It was in Stockholm&rsquo;s evocative 1912 Olympic Stadium that Armand Gustav Duplantis completed his first winning vault on the Wanda Diamond League circuit. That was back in the pre-pandemic mists of 2018, when the US-born Swede was still striving to make his name as an 18-year-old rookie on the senior international track and field scene.
Four years on, the 2022 edition of the Bauhaus-Galan Diamond League meeting in &lsquo;Stockholms Olympiastadion&rsquo; on Thursday (30) presents Mondo Duplantis with the opportunity to raise his outdoor season game a significant notch as he prepares to challenge for the one major prize missing from his pole vault collection: a world outdoor title.
In the last Diamond League gathering before the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 opens for gold medal business on 15 July, Duplantis will be seeking something more than a 17th Diamond League meeting success &ndash; and a 12th win out of 12 indoors and out in 2022. 
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 To his credit, the 22-year-old world record-holder and Olympic and world indoor champion has kept winning in the rain, and the gusting winds, while the stormy weather has followed him around the global outdoor circuit, notching world leads of 6.01m at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Hengelo on 4 June and 6.02m at the Diamond League meeting in Oslo on 16 June.
Assuming the mid-summer Scandinavian weather is more favourable, however, Duplantis could finally think about scaling something closer towards the 6.20m world record he cleared at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22 in March.&nbsp;
&ldquo;When you get to the outdoor season, you&rsquo;re not going to get perfect conditions every day,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s part of the game, I guess, but I know that when the weather&rsquo;s right, and everything&rsquo;s lined up, I&rsquo;m going to jump something really high.&rdquo;
It would be perhaps stretching expectations a little too high to speculate that Duplantis might draw upon the historical track and field gods and grace the hallowed Stockholms Olympiastadion with an 84th world record.
Still, just for the record, it is 25 years since the 83rd global mark was set there: the 1:41.73 run in 1997 with which the great Dane Wilson Kipketer equalled Sebastian Coe&rsquo;s 800m figures from 1981. It also just happens to be 50 years this month since the only pole vault world record set on Swedish soil: the 5.55m cleared at Helsingborg in June 1972 by Kjell Isaksson, the Swede who gained global fame in the international Superstars television competition.
Duplantis &ndash; who faces the trio of vaulters who placed behind him in the Olympic final last year: Chris Nilsen, Brazilian Thiago Braz and Nilsen&rsquo;s US teammate KC Lightfoot &ndash; has the added motivation of competing in his new hometown. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m spending a lot of time in Stockholm now,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I just bought a flat here with my girlfriend, Desire.&rdquo;
The new Stockholmer has won five of the six competitions he has contested in the Olympic Stadium in the Swedish capital: Diamond League meetings in 2018, 2020 and 2021, plus the Finnkampen senior contest in 2019 and U18 competition in 2015. His only defeat came as a 15-year-old in the 2015 senior Finnkampen: &ldquo;Finn Battle&rdquo;, as the annual track and field fixture against Finland is known in Sweden. He placed third with a clearance of 5.17m.
Unlike Duplantis, Sweden&rsquo;s other golden boy of the Tokyo Olympics, Daniel Stahl, has been obliged to fight his way into winning form this season, and on to the top of the 2022 world list for the discus. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6130b076c624fb336a5dac6b.jpg" alt="Daniel Stahl in discus action at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Brussels" />
Daniel Stahl in discus action at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Brussels (&copy; Getty Images)
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The 29-year-old found himself overshadowed by the 6ft 9in Kristjan Ceh in Diamond League defeats in Birmingham, Rabat and Rome. The Slovenian threw a Diamond League record 71.27m in Birmingham on 21 May to go 10th on the world all-time list, and also beat Stahl at the European Throwing Cup meeting at Leiria in Portugal in March.
Stahl, however, turned the tables at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku on 14 June, eclipsing Ceh&rsquo;s 67.76m with a season&rsquo;s best 70.62m, taking his head-to-head record against the European U23 champion to 14-4.
He followed that up last week (21) by claiming the 2022 top spot with a stunning 71.47m throw at the Swedish Team Championships in Uppsala &ndash; the second-best mark of his career, behind the 71.86m national record he notched in 2019. Having also nailed victories in the Sollentuna Grand Prix on 12 June and the Kuortane Games on 18 June, Stahl will be determined to keep the tables turned on his burgeoning young rival.
It is a measure of the towering Ceh&rsquo;s progress that fifth place in the Olympic final was regarded as a major advancement. In Stockholm he will face two of the three men who made the podium ahead of him &ndash; home throwers Stahl and Simon Pettersson &ndash; plus fourth-placed Matt Denny of Australia, Lithuania&rsquo;s European champion Andrius Gudzius and 19-year-old Mykolas Alekna (son of former world and Olympic champion Virgilijus), who threw 69.00m to win the Lithuanian title last Saturday (25), the best ever mark by a teenager.
It is the first year since 2008 in which two men have ventured beyond 71 metres. Given even half-favourable conditions, the red-hot competition ought to imperil Frederick Dacres&rsquo; four-year-old stadium record of 69.67m.
The men&rsquo;s javelin also features a full set of Tokyo medal winners: India&rsquo;s Neeraj Chopra and Czech team-mates Jakub Vadlejch and Vitezslav Vesely. Add 2022 world leader and Grenada&rsquo;s reigning world champion Anderson Peters to the mix, plus near-90m men Oliver Helander of Finland and Germany&rsquo;s Julian Weber, and you have one heady cocktail.
For Chopra, it will be a first Diamond League date of the season &ndash; indeed, his first in almost four years, since the 2018 Weltklasse in Zurich. In his two 2022 appearances to date, the 24-year-old got the better of Peters in Turku on 14 June and in Kuortane four days later. Despite improving his Indian record to 89.30m in Turku, he was trumped by Helander&rsquo;s 89.83m. In Kuortane he threw a third-round 86.69m before slipping and hurting himself on the runway.
The Asian champion will need to be fully recovered to meet the challenge of the emerging Helander, Peters and Vadlejch, who threw a lifetime best of 89.87m behind Peters&rsquo; monster 93.07m at the opening Diamond League fixture of the year in Doha last month. Weber threw a lifetime best 89.54 as runner up to Peters at the FBK Games in Hengelo on 6 June and took the German title with 86.61m last weekend.
A night of potentially classic throws contests also includes a loaded women&rsquo;s shot.
Unbeaten in six competitions now in 2022, Chase Ealey arrives in Stockholm fresh from her 20.51m world lead on the closing day of the US Championships in Eugene on Sunday (26). The put equated to a 38cm advancement in the world indoor silver medallist&rsquo;s lifetime best and knocked the 20.38m by China&rsquo;s Song Jiayuan off the top of the global list. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/627e8a4abf13efcaa3d66f91.jpg" alt="Shot put winner Chase Ealey at the Doha Diamond League" />
Shot put winner Chase Ealey at the Doha Diamond League (&copy; Getty Images)
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In the Swedish capital, the seemingly untouchable Ealey will face another bang in-form thrower. At the Canadian Championships in Langley on Saturday (25), Sarah Mitton breached the 20m barrier for the first time, improving her national record to 20.33m.
Having failed to venture beyond the qualifying round at the Tokyo Olympics, and finished seventh at the World Indoor Championships in March, the 27-year-old will be looking to maintain momentum before challenging for a place on the world outdoor podium in Oregon.
The field also features Portugal&rsquo;s world indoor champion Auriol Dongmo, world indoor bronze medallist Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands, Jamaica&rsquo;s 2019 world silver medal winner Danniel Thomas-Dodd and Sweden&rsquo;s European indoor silver medallist Fanny Roos.
On the track, Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs will be aiming to prove his form and fitness ahead of the World Championships with what would be the 27-year-old US-born Italian&rsquo;s maiden victory in a Diamond League fixture.
The former long jumper has contested only two outdoor meetings since a trailblazing indoor campaign in which he won 12 out of the 12 races he managed to complete at 60m (also false starting in the Belgrade Invitational). He withdrew from Diamond League dates in Eugene, Rome and Oslo after suffering a minor muscle injury in the Citta di Savona meeting on 18 May, where he won his heat in a wind-assisted 9.99 and the final in 10.04.
Jacobs was clearly not pushing at full throttle as he eased to heat (10.17) and final (10.12) victories on his return to action at the Italian Championships in Rieti on Saturday (25). News of Fred Kerley&rsquo;s world-leading 9.77 at the US Championships in Eugene left him far from daunted by the prospect of facing the sprinter who took Olympic silver behind him in Tokyo, tweeting his rival the message: &ldquo;Looking for a nice battle! See you in Oregon.&rdquo;
Jacobs, who finished runner up to Kerley&rsquo;s US teammate Ronnie Baker in Stockholm a year ago, will test his form against Reece Prescod, the Briton who clocked a lifetime best 9.93 in Ostrava last month, and 9.84 man Akani Simbine of South Africa, who finished third in the Diamond League meeting in Oslo on 16 June. Prescod had to settle for second place behind&nbsp; the inspired Jeremiah Azu at the British Championships last Saturday (25),clocking a wind-assisted 9.94 (2.5m/s) behind the Welsh sprinter&rsquo;s 9.90. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62b8d08bf876d9ad176da6ba.jpg" alt="Marcell Jacobs on his way to winning the Italian 100m title" />
Marcell Jacobs on his way to winning the Italian 100m title (&copy; AFP / Getty Images)
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An intriguing women&rsquo;s 200m pits Switzerland&rsquo;s in-form Mujinga Kambundji against Britain&rsquo;s reigning world champion Dina Asher-Smith. In recent weeks, the 29-year-old Kambundji has regained the momentum that took her to that stunning 60m victory at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade in March, clocking national records at 200m (22.18) in Bern on 14 June and at 100m (10.89) at the Swiss Championships in Zurich last Friday (24).
Asher-Smith has yet to get back into full-throttle form following the hamstring injury that ruined her Olympic ambitions last year, finishing 0.09 down on Daryll Neita over 100m at the British Championships last Saturday (25). Neita, who was blown to a 10.80 clocking in Manchester by a 3.8m/s wind, will have the chance to revise her lifetime best at the longer distance, 22.81. The Olympic 100m finalist won her national 200m title on Sunday (26) in a wind-aided 22.34 (3.5m/s).
Having enjoyed a pass from the US Championships final courtesy of her gold medal performance in Doha three years ago, reigning 100m hurdles world champion Nia Ali tests her pre-Oregon form against Puerto Rico&rsquo;s Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn plus France&rsquo;s world indoor champion Cyrena Samba-Mayela and Tobi Amusan of Nigeria, who scorched to a 12.41 African record at the Diamond League meeting in Paris.
World, Olympic and European long jump champion Malaika Mihambo took her record for the season to five wins from six competitions with a 6.85m leap at the German Championships in Berlin on Sunday. Her one defeat came in the Diamond League meeting in Rome on 9 June, when she finished runner-up to Maryna Bekh-Romanchukh, the Ukrainian she beat to world outdoor gold with a mighty 7.30m in Doha two years ago.
The pair meet again in Stockholm, in a field that also includes Serbia&rsquo;s world indoor champion Ivana Vuelta, Olympic bronze medallist Ese Brume of Nigeria and Sweden&rsquo;s European indoor bronze medallist Khaddi Sagnia.
Ukraine&rsquo;s world indoor high jump champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh will be seeking to extend her unbeaten 2022 outdoor record to a fifth competition, following Diamond League victories in Eugene, Rabat and Paris and a 2.03m world lead performance in Brno on 22 June.
At 20, Mahuchikh has already bagged world and European indoor titles plus world outdoor silver and Olympic bronze. As the only female jumper to have cleared 2.00m this summer &ndash; with 2.00m in Eugene, 2.01m in Paris, plus that 2.03m in Brno &ndash; she is approaching the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 as the woman to beat. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62b43658c008da89cad4502a.jpg" alt="Ukraine's Yaroslava Mahuchikh" />
Ukraine's Yaroslava Mahuchikh (&copy; Christel Saneh)
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In Stockholm she faces Australia&rsquo;s Eleanor Patterson, who cleared 2.00m to finish runner up to Mahuchikh&rsquo;s 2.02m at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, plus fellow Ukrainian Iryna Geraschenko, who pushed her close in Paris with a 1.98m clearance, and Elena Vallortigara, who cleared 1.98m at the Italian Championships in Rieti on Sunday (26).
Another 20-year-old Olympic silver medallist, Keely Hodgkinson, will also be aiming to record a fourth win out of four appearances in the Diamond League this season. Victorious in Birmingham, Eugene and Oslo, the British 800m runner faces Uganda&rsquo;s reigning world outdoor champion Halimah Nakaayi.
Second now in the world list following Rai Benjamin&rsquo;s 47.04 at the US Championships, Brazil&rsquo;s Olympic 400m hurdles bronze medallist Alison dos Santos &ndash; who clocked 47.23 at the Diamond League meeting in Eugene &ndash; lines up against the emerging Estonian Rasmus Magi, third on the world list with 47.82. In the women&rsquo;s one lap hurdles, Olympic bronze medallist Femke Bol of the Netherlands will be looking to improve on the 52.47 stadium record she set last year in a field that also includes Ukraine&rsquo;s European silver medallist Anna Ryzhkova.
The men&rsquo;s 800m provides Kenya&rsquo;s Olympic gold and silver medal winners Emmanuel Korir and Ferguson Rotich with an opportunity to rediscover their Tokyo form, having failed to feature in the top five in Diamond League races this season. Benjamin Robert will have the chance to prove his victory in the Diamond League meeting in Paris on 18 June was no home-ground fluke. Disqualified, then reinstated after barging his way to the front in the home straight, the 24-year-old from Toulouse clocked a lifetime best of 1:44.14 in the French capital.
Gabriel Tual, fourth in Stade Charlety with a 1:44.23 PB, will be another Frenchman looking to continue his upward trajectory, while the field also includes newly-crowned US champion and world indoor bronze medallist Bryce Hoppell. In the men&rsquo;s 3000m, Uganda&rsquo;s Olympic 10,000m bronze medallist Jacob Kiplimo tests his speed.
In the men&rsquo;s long jump, a non-Diamond League event, Olympic, European and world indoor champion Militadis Tentaglou will be looking to extend his winning outdoor record to seven from seven. The 24-year-old Greek, who has a season&rsquo;s best of 8.36m, takes on world indoor runner-up Thobias Montler of Sweden.
Simon Turnbull for World Athletics

Athletes head to Sweden for the final Wanda Diamond League meeting before the World Championships in Oregon

Stockholm stages strong test for stars on road to Oregon

Ukraine&rsquo;s world indoor high jump champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh continued her preparations for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 by leaping a world lead of 2.03m* in Brno, Czech Republic, on Wednesday (22).
It is the 20-year-old&rsquo;s second world-leading performance within a week, adding two centimetres to the 2.01m she achieved to win at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Paris.
On Wednesday she went on to attempt 2.05m and won the competition, which was held in a car park setting at the Olympia Brno shopping centre, ahead of her compatriot Iryna Gerashchenko with 1.97m and Uzbekistan&rsquo;s Safina Sadullayeva with 1.91m.
Mahuchikh has now jumped two metres or higher in four competitions this year, including the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade in March, where she cleared 2.02m to claim her first senior global title. Her win in&nbsp;Brno continues her unbeaten season, following success in Eugene, Rabat and Paris.
After her win in Paris, Mahuchikh explained how she continues to train in Germany due to the conflict in her home country.
She will now be targeting her first senior global gold in Oregon, having secured world silver in Doha in 2019 before claiming Olympic bronze in Tokyo last year.
Over at the Swedish Team Championships in Uppsala on Tuesday (21), Olympic and world discus champion Daniel Stahl threw a world-leading 71.47m for the second-furthest throw of his career. 
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 The 71.27m recorded by Slovenia&rsquo;s Kristjan Ceh at last month&rsquo;s Diamond League meeting in Birmingham had been the previous world lead, setting up a highly-anticipated head-to-head for the world discus title in Oregon next month.
Stahl&rsquo;s best is the 71.86m Swedish record he set in Bottnaryd in 2019.
*pending certification

In Uppsala, Daniel Stahl throws a world-leading 71.47m

Mahuchikh clears 2.03m in Brno

More than 10,000 Finnish fans turned up in Turku on Tuesday (14), most of whom wanted to see big throws at the Paavo Nurmi Games. Thanks to the exploits of Daniel Stahl, Oliver Helander and Neeraj Chopra, the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting did not disappoint.
Stahl, the world and Olympic champion, found a way to end Kristjan Ceh&rsquo;s winning streak in the discus, uncorking a season&rsquo;s best and meeting record of 70.62m in the first round to pile some early pressure on the giant Slovenian.
It took Ceh until round three to land a valid throw, his 64.69m still almost six metres adrift of the Swede&rsquo;s lead. Stahl backed up his big throw with a 67.75m effort in round four to maintain the pressure on his opponents. After two more fouls, things finally clicked for Ceh in the final round and he landed a 67.76m throw to move into second place. But that position was short-lived as 2017 world champion Andrius Gudzius threw 68.09m with his final effort to displace Ceh as runner-up.
With four men throwing beyond 67 metres, it was one of the highest-quality discus competitions of the past decade. 
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 &ldquo;I felt like I was jumping,&rdquo; said Stahl, who held the previous meeting record at 69.23m. &ldquo;My first throw was rhythmic and explosive. And it was fun to do my victory lap after that.&rdquo;
Not long after the conclusion of the discus, it was the turn of the javelin throwers to take centre stage and the competition got off to a strong start when Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra sent his spear out to 86.92m in round one.
But his lead did not last long as Finland&rsquo;s Oliver Helander produced the throw of his life with 89.83m. Chopra responded with 89.30m, breaking his own Indian record, but it was still only good enough for second place. World leader and world champion Anderson Peters, meanwhile, threw 86.45m in that same round for third place. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62a8cc4af109ca21b2c38b3a.jpg" alt="Oliver Helander celebrates his javelin performance at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Turku" />
Oliver Helander celebrates his javelin performance at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Turku (&copy; Snou Creative)
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Little changed in the second half of the competition. Anderson improved slightly to 86.60m in round five but the Grenadian was unable to surpass Helander and Chopra, meaning the world champion&rsquo;s winning streak was finally put to an end. Chopra recorded three fouls before ending his series with 85.85m. Despite missing out on victory, he was still delighted with his national record.
No one was happier, though, than Helander, whose 89.83m remained the best mark of the night.
&ldquo;That was close to a perfect throw,&rdquo; said the 25-year-old, who is coached by 2007 world champion Tero Pitkamaki. Helander&rsquo;s previous best of 88.02m was set in 2018, but shoulder injuries have hampered his progress in recent years. &ldquo;I felt good during warm-up. My shoulder is healthy now, and I am grateful for all the work my coach has done.&rdquo;
<h2>Record books rewritten</h2>
It wasn&rsquo;t just the throwing events where athletes excelled; of the nine meeting records broken on Tuesday, seven of them came in track events.
One of the more surprising performances came in the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles where Estonia&rsquo;s Rasmus Magi &ndash; a journeyman of the event, having made his first senior major international championships final a decade ago &ndash; finally smashed through the 48-second barrier.
The two-time Olympic finalist was away and clear by the time he entered the home straight and he powered home to win in 47.82, smashing his own national record of 48.11 and moving up to equal sixth on the European all-time list. France&rsquo;s Wilfried Happio was a distant runner-up in 49.12.
&ldquo;I was very confident, but I just wanted to make a smooth race,&rdquo; said Magi, whose next race will be at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Oslo on Thursday.
Before today, no one had broken 1:45.00 for 800m in Turku. But five men ended up beating that mark and race winner Max Burgin smashed through 1:44.00, winning in a world-leading 1:43.52.
The pacemaker led the field through the first lap in a swift 49.22, but Burgin was tucked close behind and ready to take on the lead duties. The 20-year-old Briton forged ahead on the second lap as the rest of the field started to fade behind him.
He held on to the end and crossed the line in 1:43.52, his legs finally giving way just seconds later as he tripped and fell to the ground, completely spent. His run makes him the fourth-fastest Briton in history behind Sebastian Coe, Steve Cram and Peter Elliott.
Tony van Diepen came through to take second place in a PB of 1:44.24, closely followed by France&rsquo;s Gabriel Tual (1:44.30).
&ldquo;I suffered today, but I&rsquo;m happy to set a PB,&rdquo; said Burgin. &ldquo;This was only my second race of the season, but I&rsquo;m now feeling very confident for the British Championships and the World Championships after that.&rdquo;
The meeting record was also broken in the women&rsquo;s 800m, Italy&rsquo;s Elena Bello running with the confidence from her recent PB in Rome to win in 1:59.84, finishing 0.82 ahead of Britain&rsquo;s Ellie Baker.
The women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles produced one of the closest finishes of the day. Nigeria&rsquo;s Tobi Amusan, Jamaica&rsquo;s Britany Anderson, Nadine Visser and Liz Clay were all roughly level at half way. Anderson&rsquo;s run wasn&rsquo;t quite as clean as her race in Rome, nor did she have as good a start, so Amusan capitalised on that to come through and win in a season&rsquo;s best of 12.57 (0.2m/s), shaving 0.01 off the meeting record. Anderson was 0.02 behind while Visser was third (12.72). 
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Lndy0orzii4" width="100%" height="475" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 Daryll Neita&rsquo;s victory in the 100m flat was more decisive. The Olympic finalist broke the meeting record in the heats, clocking a season&rsquo;s best of 11.09 (-0.8m/s), and she came close to replicating that in the final with 11.10 (-0.6m/s), winning by 0.26 from fellow Briton Imani Lansiquot.
Meeting records were also set by Italy&rsquo;s Ayomide Folorunso, who won the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles in 54.73; Ethiopia&rsquo;s Abraham Seme, who won the men&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase convincingly in 8:14.87 from Germany&rsquo;s Frederick Ruppert (8:15.58); and Nina Kennedy, who was a clear winner of the women&rsquo;s pole vault with 4.65m.&nbsp;
<h2>Tervo turns the tables</h2>
The evening started well for the Finnish fans as Krista Tervo unleashed a last-round winner of 74.34m to take the women&rsquo;s hammer. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62a8baec2e653c7273eaef99.jpg" alt="Krista Tervo celebrates her hammer win at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Turku" />
Krista Tervo celebrates her hammer win at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Turku (&copy; Snou Creative)
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Poland&rsquo;s Olympic bronze medallist Malwina Kopron took an early lead with 71.93m, only for Azerbaijan&rsquo;s Hanna Skydan to respond with 73.11m in round four. Tervo matched that distance in round five, but it was only good enough for second place on countback. With her final throw of the competition, however, Tervo sent her hammer out to 74.34m &ndash; just six centimetres shy of her Finnish record &ndash; to take one of the biggest wins of her career.
Olympic silver medallist Nicola Olyslagers cleared a season&rsquo;s best of 1.96m to win a competitive high jump contest. Italy&rsquo;s Elena Vallortigara briefly took the lead with a first-time clearance at 1.94m, but Olyslagers was the only one to get over 1.96m. The Australian went on to attempt 1.99m but was unsuccessful.
World silver medallist Shanieka Ricketts of Jamaica led the triple jump throughout, opening with 14.10m and improving to 14.35m in round two. It held on as the leading mark, but was challenged in the final round by Slovenia&rsquo;s Neja Filipic, who jumped 14.26m.
Brazil&rsquo;s 2018 world indoor silver medallist Almir Dos Santos took the men&rsquo;s triple jump with 16.90m to win comfortably from Italy&rsquo;s Tobia Bocchi. Multiple world and Olympic champion Christian Taylor, returning from the injury that derailed his Olympic ambitions in 2021, was fifth with 16.04m.
Elsewhere, USA&rsquo;s Aaron Mallett won the men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles in a season&rsquo;s best of 13.22 and Nigeria&rsquo;s Raymond Ekevwo took the men&rsquo;s 100m in 10.23.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

Meeting records fall at the Paavo Nurmi Games

Stahl bounces back, Helander delights home crowd in Turku

The spiritual home of the javelin seems as good a place as any for Neeraj Chopra to make his first competitive appearance since winning the Olympic title in Tokyo last year.
The Indian superstar leads an insanely strong javelin field at the Paavo Nurmi Games on Tuesday (14) as the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series reaches Turku in the javelin-mad country of Finland.
Chopra memorably struck gold in Tokyo last year with an 87.58m effort. More than 10 months have passed since Chopra became India&rsquo;s first Olympic gold medallist in athletics, but after a slightly delayed start to his 2022 campaign, he is ready to take to the runway once again.
His lack of recent competitions may not necessarily work against him; he set his lifetime best of 88.07m in what was his first outing of 2021. But even if he reproduces that form in Turku, it may not be enough to beat his opponents &ndash; four of whom have thrown beyond 89 metres this year.
The world list is led by world champion Anderson Peters. The Grenadian is undefeated in all seven of his competitions this year and the nine best throws of his life have call come in the past month, topped by the world-leading Caribbean record of 93.07m he throw in Doha.
But what makes Peters such a feared competitor is his ability to respond to his opponents. His winning throw in Doha came off the back of Olympic silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch producing a 90.88m effort to briefly take the lead. Similarly, Peters uncorked another big throw &ndash; 90.75m &ndash; in Hengelo after Germany&rsquo;s Julian Weber took the lead with 89.54m. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/629e3af0530039b99ceed77a.jpg" alt="Anderson Peters in action in the javelin in Hengelo" />
Anderson Peters in action in the javelin in Hengelo (&copy; Dan Vernon)
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 "I've had an incredible start to the year, I'm having the season of my lifetime," said Peters. "I'm undefeated so far, and the last time that happened was in 2019, and I ended the year as world champion, so I'm looking forward to repeating that."
The competition organisers have provided an extra incentive for the javelin throwers: anyone who throws beyond the Finnish record mark of 93.09m will win a Mustang.
"This will be the toughest javelin competition of the year so far and I'm honoured to be part of it," added Peters. "And I'm chasing that Mustang."
Vadlejch and Weber will also be in Turku, as will 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott, who has thrown 89.07m this year, and Germany&rsquo;s Andreas Hoffman, who has a PB of 92.06m.
The discus field is similarly loaded and, as is the case in the javelin, the Olympic champion will take on the world leader.
Kristjan Ceh has dominated the discipline this year, throwing a Diamond League record of 71.27m in Birmingham and backing it up with a meeting record of 70.72m in Rome. The 23-year-old Slovenian is undefeated in nine contests this year and currently appears to have the upper hand on world and Olympic champion Daniel Stahl, who has been beaten by Ceh four times this year.
Nevertheless, Stahl is never far too far away and has a season&rsquo;s best of 69.27m. Andrius Gudzius, the 2017 world champion, is sandwiched between Ceh and Stahl on this year&rsquo;s world list, the Lithuanian having thrown a best of 69.39m. World and Olympic bronze medallist Lukas Weisshaidinger, who has improved his own Austrian record to 69.11m this year, and Olympic silver medallist Simon Pettersson are also in the line-up.
Olympic bronze medallist Malwina Kopron, who has a best of 75.08m this year, fronts the women&rsquo;s hammer field. The Pole will take on Sara Fantini, who recently set an Italian record of 74.86m, Finnish record-holder Krista Tervo, world U20 champion Silja Kosonen, and Olympic sixth-place finisher Bianca Ghelber of Romania.
The men&rsquo;s 800m promises to be a competitive race as just 0.8 separates the six fastest entrants based on their season&rsquo;s bests.
Olympic 4x400m silver medallist Tony van Diepen tops the entries with the 1:44.31 he ran to win at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Bydgoszcz earlier this month. But European U20 record-holder Max Burgin, Kenya&rsquo;s Collins Kipruto and Sweden&rsquo;s Andreas Kramer are close behind on this year&rsquo;s world list with bests inside 1:45, while France&rsquo;s Gabriel Tual and Kenya&rsquo;s Cornelius Tuwei are just outside that benchmark.
Italian 800m runner Elena Bello smashed through the two-minute barrier for the first time in her career at the recent Wanda Diamond League meeting in Rome, clocking 1:58.97. She will attempt to back up that form with a strong run in Turku when she takes on fellow sub-two-minute performers Angelika Sama of Poland, Noelie Yarigo of Benin, Britain&rsquo;s Ellie Baker, Germany&rsquo;s Katharina Trost and Switerland&rsquo;s Lorre Hoffman.
In the men&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase, the longest event on the programme, Ethiopia&rsquo;s 2018 Youth Olympic Games champion Abraham Seme faces Finland&rsquo;s Topi Raitanen and Germany&rsquo;s Frederik Ruppert, among others.
<h2>Redemption for Anderson</h2>
At the recent Wanda Diamond League meeting in Rome, Jamaica&rsquo;s Britany Anderson was level with Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn for most of the way in the 100m hurdles, only to clip the final barrier and settle for second place in 12.50.
Were it not for losing momentum, the 21-year-old may well have been close to Camacho-Quinn&rsquo;s winning time of 12.37. But Tuesday&rsquo;s race in Turku will give Anderson the opportunity of rebounding with a fast time and perhaps victory to boot. She&rsquo;ll face Nigeria&rsquo;s Tobi Amusan, Australia&rsquo;s Liz Clay, and Nadine Visser of the Netherlands. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62a2664ef06b1f1e751f75ff.jpg" alt="Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and Britany Anderson battle in the women's 100m hurdles at the Wanda Diamond League in Rome" />
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and Britany Anderson battle in the women's 100m hurdles at the Wanda Diamond League in Rome (&copy; Getty Images)
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 Eduardo Rodrigues will be looking for another victory in the 110m hurdles following his triumph in Hengelo last week. The Brazilian will take on 2018 world indoor champion Andrew Pozzi and Damian Czykier, who recent set a Polish record of 13.25.
Elsewhere in the sprints, Britain&rsquo;s Olympic bronze medal-winning teammates Daryll Neita and Imani Lansiquot will clash in the 100m, while Nigeria&rsquo;s African Games champion Raymond Ekevwo leads the entries for the men's event. Estonia&rsquo;s Rasmus Magi and Mario Lambrughi will clash in the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, and Italy&rsquo;s Ayomide Folorunso and Finland&rsquo;s Viivi Lehikoinen should be competitive in the women&rsquo;s one-lap hurdles.
Dominica&rsquo;s Thea Lafond and world silver medallist Shanieka Ricketts should enjoy a close battle in the women&rsquo;s triple jump. Slovenia&rsquo;s Neja Filipic and USA&rsquo;s Tori Franklin will also likely be in the mix.
Brazil&rsquo;s 2018 world indoor silver medallist Almir Dos Santos, who has a best this year of 17.04m, will start as the marginal favourite in the men&rsquo;s triple jump. Multiple world and Olympic champion Christian Taylor, still returning from the injury that kept him out of the Tokyo Olympics, will be looking for an improvement on his recent jumps.
Olympic silver medallist Nicola Olyslagers leads a high jump field that also includes Ukraine&rsquo;s Iryna Herashchenko, Britain&rsquo;s Morgan Lake and Italy&rsquo;s Elena Vallortigara.
Olyslagers&rsquo; fellow Australian Nina Kennedy, meanwhile, will be the favourite to take the women&rsquo;s pole vault as Wilma Murto carries home hopes.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

10 individual Olympic medallists set for the Paavo Nurmi Games, six of them in the throws

Big throws expected in Turku as Olympic champions clash with world leaders

A clash between two global long jump champions and a rematch between the world and Olympic discus medallists will be among the highlights at the Pietro Mennea Golden Gala &ndash; part of the Wanda Diamond League &ndash; on 9 June.
German star Malaika Mihambo has dominated the women&rsquo;s long jump in recent years, winning European gold in 2018, world gold in 2019 &ndash; setting a PB of 7.30m &ndash; and Olympic gold in 2021. Mihambo won in Rome three years ago with 7.07m &ndash; the first seven-metre jump of her career.
This year she will take on Ivana Vuleta, who recently retained her world indoor title, Ukraine&rsquo;s European indoor champion Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk, Sweden&rsquo;s Khaddi Sagnia, Britain&rsquo;s Jazmin Sawyers, Chantel Malone from British Virgin Islands, and Italy&rsquo;s Larissa Iapichino.
The men&rsquo;s discus cast is just as star-studded as the women&rsquo;s long jump, and it features all three medallists from last year&rsquo;s Olympic Games and the 2019 World Championships.
World and Olympic champion Daniel Stahl will be aiming to achieve his first victory at the Golden Gala in what will be his fourth appearance at the meeting. The Swede will be joined by compatriot and Olympic silver medallist Simon Pettersson, world silver medallist Fedrick Dacres of Jamaica, world and Olympic bronze medallist Lukas Weisshaidinger of Austria, 2017 world champion Andrius Gudzius, and two-time European U23 champion Kristian Ceh.
Organisers for World Athletics

Clash between two global long jump champions and a rematch between the world and Olympic discus medallists

Mihambo and Stahl lead loaded field event line-ups for Rome

An intriguing field in the men&rsquo;s 200m highlights the USATF Golden Games on Saturday (16), while Olympic champion Valarie Allman will attempt to break her North American discus record.
The second stop in the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold Series will be held at the newly renovated Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut, California, as part of the Mt SAC Relays. While the meeting features some of the world&rsquo;s top sprinters, they&rsquo;re not all in their signature events. The men&rsquo;s 200m in particular is shaping up as an early-season battle for bragging rights.
Fred Kerley, the Olympic silver medallist in the 100m, and Christian Coleman, the world champion in the 100m and runner-up at the recent World Indoor Championships in the 60m, will take on Rai Benjamin, the Olympic runner-up in the 400m hurdles, and Michael Norman, a 400m specialist who is versatile across the board.
The women&rsquo;s 100m is just as loaded. Multiple Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, who last year improved to 10.54, lines up for her first 100m of the year and will take on Olympic bronze medallist Gabby Thomas and Olympic 100m finalist Teahna Daniels, fresh off her victory into a strong headwind at the breezy USATF Bermuda Games last weekend.
Three other sprinters from that race are also in this field, including Olympic teammate Javianne Oliver, USA's Twanisha Terry and Aleia Hobbs, who ran 11.06 earlier this month. Michelle-Lee Ahye of Trinidad and Tobago and Briana Williams of Jamaica, both of whom competed in the world indoor 60m final last month, offer top international competition.
Meanwhile, USA&rsquo;s Kenny Bednarek, the Olympic silver medallist in the 200m, will race the 400m, an event in which he is equally at ease. Bednarek will face Alison Dos Santos, the bronze medallist in the 400m hurdles from Brazil, and Michael Cherry, who was fourth at the Olympics in the 400m and finished 2021 strong with the Diamond League trophy. The American has run only a relay so far this season.
Kerley has run one race apiece this season at each distance: the 100m (9.99), the 200m (a world-leading 20.04) and the 400m (a world-leading 44.47), but has not competed since 26 March. Coleman ran a 200m in 20.25 last weekend, while Benjamin and Norman are opening their 2022 campaigns.
Joseph Amoah of Ghana, who has run 20.08 in the 200m, Jerome Blake of Canada and Jaron Flournoy of the USA round out the field for the race, which will be the last event of the elite meet.
The meeting, which is also part of the 2022 USATF Journey to Gold Outdoor Tour Series, also offers a preview of the men&rsquo;s 100m at the upcoming US Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Veteran Michael Rodgers, Ameer Webb (who ran 10.04 last weekend), Isiah Young, Kyree King, Jarrion Lawson and Demek Kemp are among those hoping to make the team to compete at the World Championships, also in Eugene.
Devon Allen, the two-time Olympian for the USA who was fourth in Tokyo in the 110m hurdles, is entered in both the 100m and the hurdles. He recently announced he has signed to play professional football after this season.
Kendra Harrison, the Olympic silver medallist from the USA in the 100m hurdles, will compete against Tobi Amusan of Nigeria, who was fourth in Tokyo, fellow US Olympian Anna Cockrell, 2016 Olympic bronze medallist Kristi Castlin, who was part of the US medal sweep in Rio, and British Olympian Cindy Sember. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60d065de953a9cd50196b96b.jpg" alt="Kendra Harrison after winning the 100m hurdles at the US Trials" />
Kendra Harrison after winning the 100m hurdles at the US Trials (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
 The women&rsquo;s 200m includes Gabby Thomas, the Olympic bronze medallist from the USA who opened her season in the 100m in Bermuda, Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Ivory Coast, world silver medallist Brittany Brown, and two-time US Olympian Jenna Prandini, who is opening her season at the Golden Games.
In a battle between US sprinters, Shamier Little, the 400m hurdler who has also had success in the flat race, will run the 400m against 2017 world champion Phyllis Francis, world 400m hurdles champion Dalilah Muhammad and Olympian Kendall Ellis.
Raevyn Rogers, the world silver medallist from the USA, will run the women&rsquo;s 800m while the men&rsquo;s 800m includes Bryce Hoppel, the bronze medallist at the World Indoor Championships making his outdoor debut and fellow US Olympian Isaiah Jewett.
Allman picked up where she left off after her brilliant 2021 season, and then some. Last weekend in her second meet Allman broke her own continental record with a toss of 71.46m, the longest throw in the world in 30 years. She is now the No.15 thrower in history. Shadae Lawrence of Jamaica, who was seventh at the Olympics, and US Olympian Rachel Dincoff will challenge her in the Golden Games.
Daniel Stahl of Sweden, the world and Olympic champion, and teammate and Olympic silver medallist Simon Pettersson lead the men&rsquo;s discus field. Stahl has thrown a world-leading 69.11m this season. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60e4a6d06c28f3e4b04d136e.jpg" alt="Daniel Stahl contests the discus at the Gyulai Memorial" />
Daniel Stahl contests the discus at the Gyulai Memorial (&copy; Gyulai Istvan Memorial)
</div>
 Raven Saunders, the Olympic silver medallist, is the top contender in the women&rsquo;s shot put and will throw against Tokyo finalists Fanny Roos of Sweden and Portious Warren of Trinidad and Tobago. Darrell Hill, who was fourth at the US Olympic Trials in the men&rsquo;s shot, will face Olympian Payton Otterdahl, who was third, and Josh Owotunde, who was fifth. Adrian Piperi has thrown 21.54m for fourth on the 2022 world list, while Hill has a toss of 21.25m to rank sixth.
Bridgett Williams of the USA is tied for the world lead in the women&rsquo;s pole vault at 4.70m while Katerina Stefanidi of Greece, the 2016 Olympic champion who was fourth in Tokyo, has cleared 4.65m this season.
US high jumper Vashti Cunningham, who will be opening her outdoor season, has been competing at the Mt SAC Relays since she was in high school. The world bronze medallist will go up against Tyra Gittens of Trinidad and Tobago, who has the second-highest mark this year of 1.95m. She competed in the Olympics in the long jump.
Keturah Orji, a two-time Olympian for the USA in the triple jump, is coming off a seventh-place finish at the World Indoor Championships, while Carter Shell is the top US athlete this season in the men&rsquo;s long jump.
Brooke Andersen and Gwen Berry, both Olympic finalists for the USA, will go head-to-head in the women&rsquo;s hammer, where Andersen has the world-leading toss of 77.26m. Camryn Rogers has a throw of 74.80m for second.
Olympic finalists Rudy Winkler and Daniel Haugh of the USA will take on Humberto Mansilla and Gabriel Kehr of Chile in the men&rsquo;s hammer.
Karen Rosen for World Athletics

Olympic champions Valarie Allman and Daniel Stahl highlight the discus contests

Enthralling sprint clashes on tap at Mt SAC

This week marks the opening of the voting process for the 2021 World Athletes of the Year ahead of the&nbsp;World Athletics Awards 2021&nbsp;to be held in December.
World Athletics is pleased to confirm a list of 10 nominees for Male World Athlete of the Year who were selected by an international panel of athletics experts, comprising representatives from all six continental areas of World Athletics.
The nominations reflect the remarkable range of exceptional performances that the sport has witnessed this year, at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, one-day meeting circuits and other events around the world.
Commenting on the Awards, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said: &ldquo;As always, the World Athletics Awards will recognise athletes who have performed at the highest level across the year, taking into account not only the Olympic Games, but the one-day meeting circuits. We do recognise that athletes in some parts of the world faced greater challenges than others in accessing international competition this year, which complicated the nomination process. However, we saw some impressive breakthroughs at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and we look forward to those athletes having more opportunities to shine next year, with five World Athletics Series events and a full schedule of one-day meetings on the calendar."
The nominees for 2021 Male World Athlete of the Year are (in alphabetical order):
Joshua Cheptegei, UGA - Olympic 5000m champion - Olympic 10,000m silver medallist - World-leading 8:09.55 for two miles
Ryan Crouser, USA - Olympic and Diamond League shot put champion - Undefeated all year - World shot put records indoors and outdoors
Mondo Duplantis, SWE - Olympic pole vault champion - Diamond League pole vault champion - European indoor pole vault champion
Jakob Ingebrigtsen, NOR - Olympic 1500m champion - European indoor 1500m champion - European 1500m and 5000m records
Eliud Kipchoge, KEN - Olympic marathon champion - Largest winning margin in men&rsquo;s Olympic marathon since 1972 - Winner of Enschede Marathon
Pedro Pichardo, POR - Olympic triple jump champion - Diamond League triple jump champion - European indoor triple jump champion
Daniel Stahl, SWE - Olympic discus champion - Diamond League discus champion - Threw world-leading 71.40m
Miltiadis Tentoglou, GRE - Olympic long jump champion - European indoor long jump champion - Jumped world-leading 8.60m
Damian Warner, CAN - Olympic decathlon champion - Winner at the G&ouml;tzis Hypo Meeting - National and Olympic record of 9018, moved to fourth on the world all-time list
Karsten Warholm, NOR - Olympic 400m hurdles champion&nbsp; - Diamond League 400m hurdles champion - World 400m hurdles record and world 300m hurdles best
A three-way voting process will determine the finalists.
The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family will cast their votes by email, while fans can vote online via the World Athletics social media platforms. Individual graphics for each nominee will be posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram this week; a 'like' on Facebook and Instagram or a retweet on Twitter will count as one vote.
The World Athletics Council&rsquo;s vote will count for 50% of the result, while the World Athletics Family&rsquo;s votes and the public votes will each count for 25% of the final result.
Voting for the World Athletes of the Year closes at midnight on Saturday 6 November. At the conclusion of the voting process, five men and five women finalists will be announced by World Athletics.
The male and female World Athletes of the Year will be announced live at the World Athletics Awards 2021 in December.&nbsp;
Further information about the World Athletics Awards 2021 will be announced in the weeks leading up to the event.
The female nominees will be announced tomorrow, Friday 22 October.
World Athletics

World Athletics is pleased to confirm a list of 10 nominees for Male World Athlete of the Year.

Nominees announced for Male World Athlete of the Year 2021

World champions Daniel Stahl and Yaime Perez kicked off the Brussels Wanda Diamond League action on Wednesday (1), winning the discus competitions at the Bois de la Cambre park. 
Held two days before the main Memorial Van Damme programme, it was the first time any Diamond League discipline had been held on parkland. Accompanied by music of the athletes&rsquo; choosing, the event caught the attention of passers-by, who were treated to the sights of the world&rsquo;s best throwers launching their discs against a scenic backdrop.
Stahl, undefeated in his past 12 competitions, connected well with his first throw and sent his discus flying out to 69.31m &ndash; the second-best throw ever recorded in Brussels. The Olympic champion was five metres ahead of his nearest opponent for the first two rounds as 2017 world champion Andrius Gudzius opened with 64.14m and Germany&rsquo;s Daniel Jasinski started with 63.84m.
Stahl registered fouls on his next three attempts, but his lead was never seriously challenged. Slovenia&rsquo;s Kristjan Ceh moved into second place with 65.32m in round three and then improved to 65.68m in round five.
Jamaica&rsquo;s world silver medallist Fedrick Dacres, who hadn&rsquo;t fully recovered from injury in time for the Olympic Games, showed improved form with 65.17m in round five to make it into the top three.
In the all-important final round, Dacres managed 61.75m and Ceh recorded a foul. Stahl, meanwhile, ended his competition with 67.01m to take first place.
Two-time Olympic champion Sandra Perkovic took an early lead in the women&rsquo;s contest after opening with 62.49m and improving to 64.44m in round two. Perez, who had opened with a foul, responded with 66.47m in the second round to take a comfortable lead, while Olympic champion Valarie Allman wrapped up the second round with a 64.20m effort. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/612f9947fc052fd4e8736a49.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Perkovic threw 65.14m in round three, while Allman improved slightly with 64.25m. Perez didn&rsquo;t improve on her lead, but backed it up with throws of 64.65m and 64.86m in the third and fourth rounds.
The same three women &ndash; all winners of global titles in recent years &ndash; occupied the top three spots going into the final winner-takes-all round. Allman landed a solid 63.38m effort, and it was followed by Perkovic hitting the cage with her discus.
It was then down to Perez to snatch back the lead and the Cuban did so &ndash; but only just. Her discus landed at 63.41m, enough to better Allman&rsquo;s mark by just three centimetres. It meant Perez earned her second Diamond League victory of 2021, following her win in Doha back in May.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

World champions Daniel Stahl and Yaime Perez kicked off the Brussels Wanda Diamond League action on Wednesday (1), winning the discus competitions at the Bois de la Cambre park.  

Stahl and Perez secure discus victories in Brussels

Daniel Stahl continued his dominance of the men&rsquo;s discus with a convincing victory at Tokyo&rsquo;s Olympic Stadium on Saturday (31) to capture the first field event title at the Tokyo 2020 Games in what was also the 1000th athletics final in Olympic history.
The 28-year-old Swede took command with a second-round launch of 68.90m, the fourth farthest throw in Olympic history.
Lukas Weisshaidinger of Austria gave him a scare early on with a 67.07m throw in the third round but his biggest challenge ultimately came from compatriot and training partner Simon Pettersson who unleashed a 67.39m effort in the fifth round to secure an unlikely gold and silver finish for Sweden &ndash; and their first two Olympic medals ever in the event.
&ldquo;There was a lot of hard work and fun on the way,&rdquo; said Stahl, who has led the world in the event each year since 2016. &ldquo;I am extremely proud.&rdquo;
Stahl didn&rsquo;t reach the final in Rio five years ago, but improved his consistency markedly each year since, taking world silver in 2017 and European silver in 2018 before taking the world title in 2019. Stahl lost just twice in 19 competitions in 2020 and just once in 13 competitions this year.
&ldquo;My training partner Simon has been working hard,&rdquo; Stahl said. &ldquo;I am also very proud of our coach (Vesteinn Hafsteinsson) for believing in us, and having faith." 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61055286a77afcf45a2f9b1c.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Matt Denny of Australia opened with a 65.76m throw to lead after the opening round, but was overtaken by Weisshaidinger who opened the second round with a 66.65m effort. But it wasn&rsquo;t long before Stahl wrestled the lead away with his winning toss just a few minutes later, turning the competition into a battle for minor medals.
Weisshaidinger remained consistent, improving to 67.07m in the third round and throwing nearly as far &ndash; 66.86m &ndash; in the fourth.
Further back, pre-Games medal favourite Kristjan Ceh of Slovenia struggled early, fouling on his first attempt, reaching just 62.95m with his second and foot fouling his third after a mediocre throw, but stayed alive after sitting in eighth position after the first three rounds.
He was a calm figure when he returned to the circle to throw first in round four, before unleashing a 66.05m effort to move into fourth. He continued to improve, throwing 66.62m to overtake Pettersson for the bronze medal position by just four centimetres.
But the 22-year-old&rsquo;s podium ambitions were short-lived.
Pettersson bounced back brilliantly, unleashing a 67.39m throw to move into second, giving Sweden a firm hold on positions one and two.
Behind him and Weisshaidinger, Denny kept up the pressure, improving his lifetime best in the final round to 67.02m to finish fourth, just five centimetres back. Ceh, throwing next, couldn&rsquo;t respond, reaching 66.37m to take fifth in his first Olympic Games.
That secured the bronze for Weisshaidinger, the first-ever Olympic medal in athletics from an Austrian man.
After Stahl and Pettersson concluded a 50-metre backstraight victory dash, Weissheidinger, wrapped in his national flag, knelt next to the throwing circle to kiss the ring.
Further back, 2017 world champion Andrius Gudzius finished sixth with 64.11m. Mauricio Ortega, the first Olympic finalist in the event from Colombia, was seventh with 64.08m.
Germany&rsquo;s Daniel Jasinski, the 2016 bronze medallist, was 10th with 62.44m.
Bob Ramsak for World Athletics
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">MEN'S DISCUS MEDALLISTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #e9c968;">Daniel Stahl 🇸🇪 SWE</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #e9c968;">68.90m</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Simon Pettersson 🇸🇪 SWE</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #ced4d9;">67.39m</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #bd895e;">Lukas Weisshaidinger 🇦🇹 AUT</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #bd895e;">67.07m</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/results/men/discus-throw/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;

Daniel Stahl continued his dominance of the men’s discus 

Stahl leads Swedish 1-2 in discus

Germany&rsquo;s Johannes Vetter made his comeback by throwing 93.59m to win the javelin at the Kuortane Games &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting &ndash; in Finland on Saturday (26).
The 2017 world champion&rsquo;s last competition had been the European Athletics Team Championships Super League in Silesia, where he retired after two throws (of 94.24m and 96.29m) having experienced some discomfort in his adductor.
Back in action in Kuortane, the 28-year-old opened with 88.96m before improving to 93.59m in the second round. He then passed his third attempt and fouled on his fourth and fifth before also passing the final round.
Vetter has now thrown beyond 91 metres in six consecutive competitions this season, with his best being that 96.29m recorded in Silesia.
Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott threw&nbsp;89.12m in the second round to finish runner-up ahead of India&rsquo;s Commonwealth champion Neeraj Chopra who recorded a best of 86.79m, also in the second round. 
<h3>Stahl sets world lead&nbsp;</h3>
The men&rsquo;s discus was a great contest as Sweden&rsquo;s world champion Daniel Stahl threw a world lead of 70.55m to beat Slovenia&rsquo;s European U23 champion Kristjan Ceh by 20 centimetres.
Ceh achieved his 70.35m throw in the third round &ndash; his first ever mark beyond 70 metres to improve his national record &ndash; and had led the competition until the final round when Stahl launched his world lead. Ceh backed up his PB performance with 70.22m from his last attempt.
Sweden&rsquo;s Simon Pettersson finished third with a best of 67.39m.
Joining his compatriot in success was European indoor medallist Thobias Montler as he leapt 8.13m (1.2m/s) in the final round to win the long jump, also recording 8.10m (1.6m/s) in the third round.
Australia&rsquo;s world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber threw 60.05m to win the women&rsquo;s javelin competition ahead of South Africa&rsquo;s Jo-Ane Van Dyk with 59.31m, while Sweden&rsquo;s Maja Nilsson won the high jump with a first-time clearance of 1.91m.
Finland&rsquo;s Kristiina M&auml;kel&auml; improved her triple jump PB to 14.41m (1.4m/s), while Wilma Murto cleared 4.61m and Mikko Paavola 5.54m to win the pole vault competitions.
Finland&rsquo;s Annimari Korte won the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles final in a slightly wind-assisted 12.82 (2.1m/s) and Norway&rsquo;s Line Kloster won the 400m hurdles in 56.30, while Finland&rsquo;s Riku Illukka and Samuli Samuelsson clocked matching PBs of 10.27 (1.9m/s) to lead the men&rsquo;s 100m final. Kenya&rsquo;s Eglay Nalyanya won the women&rsquo;s 800m in 2.00.56 and Norway&rsquo;s Ferdinand Kvan Edman ran a PB of 3.38.36 to win the men's 1500m.
&nbsp;
<h2>Mihambo leaps 6.92m in Leverkusen</h2>
Germany&rsquo;s world long jump champion Malaika Mihambo achieved her longest leap in the world so far this year, soaring 6.92m (0.5m/s) at the #True Athletes Classics &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting &ndash; in Leverkusen on Sunday (27).
Maryse Luzolo was second with a PB of 6.69m (1.1m/s), while Cuba&rsquo;s world champion Yaime Perez threw 63.33m to win the women&rsquo;s discus.
Three athletes cleared 5.80m in the men&rsquo;s pole vault, with Olympic champion Thiago Braz and Asian champion Ernest Obiena sharing victory and Bo Kanda Lita Baehre placing third on countback.
Tatjana Pinto won the women&rsquo;s 100m final in 11.18 (0.7m/s) after clocking 11.10 (2.0m/s) in the heats, while Arthur Cisse ran 10.19 (1.8m/s) to win the men&rsquo;s final.
The men&rsquo;s 800m saw victory for Collins Kipruto in 1:44.57, while his fellow Kenyan Edinah Jebitok won the women&rsquo;s 1500m in 4:03.46.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

Germany’s Johannes Vetter made his comeback by throwing 93.59m to win the javelin at the Kuortane Games – a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting – in Finland on Saturday.

Vetter returns with 93.59m in Kuortane

The best pole vaulters in the world are set to gather in Scandinavia for back-to-back clashes in the Wanda Diamond League next month.
World record-holder Mondo Duplantis, world champion Sam Kendricks and seven-time Diamond League champion Renaud Lavillenie will all meet at the Bislett Games in Oslo on 1 July before facing each other again three days later at the Bauhaus-Galan in Stockholm.
With almost 70 Diamond League victories between them, the three vaulters have dominated their discipline for much of the past decade, and will battle it out again in Oslo and Stockholm as they bid to qualify for the Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich on 8-9 September.
Kendricks currently leads the qualifying standings, having beaten Duplantis in difficult conditions at the season opener in Gateshead last month. But Duplantis has jumped highest this year, clearing 6.10m in Hengelo earlier in June.
The trio will take on Norwegian brothers Sondre and Simen Guttormsen in Oslo, while Poland's world bronze medallist Piotr Lisek will also be on the runway in Stockholm.
Multiple world and Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will make her Bislett Games debut next month. The Jamaican currently leads the world list with her 10.63 run in Kingston earlier this month, moving her to second on the world all-time list.
She&rsquo;ll line up against 2017 world silver medallist Marie-Josee Ta Lou, USA&rsquo;s Tokyo-bound Javianne Oliver, and Jamaica&rsquo;s Natasha Morrison.
Stockholm&rsquo;s Bauhaus Galan, meanwhile, will also see world champion Daniel St&aring;hl take on Jamaica&rsquo;s world silver medallist Fedrick Dacres in the men's discus.
Organisers for World Athletics

The best pole vaulters in the world are set to gather in Scandinavia for back-to-back clashes in the Wanda Diamond League next month. 

Pole vault heavyweights in Oslo and Stockholm

In a country that loves its throwing, Marcin Krukowski and Wojciech Nowicki put on an exhibition for local fans on the second evening of the Paavo Nurmi Games &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting &ndash; in Turku, Finland, on Tuesday (8).
In cool, damp conditions, Krukowski signalled his intent in the second round of the men&rsquo;s javelin with a throw that looked to sail beyond 90 metres, but it was ruled a foul after his hand slipped over the line as he landed on the rain-soaked track.
But minutes later he launched the spear 89.55m to add almost a metre and a half to his Polish record, enough to hand him a comfortable win over 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott (82.84m) of Trinidad and Tobago and Rocco van Rooyen of South Africa (82.55m), along with moving him to 22nd on the world all-time list. 
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 &ldquo;I can throw further, I can add some metres,&rdquo; said Krukowsi. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t feel I hit the javelin hard, it was a smooth and nice throw. Moving forward it&rsquo;s about not doing stupid things. I got a small injury in my knee so I lost some timing recently but now I&rsquo;m getting it back and I feel strong and confident.&rdquo;
His goal for the Tokyo Games?
&ldquo;A gold medal,&rdquo; said Krukowski. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the Olympics and anything can happen.&rdquo;
His Polish compatriot Nowicki took an impressive win in the men&rsquo;s hammer with a series of outstanding consistency, going beyond 79 metres on five of his six throws. His biggest, 80.77m, was a season&rsquo;s best that came in the fifth round and gave him the win by more than a metre from France&rsquo;s Quentin Bigot, who threw a PB of 79.70m.
&ldquo;I felt good, the weather was good, the circle was good so I tried to make a good result,&rdquo; said Nowicki, who will remain in Finland ahead of his next competition in Espoo. &ldquo;For me this circle is a little better when it&rsquo;s wet. Today I didn&rsquo;t imagine I would throw 80 metres; when I woke up I felt 78, 79, but I was happy and I hope to do the same at the Olympic Games.&rdquo; 
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Hammer winner Wojciech Nowicki at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Turku</div>
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Four-time world champion Pawel Fajdek had a night he will be keen to forget, fouling his first five attempts before salvaging third place in the last round with a throw of 78.29m. Sweden&rsquo;s Ragnar Carlsson set a PB of 76.87m in fourth.
Finland&rsquo;s Senni Salminen drew the biggest cheer of the night when soaring out to a national record of 14.51m (0.4m/s) in the third round of the women&rsquo;s triple jump, also smashing the meeting record by 22 centimetres in the process and adding 29 centimetres to her previous best. That handed her victory by a wide margin over Jamaica&rsquo;s Kimberly Williams (14.29m), with Finland&rsquo;s Kristina Makela third with 14.26m.
&ldquo;I knew I was in good shape but 14.51, it&rsquo;s big,&rdquo; said Salminen, who fell to her knees in ecstatic celebration once she saw the distance. &ldquo;I was about to cry during my last jump when I got a standing ovation. The crowd was amazing.&rdquo; 
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 Finland very nearly had another home win in the final race of the evening as Annimari Korte took second in the 100m hurdles in 12.91, edged by Hungary&rsquo;s Luca Kozak who clocked 12.90 (0.7 m/s). Belgium&rsquo;s Anne Zagre was third with 13.13.
There was an impressive home win in the men&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase as Finland&rsquo;s Topi Raitanen came from behind over the last barrier to take victory in 8:19.57, just a second outside the meeting record, ahead of Denmark&rsquo;s Ole Hesselbjerg (8:20.42). Sweden&rsquo;s Emil Blomberg was third in 8:21.38.
Kenya&rsquo;s Cornelius Tuwei outkicked compatriot Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich to win the men&rsquo;s 800m, 1:44.42 to 1:44.59, with Poland&rsquo;s Mateusz Borkowski third in a PB of 1:44.85.
Poland&rsquo;s Malwina Kopron coped with conditions best in the women&rsquo;s hammer, with a thunderstorm raging during the competition and a soaked circle proving tricky for throwers. She opened with a season&rsquo;s best of 75.40m which proved more than enough for victory, a mark she was unable to improve in subsequent attempts. France&rsquo;s Alexandra Tavernier was next best with 72.80m with two-time Olympic champion Anita Wlodarczyk third with 72.42m.
France&rsquo;s Mouhamadou Fall rose to the occasion in the men&rsquo;s 100m, getting the better of USA&rsquo;s Mike Rodgers to win in 10.26 (0.1m/s), with Rodgers clocking 10.33 and Switzerland&rsquo;s Silvan Wicki third in 10.36.
Britain&rsquo;s Imani Lansiquot came from behind to edge victory in the women&rsquo;s 100m, overtaking Finland&rsquo;s Lotta Kemppinen to win in 11.40 (-0.7m/s) to 11.41. Italy&rsquo;s Vittoria Fontana was third in 11.46.
There was another British win in the 110m hurdles as David King set a PB of 13.37 to take victory, with Poland&rsquo;s Damian Czykier next best in 13.50 and Norway&rsquo;s Vladimir Vukicevic third in 13.59.
&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t run quicker than 13.50 since 2017 and I&rsquo;m so happy,&rdquo; said King. &ldquo;In Hengelo [where King clocked 13.57] I had some good signs but tonight I started well and finished well, it all came together.&rdquo;
Ukraine&rsquo;s Vladyslav Mazur took the men&rsquo;s long jump with a best of 7.90m, with Finland&rsquo;s Kristian Pulli second with 7.82m and Colombia&rsquo;s Arnovis Dalmero third with 7.75m. In the women&rsquo;s pole vault Elina Lampela gave the 2,500-strong crowd reason for celebration as she cleared 4.41m to take victory ahead of Fanny Smets of Belgium (4.31m) and Switzerland&rsquo;s Andrina Hodel (4.31m).
Kamila Licwinko of Poland and Australia&rsquo;s Eleanor Patterson took a joint-win in the women&rsquo;s high jump, which was staged during a torrential downpour. Licwinko had the better record at 1.88m and Patterson the better record at 1.85m, and they were equal at other heights up to and including their best clearance of 1.93m. Because they had the same number of overall failures, they shared the spoils, with Ukraine&rsquo;s Yuliya Levchenko third with a season&rsquo;s best of 1.91m. 
<h3>Barr breaks meeting record, Stahl and Hussong dominate throws</h3>
Ireland&rsquo;s Thomas Barr and Sweden&rsquo;s Daniel Stahl produced the standout performances on the first evening of action in Turku.
Barr clocked 48.39 to edge a thrilling race with Estonia&rsquo;s Rasmus Magi in the 400m hurdles, the Irishman clocking his fastest ever time outside a championship and his quickest since winning a European bronze medal in 2018. Magi led until the final barrier before being passed by Barr on the run to the line, but the Estonian was rewarded with a big season&rsquo;s best of 48.58, with Dutch athlete Nick Smidt third in 49.64. 
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Thomas Barr on his way to winning the 400m hurdles at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Turku</div>
&nbsp;
&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t expecting that,&rdquo; said Barr after taking more than a second off the meeting record. &ldquo;I thought if everything went right, 48-mid was where I was at but I&rsquo;ve felt my rhythm come back quickly and I felt really strong over the last few hurdles. It was a brilliant race.&rdquo;
Barr finished fourth in the 2016 Olympic final and he&rsquo;s hopeful he can again challenge for a podium position in Tokyo.
&ldquo;Normally I&rsquo;m still only warming up at this time of year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Considering how compressed this season was, I didn&rsquo;t have much room for error so I&rsquo;m back on the horse just in time. Since Rio the 400m hurdles has gotten a lot harder, but in an Olympic final, or in any major championship final, anything can happen, so if I&rsquo;m there or thereabouts, I&rsquo;ll be ready to mop up the spillage.&rdquo;
Stahl proved a class apart in the men&rsquo;s discus, the world champion &ndash; who spent his summers in Turku through his childhood &ndash; giving himself more happy memories of the Finnish town when launching a throw of 68.11m to in the fourth round, good enough for a comfortable win over rival Andrius Gudzius of Lithuania (66.88m) and Lukas Weisshaidinger (66.77m).
&ldquo;It was pretty good, I&rsquo;m pretty happy with the 68-metre throw,&rdquo; said Stahl. &ldquo;I was a little bit tight and I felt a little slow in the first three rounds but then I hit it better.&rdquo; 
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Daniel Stahl in action in the discus in Turku</div>
&nbsp;
Stahl has a long list of competitions in the weeks before the Olympics in Tokyo, where he hopes to emulate his success at the 2019 World Championships.
&ldquo;I just need to compete more and get that feeling, there&rsquo;s nothing better,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m really excited now about Tokyo. Everyone is going to get the vaccine and I&rsquo;m going to get my second one in a couple of weeks so it feels great. Since I started in 2011 my coach and I said we&rsquo;d target the Olympic Games in 2020 and now that it&rsquo;s going ahead in 2021, I&rsquo;m really, really happy about it.&rdquo;
Christin Hussong continued her fine run of form in the women&rsquo;s javelin, the German putting the competition to bed in the second round with a meeting record of 66.63m. That was enough to hand her victory with ease, with Latvia&rsquo;s Lina Muze next best with 61.34m and Madara Palameika third with 60.04m. 
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Christin Hussong in action in the javelin at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Turku</div>
&nbsp;
&ldquo;It was a really good throw for me,&rdquo; said Hussong. &ldquo;I've thrown over 66 metres five times now (this year) and I think my technique is better than last year &ndash; that's the reason why. I'm really happy with that.&rdquo;
Asked about her hopes for the Tokyo Olympics, Hussong said she has a straightforward mission. &ldquo;My goal is a medal. Which medal, we'll have to see. There are a lot of girls throwing over 65, 66.&rdquo;
Two more meeting records fell on the first day of action in Turku.
Bahrain&rsquo;s Winfed Yavi was a clear winner of the women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase, coasting to victory in a meeting record of 9:17.55 ahead of Ireland&rsquo;s Michelle Finn, who smashed her PB by nine seconds to run an automatic Olympic qualifier of 9:29.25. Kenya&rsquo;s Fancy Cherono took third with 9:33.49.
Kenya&rsquo;s Mary Moraa was a class apart in the women&rsquo;s 800m, the 21-year-old kicking to victory in 1:59.95, the first sub-two-minute clocking of her career and the first witnessed in Turku.
&ldquo;My aim was to run under two minutes but I was not expecting it,&rdquo; said Moraa. &ldquo;We have national trials next week and I&rsquo;m confident, I&rsquo;m very happy and strong and God-willing, I will make the Olympics.&rdquo;
In the men&rsquo;s triple jump Portugal&rsquo;s Tiago Pereira saved his best for last, jumping 16.91m to take the win in his final attempt, which demoted Tobia Bocchi to second, though the Italian was delighted to set a PB of 16.73m. Sweden&rsquo;s Jesper Hellstrom took third with 16.40m.
Hungary&rsquo;s Anasztazia Nguyen edged victory in the women&rsquo;s long jump, her third-round effort of 6.51m giving her the win ahead of Britain&rsquo;s Abigail Irozuru (6.50m), with Finland&rsquo;s Maria Huntington third with 6.32m.
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

In a country that loves its throwing, Marcin Krukowski and Wojciech Nowicki put on an exhibition for local fans on the second evening of the Paavo Nurmi Games – a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting – in Turku, Finland, on Tuesday (8).