug=the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Entries</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/timetable/bydiscipline/men/100-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/world-rankings/100m/men?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2021-07-13&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/toplists/sprints/100-metres/outdoor/men/senior/2021?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2021 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/sprints/100-metres/outdoor/men/senior?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true&amp;firstDay=1900-01-01&amp;lastDay=2021-07-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/sprints/100-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how it works</a>
After a historic run of dominance by a certain Jamaican sprinter, the time has come to hail a new Olympic men&rsquo;s 100m champion.&nbsp;
For the first time since 2004, the gold medal in the marquee event will be won by an athlete other than Usain Bolt, who swept three consecutive 100m titles in Beijing, London and Rio de Janeiro, as well as three straight 200m crowns.
With Bolt now in retirement, US sprinter Trayvon Bromell has emerged as the man to take up the mantle in Tokyo and succeed Bolt at the top of the 100m podium. The 26-year-old clocked a world-leading 9.77 in June in Florida, the seventh-fastest time in history. He then sealed his spot in Tokyo by winning the 100m at the US Olympic Trials in 9.80 ahead of Ronnie Baker (9.85) and Fred Kerley (9.86).
It&rsquo;s been a remarkable comeback for Bromell, who was carried off the track in a wheelchair after rupturing his achilles during the 4x100m relay at the 2016 Rio Games, where he had earlier finished eighth in the 100m final. The injury threatened to end the career of the 2016 world indoor 60m champion and world 100m bronze medallist. Bromell thought he might never run again and he went into a deep depression as he suffered a series of setbacks during an extended period away from the track.
&ldquo;In 2018, I didn&rsquo;t feel any reason to even still live,&rdquo; Bromell said. &ldquo;I came into a sport that I felt saved my life and I lost it all. I felt like I was in a dark environment. I felt like I was a shadow to the world.&rdquo;
Bromell credits friends and coaches with dragging him back from the wilderness. And, over the past two years, he has surged to the top of the sport and now stands poised to claim the biggest prize of all.
Bromell has won 15 of his last 16 races over 100m, running under 10 seconds in 10 of those events. He was riding a 14-race winning streak until he finished fifth in Monaco in June in 10.01, his first race in Europe since 2016. Bromell bounced back four days later with a victory at the Diamond League meet in Gateshead in 9.98.
&ldquo;Coming back to where I am is a lot to think about,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Just trying to stay stable and humble as possible, not to count anybody out. I don&rsquo;t want to get complacent.&rdquo;
The soft-spoken Bromell doesn&rsquo;t like to talk about being the Olympic favourite. Nor does he want to predict what time will be needed to win in Tokyo. &ldquo;The time doesn&rsquo;t matter,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the medal, the opportunity, the race itself. At the end of the day, if you win with 10.0, it&rsquo;s still a gold medal regardless if you go that fast or go 9.7 or 9.6. I&rsquo;m going into the race just wanting to be the first person to the line.&rdquo;
Bromell, who emphasizes his spiritual faith, said he is not chasing fame, glory or riches. He said he wants to use the spotlight to be a role model spreading a message of hope and resilience.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m motivated for something bigger than just a medal,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s beyond the material side of it. There&rsquo;s a bigger purpose behind all this. The message is going to shake the world. My biggest thing is being able to be a voice. Obviously if I win that gold medal, that&rsquo;s going to give me that opportunity.&rdquo;
Bromell will face a stern test in Tokyo from several other top contenders, including his USA teammates.
Baker has also battled back from injuries in impressive fashion to post eight victories this season, including Diamond League wins in July in Stockholm (10.03) and Monaco (9.91). His only defeats came in the semifinal and final at the US trials.
Kerley, the former US champion at 400m, surprised many when he dropped down to race the 100m and 200m but showed his talent with his third-place finish in the 100m at the trials.
Akani Simbine of South Africa clocked the second-fastest time of the year with an African record 9.84 in&nbsp;Szekesfehervar. The 27-year-old, who finished fifth in Rio (9.94) and fourth in Doha (9.93), is aiming to become the first African to win the Olympic 100m title since South Africa&rsquo;s Reggie Walker at the 1908 London Games.
Simbine, who won gold in the 4x100m relay at the World Relays in Poland this year, was undefeated in 18 races over 100m going back to 2020 until a third-place finish in Monaco in 9.98.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had quite the journey, I've made it to the finals of the Olympics and the World Championships, but now it feels like everything is coming together," Simbine said. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60e0c85fe440169f82aaaf5b.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 Canada&rsquo;s multiple world and Olympic medallist Andre De Grasse is always a threat. He won the 100m bronze in 9.91, silver in the 200m and bronze in the sprint relay in Rio and followed with bronze in the 100m (9.90) and silver in 200m in Doha.
De Grasse ran a season's best 9.92 in May in Jacksonville, but has run under 10 seconds only twice in seven races this year.
Also in the mix is Jamaica&rsquo;s 31-year-old Yohan Blake, the 2011 world 100m champion who won silver at the 2012 Olympics and finished fourth in Rio. The two-time Olympic relay gold medallist has won 10 out of 13 races over 100m this year, including a fastest time of 9.95.
The field includes local favourite Ryota Yamagata, who clocked a Japanese record 9.95 on 6 June in Tottori, becoming the fourth Japanese sprinter to go sub-10 seconds. Yamagata, a member of the Japanese team that claimed the 4x100m relay silver medal in Rio, will be running in his third Olympics.
Steve Wilson for World Athletics

Tokyo Olympics preview: 100m

<h2>Men's 200m</h2>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/athletes?competitionGroup=olympic-games&amp;disciplineCode=200&amp;sexCode=M&amp;urlSlug=the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Entries</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/timetable/bydiscipline/men/200-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/world-rankings/200m/men?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2021-07-13&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/toplists/sprints/200-metres/outdoor/men/senior/2021?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2021 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/sprints/200-metres/outdoor/men/senior?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true&amp;firstDay=1900-01-01&amp;lastDay=2021-07-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/sprints/200-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how it works</a>
For the first time since 2004, the men&rsquo;s Olympic 200m title will be awarded to someone not named &lsquo;Usain Bolt&rsquo;.
Following the Jamaican legend&rsquo;s retirement in 2017, USA&rsquo;s Noah Lyles has stepped up as the man to beat over the half-lap distance. As a teenager in 2016, Lyles narrowly missed out on making the US Olympic team after finishing fourth at the US Trials. Injury ruled him out of the 2017 US Championships, meaning he also missed the World Championships that year. But he rebounded later in the season to take the Diamond trophy.
He established himself as the world&rsquo;s No.1 200m sprinter in 2018, winning all of his races over the distance and notching up a series of sub-19.7 times. He continued his streak of sub-20-second finals in 2019, setting a PB of 19.50 in Lausanne and then winning the world title in Doha.
While he hasn&rsquo;t been quite as dominant this season, Lyles heads to Tokyo undefeated in finals in 2021. In fact, his last defeat in a 200m final came at the hands of Michael Norman at the Diamond League meeting in Rome in June 2019. He tops the world list with the 19.74 he ran to win the US Trials, but says that, based on the work he&rsquo;s put in this past year, he feels a big performance is just around the corner.
The last time USA won this event &ndash; back in 2004 &ndash; was also the last time they swept the medals. The same could happen again in Tokyo.
Kenny Bednarek has pushed Lyles close this year, finishing just 0.04 adrift in both of their 200m clashes. The 22-year-old, who first came to prominence in 2019 when running a wind-assisted 19.49, is one of the few men in history to have broken 10 seconds for 100m, 20 seconds for 200m and 45 seconds for 400m.
Bednarek pulled up with a slight injury in the heats of the 2019 World Championships, but will have high hopes for Tokyo after showing that he&rsquo;s in the form of his life with his 19.78 PB at the US Trials. A fast starter, expect him to have a slight lead on the fast-finishing Lyles at the half-way point.
As exciting as the Lyles-Bednarek clash was in Eugene last month, Erriyon Knighton was talk of the Trials in this event. The 17-year-old set a world U18 best of 20.04 in the heats, a world U20 record of 19.88 in the semifinal and then improved on it in the final with 19.84 to finish third, securing his place in Tokyo. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60d9b8256153404114f35410.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 He also held his own on his first overseas outing just nine days later, finishing third in a close race in Szekesfehervar, beating many other sprinters who&rsquo;ll be heading to the Games. If he makes the top three in Tokyo, he&rsquo;ll become the youngest ever medallist in a men&rsquo;s athletics event (not including discontinued disciplines).
But while the US trio are the fastest entrants, they&rsquo;re not the only medal contenders.
Liberia&rsquo;s Joe Fahnbulleh has impressed on the collegiate circuit this year and stormed to the 200m title at the NCAA Championships. The long-striding teenager produced a stunning late-race charge to win in a PB of 19.91.
He hasn&rsquo;t raced since then, but maybe the rest following his busy collegiate season will work in his favour.
Canada&rsquo;s Andre De Grasse will no doubt be in the mix. A consistent performer, he claimed 100m bronze and 200m silver at the 2016 Olympics and 2019 World Championships. He set his 200m PB of 19.80 in Rio five years ago and has come close to it already this year with 19.89.
South Africa&rsquo;s Shaun Maswanganyi, Trinidad &amp; Tobago&rsquo;s 2017 world bronze medallist Jereem Richards and 200m stalwart Alonso Edward of Panama have all been knocking on the door of the 20-second barrier this year and could be a factor through the rounds.
World 400m champion Steven Gardiner is also entered, though he&rsquo;ll face a punishing schedule if he decides to double up. The first two rounds of the 400m are on 1 and 2 August, the heats and semifinals of the 200m are on 3 August with the final one day later, then the 400m final is set for 5 August. The Bahamian may leave it to the last minute to decide whether to line up for the 200m.
Yohan Blake, the second-fastest man in history, features on the Jamaican team. He has doubled up at the past three global championships, but has fared better in the 100m, missing out on the 200m final in Rio, London and Doha.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
&nbsp;
<h2>Women's 200m</h2>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/athletes?competitionGroup=olympic-games&amp;disciplineCode=200&amp;sexCode=W&amp;urlSlug=the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Entries</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/timetable/bydiscipline/women/200-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/world-rankings/200m/women?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2021-07-13&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/toplists/sprints/200-metres/outdoor/women/senior/2021?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2021 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/sprints/200-metres/outdoor/women/senior?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true&amp;firstDay=1900-01-01&amp;lastDay=2021-07-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/sprints/200-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how it works</a>
For the first time in history, six women have stormed under 22 seconds for 200m in the same year. Before 2021, the previous all-time record had been five, back in 1988, and such is the standard that one of this year&rsquo;s six &ndash; Tamara Clark &ndash; missed out on an Olympic 200m place despite running a 21.98 PB at the US trials. That time saw her finish fourth in just the second-ever race where four women went sub-22.00. The first was the 1988 Olympic final.
Going by the entry list, that stat doesn&rsquo;t look likely to last past Tokyo. The field is stacked.
First, a look at the five entered 2021 sub-22 women. The list is topped by the USA&rsquo;s Gabby Thomas, who set a world lead in each round at the US Olympic Trials, eventually improving to a remarkable 21.61 to become the second-fastest ever and secure her debut Olympic spot.
&ldquo;I am still in shock,&rdquo; the 24-year-old said afterwards. &ldquo;I can't believe I put up that time. I just want more from myself. My dream was to make the Olympic team. I am just going to set higher goals.&rdquo;
Second quickest this year is Jamaican sprint great Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who returns to global championship 200m action for the first time since 2013, when she won one of the nine world titles she now has to her name. Since then, she has also claimed a second Olympic 100m title, become a mother and got even quicker &ndash; her 21.79 to win the Jamaican Championships improving on her previous best of 22.09 from the 2012 Olympics.
Next is Fraser-Pryce&rsquo;s Jamaican teammate, Shericka Jackson. The Olympic and world 400m medallist is concentrating on the shorter sprints this year and like Fraser-Pryce is set to double up in the 100m and 200m in Tokyo. In the longer event she has run 21.82 which placed her second at the Jamaican Championships. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/ee44e8ae-e9ed-4d70-94d0-a3a5728e4f97.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" /> 
Jenna Prandini, the 2015 NCAA champion and world 4x100m medallist, and Anavia Battle are fourth and fifth on this season&rsquo;s 200m list, having run PBs of 21.89 and 21.95 to finish second and third respectively behind Thomas at the US trials.
But the quality doesn&rsquo;t end there. Just off that sub-22 season list is a trio filled with talent &ndash; Jamaica&rsquo;s reigning Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, Britain&rsquo;s world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith and Bahamian Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo, who have all gone well under 22 seconds in the past few years and clearly know how to time their peaks to perfection.
Thompson-Herah is the third member of Jamaica&rsquo;s team doubling up in the women&rsquo;s 100m and 200m in Tokyo, five years after she became the first woman in 28 years to complete the Olympic sprint double in Rio. She was third at the Jamaican Championships but won her last race before the Olympics &ndash; the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Gateshead.
British record-holder (21.88) Asher-Smith &ndash; who finished fifth in the 200m in Rio five years ago &ndash; restricted her racing in 2020 to just three low-key 150m outings but is unbeaten this year, with one of her two 200m wins coming at the Diamond League in Florence where she ran 22.06.
While a number of athletes &ndash; including Asher-Smith &ndash; are targeting a 100m and 200m double, two &ndash; Miller-Uibo and Ireland&rsquo;s Phil Healy &ndash; are entered for both the 200m and 400m. The 200m is Miller-Uibo&rsquo;s focus, however, and after finishing second behind Jackson in Szekesfehervar earlier this month &ndash; her first loss over the distance since the 2017 World Championships &ndash; the 27-year-old rebounded to win the Monaco Diamond League, her last race before the Olympics. She also ran 22.03 in Florida in April and is relishing the current high standard of the event.
&ldquo;The girls out there are running great times at the minute but there is nothing I love more than great competition,&rdquo; said the 2017 world 200m bronze medallist. &ldquo;The current level we see out there is very motivating and I am very happy to see women on top of the sport now and making the headlines.&rdquo;
Given Miller-Uibo&rsquo;s achievements and experience, she will be a favourite to lead those headlines from Tokyo as she hunts for a second Olympic title following her 400m success in Rio five years ago.
Also among the entries are the Netherlands&rsquo; two-time world gold medallist Dafne Schippers, Nigeria&rsquo;s 2013 world medallist Blessing Okagbare, Switzerland&rsquo;s 2019 world bronze medallist Mujinga Kambundji, Ivory Coast&rsquo;s multiple world medallist Marie-Josee Ta Lou and world sixth-placer Gina Bass, who could become the first Gambian sportsperson to reach an Olympic final.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

Tokyo Olympics preview: 200m

<h2>Women's 400m</h2>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/athletes?competitionGroup=olympic-games&amp;countryCode=&amp;disciplineCode=400&amp;sexCode=W&amp;urlSlug=the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Entries</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/timetable/bydiscipline/women/400-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/world-rankings/400m/women?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2021-07-13&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/toplists/sprints/400-metres/outdoor/women/senior/2021?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2021 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/sprints/400-metres/outdoor/women/senior?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true&amp;firstDay=1900-01-01&amp;lastDay=2021-07-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/sprints/400-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how it works</a>
The women&rsquo;s 400m in Tokyo looks wide open and there will be many athletes looking to make the most of the opportunity.
There is uncertainty regarding 2016 Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas, who won silver in Doha with the fifth-fastest time ever (48.37) and posted the second-best time this year (49.08) in breaking the stadium record in Eugene, Oregon.
Miller-Uibo has said she is likely to run the 200m, where she is unbeaten this season, and not the 400m, going for only one event in Tokyo because the schedule does not easily allow for the double. However, she remains entered in both events and could still decide to opt for the 400m.
If Miller-Uibo does run the 400m, she will be considered the favourite, and it would set up a compelling Olympic rematch against the USA&rsquo;s Allyson Felix.
Miller-Uibo delivered one of the most lasting images of the Rio Games, diving at the line to edge Felix by 0.07 for the gold.
The 35-year-old Felix qualified for her fifth and final Olympics, and first as a mother, by using a strong finishing burst to place second at the US Olympic Trials in 50.02 behind Quanera Hayes&rsquo; 49.78.
&ldquo;It has been a fight to get here, and one thing I know how to do is to fight,&rdquo; Felix said. &ldquo;I just did it all the way home.&rdquo;
Felix owns nine Olympic medals (six gold and three silver). Just one more medal and she will match Jamaica&rsquo;s Merlene Ottey in being the most decorated female track and field athlete in Olympic history, and equal Carl Lewis for most medals by a US track and field athlete.
Still chasing an elusive individual 400m Olympic gold, Felix qualified for Tokyo less than three years after giving birth to her daughter,&nbsp;Camryn, via an emergency delivery that threatened the life of both mother and child.
US trials winner Hayes is also the mother of a two-year-old child. She brought her son, Demetrius, on the track to celebrate along with Felix and her daughter after the 400m final in Eugene. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60fd53ffe208f5dc0745ecab.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="611" />
 Hayes and Wadeline Jonathas, who finished third at the trials in 50.03, will be making their Olympic debuts in Tokyo.
Another leading contender is Stephenie-Ann McPherson, who ran a personal best of 49.61 in winning the Jamaican trials in Kingston on 27 June. McPherson, who finished sixth in Doha, won a 4x400m relay silver medal in Rio and relay bronze in Doha.
She heads to Tokyo off the back of a series of wins, her most recent being at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Gateshead on 13 July. &ldquo;I came out here to Gateshead to work on my technique and other areas,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Now the preparation begins and watch out for Stephenie McPherson.&rdquo;
Also in the mix could be the in-form Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic, who set a national record of 49.99 in June and is unbeaten in nine races over the distance this year. She also earned a bronze medal in the mixed 4x400m at the World Athletics Relays in Poland.
The 2019 European indoor silver medallist Cynthia Bolingo, who set three Belgian records in the lead-up to Tokyo, now has a best of 50.29 and will be targeting a place in the final.
Jamaica&rsquo;s Shericka Jackson, bronze medallist in the 400m and silver in the 4x400m relay in Rio and a two-time world bronze medallist at the distance, decided to move down to the 100m and 200m for Tokyo. Athing Mu, the 19-year-old American middle-distance star, produced the fourth-fastest 400m this year (49.57) but has chosen to run the 800m in Tokyo.
Steve Wilson for World Athletics
&nbsp;
<h2>Men's 400m</h2>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/athletes?competitionGroup=olympic-games&amp;countryCode=&amp;disciplineCode=400&amp;sexCode=M&amp;urlSlug=the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Entries</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/timetable/bydiscipline/men/400-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/world-rankings/400m/men?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2021-07-13&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/toplists/sprints/400-metres/outdoor/men/senior/2021?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2021 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/sprints/400-metres/outdoor/men/senior?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true&amp;firstDay=1900-01-01&amp;lastDay=2021-07-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/sprints/400-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how it works</a>
For so long, US runners had dominated the Olympic men&rsquo;s 400m, winning gold in seven straight Games from 1984 to 2008. Then Grenada&rsquo;s Kirani James broke the streak in 2012 and South Africa&rsquo;s Wayde van Niekerk claimed gold &ndash; and the world record &ndash; in 2016.
The time may have come for the USA to reclaim the one-lap throne.
Michael Norman, considered one of the faces of the future of US track and field, shapes up as the favourite for gold in Tokyo. His USA teammates Randolph Ross and Michael Cherry are also title contenders in a highly-competitive field that also includes Van Niekerk and reigning world champion Steven Gardiner of Bahamas.
The 20-year-old Ross, son of former Olympic hurdler Duane Ross, has the world&rsquo;s fastest time this year after winning the NCAA title in June in 43.85, putting him 13th on the world all-time list.
But it was Norman who prevailed at the US Olympic Trials nine days later, clocking 44.07 for the year&rsquo;s second-best time. Cherry, a world relay gold medallist, finished second in a personal best of 44.35, fourth-best this year, and Ross was third in 44.74.
The 23-year-old Norman is viewed by many as the potential heir apparent to US 400m greats such as Lee Evans, Quincy Watts and Michael Johnson.
&ldquo;In terms of the pressure, do I feel obligated to live up to these hypes?&rdquo; asked Norman, who is coached by 1992 Olympic champion Watts.&nbsp;&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel obligated to live up to them. I would like to live up to them.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/e096558a-c435-411f-a399-27f89420a765.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" /> 
This will be the first Olympics for Norman, who narrowly missed qualifying for the 2016 Rio Games when, as an 18-year-old high school student, he made a name for himself by beating Justin Gatlin in the 200m semifinals at the US trials.
Norman went on to claim the world U20 200m title later that year and captured four NCAA titles at the University of Southern California. He posted the world&rsquo;s fastest 400m times in 2018 and 2019, and is joint fourth on the all-time list with a personal best of 43.45. He also holds the indoor 400m world record of 44.52.
Hobbled by a lingering hamstring injury, Norman failed to make the final at the 2019 World Championships in Doha. But he has been flashing top form in this Olympic year. He has won five of seven races this season, including the Diamond League meeting in Doha in May where he ran 44.27. He finished third in his most recent 400m race, clocking 44.65 on 6 July in Szekesfehervar, Hungary.
Norman and Van Niekerk are the only two men who have run under 10 seconds in the 100m, 20 seconds in the 200m and 44 seconds in the 400m.&nbsp; Many experts believe Norman is the man who will break Van Niekerk&rsquo;s world record and become the first to go under 43 seconds.
Competing in Tokyo has special significance for Norman, whose mother, &nbsp;Nobue Saito, was born in Japan and set a national middle school record in the 100m. Norman, who enjoys celebrity status in Japan, has been learning some Japanese ahead of the Games.
Winning a gold medal in Tokyo would elevate him to superstar status in both countries.
What about the defending Olympic champion and world record-holder?
Since breaking Michael Johnson&rsquo;s 17-year-old world record in Rio, Van Niekerk&rsquo;s career has been beset by injuries. The two-time world champion tore his ACL in a charity touch rugby match in 2017 and has competed very little since.
Van Niekerk left it late to qualify for Tokyo, running 44.56 in Madrid on 20 June in a race where he finished second to Colombia&rsquo;s Anthony Jose Zambrano, the Doha world silver medallist. It was the first time Van Niekerk has run under 45 seconds in four years.
While the South African may not be in his 2016 form, Americans Ross and Cherry figure to be in the thick of the medal chase.
Gardiner, who took gold in Doha in 43.48, has won five of his six 400m races this year, including a run of 44.47 in Szekesfehervar on 6 July when he finished ahead of Bryce Deadmon, Norman and Cherry. In fact, his only loss was when he fell during a race in Fort Worth.
As well as his world title win in a national record, he also claimed world silver in London in 2017.
Zambrano won three of four races this season, including a best time of 44.51 in Madrid in June.
Also in contention could be Isaac Makwala of Botswana, who posted a season's best 44.47 in Chorzow, Poland, in June.
Ten years after his stunning win as a teenager at the London Games, James has flown under the radar but he did run a season&rsquo;s best 44.61 in Doha in May.
Steve Wilson for World Athletics

Tokyo Olympics preview: 400m

<h3 style="text-align: center;">Dina Asher-Smith (GBR)</h3>
World 200m champion, world 100m silver medallist, European 100m and 200m champion. 
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I was the sort of kid that gave everything a go; swimming, diving, ballet. I even played the trumpet!
I was aged eight when a friend said she would buy me an ice cream if I would go along with her to a new running club at my primary school. I decided to take up the offer, but didn&rsquo;t realise by turning up on day one that I&rsquo;d be entered into a local cross-country competition.
I turned up on a cold November day at Crystal Palace in my bright orange hat, thinking; &lsquo;What have I got myself into?! This is certainly not worth an ice cream!' I ran with about 300-400 kids and I&rsquo;m sure at one stage I tasted blood in my mouth &ndash; I&rsquo;d never done an endurance sport before. It was only some time later I realised I&rsquo;d finished fifth out of the entire field. From then I had to do a whole season of cross country before later finding sprinting, which I enjoyed far more.
For many years, I didn't take sprinting too seriously. To be honest, I didn&rsquo;t think I was anything special. But after I was nominated for BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2013, everything changed. Up until that point, I was a typical schoolgirl who happened to do running on the side. But here I was up for an award against career sportswomen and that was the point I decided to devote myself more professionally to athletics.
I&rsquo;ve always been competitive. I come from a very competitive family. My mum played hockey and when we used to play in my back garden she would never just let me go past her like most mums would. She used to say to be able to pass me you have to beat me &ndash; you have to be good enough. That&rsquo;s just how my family was.
I run because I love to compete. I love racing, especially the adrenaline rush and high I feel after I finish.
I also love running because I like to perform in front of a crowd &ndash; it makes me happy.
When I was younger, I used to do street jazz dancing. My parents used to watch and I just loved being on stage and putting on a show &ndash; even if I wasn&rsquo;t always in time! In a similar way, I love to sprint and give my best in front of a big crowd and make people proud.
Some people ask me what is feels like to sprint fast. To achieve this, you need that perfect balance between being both aggressive and completely relaxed. It is like a beautiful paradox of producing something so graceful with so much power and force.
I feel both fortunate and grateful that I wake up every day and do something that I adore.
Steve Landells for World Athletics

The world 200m champion on why she sprints for a living

Dina Asher-Smith: why I sprint

<h2>Men's 800m</h2>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/athletes?competitionGroup=olympic-games&amp;disciplineCode=800&amp;sexCode=M&amp;urlSlug=the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391&amp;countryCode=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Entries</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/timetable/bydiscipline/men/800-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/world-rankings/800m/men?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2021-07-13&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/toplists/middle-long/800-metres/outdoor/men/senior/2021?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2021 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/middle-long/800-metres/outdoor/men/senior?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true&amp;firstDay=1900-01-01&amp;lastDay=2021-07-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/middlelong/800-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how it works</a>
A new champion will be crowned in Tokyo for the first time since 2012, with two-time winner David Rudisha not returning to defend his title, and a number of athletes could take the step up to succeed the Kenyan great.
After breaking the world record with 1:40.91 to win his first Olympic gold in 2012, Rudisha became the first man since New Zealand&rsquo;s Peter Snell in 1964 to win consecutive 800m titles thanks to his win in Rio four years later. But injury has prevented the 2011 and 2015 world champion from competing since 2017 and during that time the major medals have been split.
France&rsquo;s Pierre-Ambroise Bosse won the 2017 world title but finished seventh in his semifinal two years later in Doha, where Donavan Brazier became the first US athlete to win a world 800m gold. The world indoor title in 2018, meanwhile, was claimed by Poland&rsquo;s Adam Kszczot.
Bosse is the only athlete from that trio in Tokyo, with Brazier finishing a shock last in the final at the US Olympic Trials. Winner on that day was Clayton Murphy, returning to the sort of form which saw him claim Olympic bronze as a 21-year-old behind Rudisha and Algeria&rsquo;s Taoufik Makhloufi.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve become a lot more confident in myself,&rdquo; said Murphy, when reflecting on his development over the past five years. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s less about &lsquo;can I do this?&rsquo; or getting excited about doing it; it&rsquo;s more &lsquo;I want to be here, I deserve to be here&rsquo;.
&ldquo;Now it&rsquo;s time to I guess show off what I have been working hard for,&rdquo; added the 2019 world eighth-place finisher, who ran his PB of 1:42.93 in Rio and clocked 1:43.17 to win the US title. &ldquo;I know I can do it, now it&rsquo;s about going there and doing it.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/548d11bb-0879-476c-a435-5bd3cfbec53c.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 There will be multiple other athletes in the field with that same mind-set, though. Murphy placed seventh at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco, which was won by Botswana&rsquo;s 2012 Olympic silver medallist Nijel Amos.
For Amos, that win in Monaco was a superb return to top form after injury struggles, including that which forced him to miss out on the 2019 World Championships. He had only raced the 800m twice since then but at the Stade Louis II stadium the 27-year-old stormed to a world lead of 1:42.91 to beat some of the rivals he will face in Tokyo, including Kenya&rsquo;s Emmanuel Korir (1:43.04), Canada&rsquo;s Marco Arop (1:43.26) and Kenya&rsquo;s world bronze medallist Ferguson Rotich (1:43.57).
&ldquo;I had an injury when I was supposed to race Doha, but running 1:42 today shows that things are going in the right direction towards the Olympics,&rdquo; Amos said.
In a race which could mirror the Olympic final, Britain&rsquo;s Elliot Giles finished fifth behind that quartet in Monaco, while Poland&rsquo;s former 400m hurdles specialist Patryk Dobek was sixth, Murphy seventh and Bosnian two-time world medallist Amel Tuka eighth.
Giles raced at the 2016 Olympics, just two years after being left barely able to walk after a motorcycle crash, and since then he has competed at every global championships. He has set PBs indoors and out in 2021, with his 1:43.63 in February breaking Seb Coe&rsquo;s British indoor 800m record and launching him to second on the world indoor all-time list.
Dobek, meanwhile, only started racing the 800m this year but quickly made an impact, winning the European indoor title in what was only his fourth competition at the distance. He set his outdoor PB of 1:43.73 in June.
Clayton&rsquo;s US teammate Isaiah Jewett, the NCAA champion, is a committed front-runner and will no doubt make the rounds interesting.
Michael Saruni joins Korir and Rotich on the Kenyan team after his win at the national trials, while Bryce Hoppel completes the US trio. Others to watch out for include Jesus Tonatiu Lopez, who ran a Mexican record of 1:43.44 earlier this month, plus Australian champion Peter Bol, NCAA indoor champion Charlie Hunter and Britain&rsquo;s Oliver Dustin.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
&nbsp;
<h2>Women's 800m</h2>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/athletes?competitionGroup=olympic-games&amp;disciplineCode=800&amp;sexCode=W&amp;urlSlug=the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391&amp;countryCode=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Entries</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/timetable/bydiscipline/women/800-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/world-rankings/800m/women?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2021-07-13&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/toplists/middle-long/800-metres/outdoor/women/senior/2021?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2021 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/middle-long/800-metres/outdoor/women/senior?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true&amp;firstDay=1900-01-01&amp;lastDay=2021-07-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/middlelong/800-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how it works</a>
Athing Mu doesn&rsquo;t mind being called a prodigy. In fact, she embraces it.
&ldquo;Being a prodigy is something I&rsquo;ve always wanted to be,&rdquo; said the 19-year-old US middle-distance star, who has been lighting up the track with a flurry of records. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s awesome to be called that.&rdquo;
Mu&rsquo;s next wish: becoming an Olympic champion.
That goal is in sight in Tokyo, where she is among the favourites in the 800m and vying to become the first US woman to win gold at the distance in more than 50 years.
&ldquo;I was made for this,&rdquo; she said.
Mu (pronounced &ldquo;Mo&rdquo;) won the 800m at the US Trials in 1:56.07, the second-fastest time ever for a US woman and the fastest time in the world this year.
Mu burst on to the scene when she was just 16, setting a senior US indoor 600m record of 1:23.57. The athlete from Trenton, New Jersey, has gone on to break a string of high school, collegiate and age-group records from the 400m to the 800m. She was silver medallist in the 800m at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires.
This year, as a freshman at Texas A&amp;M, Mu broke six collegiate records, including the indoor 600m and 800m and outdoor 400m and 800m marks. She also set a world U20 indoor 800m record of 1:58.40 in February and followed it outdoors with five North American U20 records over 400m and 800m. 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Carousel2/e8618579-83d7-4e5b-9b89-a3b681b710ec.jpg?cachebuster=7013b9fc-6a0a-467b-9177-b34790b7f328" alt="" width="100%" />
 Mu is the second youngest of seven siblings whose parents moved to the US from Sudan 20 years ago. She dreams of emulating Madeline Mims, who won the 800m at the 1968 Mexico City Games and remains the only US champion in the event.
&ldquo;Whenever someone asks, &lsquo;Who do you want to be?&rsquo; I say I want to be a professional athlete and I want to be an Olympian,&rdquo; Mu said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s now a reality. This is exactly where I&rsquo;m supposed to be. I&rsquo;ve worked for this.&rdquo;
Mu will face a field in Tokyo that is loaded with top contenders, including four other women who have run sub-1:57 times this year.
Rose Mary Almanza notched up a trio of 800m victories at home in Cuba and claimed victory in the 4x400m at the World Relays in Silesia. She then racked up three more wins on the European circuit, including a PB of 1:56.42 in Ordizia, which she then improved to 1:56.28 when winning at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Stockholm.
She committed to the swift early pace in Monaco and paid the price on the second lap, eventually finishing ninth, but still came away with a 1:58.51 clocking.
Almanza has competed at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and the past four World Championships but has never advanced beyond the semifinals.
Jamaica&rsquo;s Natoya Goule, the 2019 Pan American Games champion, ran a close second to Almanza in Stockholm in 1:56.44. She set a Jamaican record of 1:56.15 in 2018 and went on to finish sixth at the 2019 World Championships.
Ethiopia&rsquo;s Werkwuha Getachew set a national record of 1:56.67 to win the Ethiopian trial race in Hengelo. That remains her only ever race outside of her home country, so it will be difficult to know what to expect from her when she steps up to the Olympic stage.
Laura Muir broke the Scottish 800m record, winning the Diamond League meet in Monaco in 1:56.73, but she has decided to run only the 1500m in Tokyo.
Britain will still be well represented, though, in Jemma Reekie, who placed second to Muir in Monaco in 1:56.96, and Keely Hodgkinson, who won the European indoor title in March and improved to 1:57.51 outdoors in her final race before the Games.
World champion Halimah Nakaayi of Uganda posted a national record of 1:58.03 while finishing seventh in Monaco, so is rounding into form. Raevyn Rogers and Ajee Wilson, who took silver and bronze respectively behind Nakaayi at the 2019 World Championships, will also be in contention.
France&rsquo;s Renelle Lamote, Oceanian record-holder Catriona Bisset and Canada&rsquo;s Melissa Bishop-Nriagu are among the other contenders.
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