Audiences at last month&rsquo;s IAAF Diamond League meeting in London saw a thoroughly entertaining competition which saw world champion Joe Kovacs reach 22.02m to defeat world indoor champion Tom Walsh and two-time world champion David Storl.
Not surprisingly, many people were wondering whether they were witnessing a rehearsal for the medal battle in Rio.
Kovacs won at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015 to deny Storl a third consecutive world title. He leads the world this year with the 22.13m he reached to win at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene and has been beyond 22 metres in six competitions since the start of last year. But the US putter is not invincible.
He lost five of his 15 competitions last year and has been defeated twice already this year, including by Ryan Crouser at the US Olympic Trials. It gives the rest of the world some hope that he might let his guard down again, although he has to be considered the favourite.
The ever-consistent Storl has not been out of the top two at a major international competition since 2011, including winning the silver medal in London four years ago, and so certainly knows how to peak for championships.
This season has been a little different as he had another bout of knee surgery at the end of last year and missed the indoor season. But, as he showed last month when winning his third consecutive European title, he is gradually getting back in shape to produce the big distance and getting close to his best of 22.20m, set at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Lausanne last year.
Walsh just missed out on a medal in Beijing when finishing fourth but came of age at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016 and won with a personal best of 21.78m. He will be bidding to be New Zealand&rsquo;s first male field event athlete to get an Olympic medal.
Crouser defeated Kovacs and the rest of the deep and very strong US shot putting corps at the US Olympic Trials when he unleashed a big personal best of 22.11m to secure his first trip to an international championship since he won the 2009 world U18 title.
His lack of experience as a senior on the big stage may count against him but he certainly has the talent to challenge for the medals and currently lies only behind Kovacs on the 2016 world list.
Kovacs and Crouser will be accompanied by the previously unheralded Darrell Hill, who improved by almost half a metre to 21.63m to take third place at the US Olympic Trials and defeat a host of better known rivals.
Poland&rsquo;s 2008 and 2012 Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski will defend his title but, sometimes hampered by injury problems, has not thrown beyond 21 metres since 2014. The affable giant might not be a medal prospect this time; indeed, he only finished third at his own national championships in June.
Attention, instead, is focused on his teammates, the teenage prodigy Konrad Bukowiecki and Michal Haratyk.
Bokowiecki, still only 19, showed that he can hold his own with the seniors when he finished fourth indoors in Portland back in March and will be looking to improve his world U20 best of 21.14m. The 24-year-old Haratyk showed good from and strong nerves when he took the European silver medal behind Storl last month.
Other men to look out for include world bronze medallist O&rsquo;Dayne Richards, although the Jamaican has been struggling to get beyond 20 metres in most competitions this summer, and the much-improved Stephen Mozia, who set a Nigerian record of 21.76m in his last competition three weeks ago.
Phil Minshull for the IAAF

Audiences at last month’s IAAF Diamond League meeting in London saw a thoroughly entertaining competition which saw world champion Joe Kovacs reach 22.02m to defeat world indoor champion Tom Walsh and two-time world champion David Storl. Not surprisingly, many people were wondering whether they were witnessing a rehearsal for the medal battle in Rio.

Preview: men's shot put – Rio 2016 Olympic Games

Organisers of the IAAF Diamond League meeting in London are dubbing the two-day event &lsquo;Rio in a weekend&rsquo; a wave of Olympic-bound stars have been announced for the &lsquo;Super Saturday&rsquo; of the M&uuml;ller Anniversary Games at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on Saturday 23 July.
Jamaica&rsquo;s 10-time global champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce lines up in the 100m against world long jump champion Tianna Bartoletta and world bronze medallist Tori Bowie. Bartoletta and Bowie qualified for the US team after finishing second and third respectively in the 100m at the recent US Olympic Trials, both clocking PBs of 10.78.
British record-holder Dina Asher-Smith leads the British charge in the 100m. She will be joined on the start line by Asha Phillip, Daryll Neita and Desiree Henry.
World champion Dafne Schippers will go head to head with Jamaica&rsquo;s Elaine Thompson over 200m. Schippers recorded the third-fastest time ever last year when winning the world title in a European record of 21.63. More recently, she retained her European 100m title last weekend in front of a home crowd in Amsterdam. Thompson, meanwhile, reduced her 100m PB to 10.70 at the start of this month when winning the Jamaican title.
The men&rsquo;s shot put will be a four-way clash between global champions. Germany&rsquo;s two-time world champion David Storl will take on two-time Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski of Poland, world champion Joe Kovacs and world indoor champion Tom Walsh of New Zealand.
In the pole vault, Cuba&rsquo;s world champion Yarisley Silva faces newly crowned European champion Ekaterini Stefanidi of Greece and British record-holder Holly Bradshaw, while Olympic champion Sandra Perkovic will return to the scene of her 2012 success to headline a strong discus competition.
Orlando Ortega leads the 110m hurdles field. The Spaniard was the fastest hurdler in the world last year after clocking a lifetime best of 12.94. In London he will face the likes of British champion Andrew Pozzi and Olympic fourth-place finisher Lawrence Clarke.
Both the women&rsquo;s 800m and long jump have a strong British presence. 2012 European champion Lynsey Sharp will face British champion and World Championships finalist Shelayna Oskan-Clarke as well as 2011 European indoor champion Jenny Meadows, who will be competing in her last ever major race in the UK.
In the long jump, world and Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill faces fellow heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who will also compete in the high jump on the Friday night. World silver medallist and British record-holder Shara Proctor, world indoor bronze medallist Lorraine Ugen and recently crowned European silver medallist Jazmin Sawyers will also contest the long jump.
The British team that won gold at the European Championships last week will finalise their preparations for Rio against world and Olympic champions Jamaica as the day climaxes with the men&rsquo;s 4x100m relay.
Double world, Olympic and European champion Mo Farah has already confirmed that he will line up in the 5000m against many of the athletes he is expected to face in Rio.
Organisers for the IAAF
2016 IAAF Diamond League calendar 6 May &ndash; Doha, QAT 14 May &ndash; Shanghai, CHN 22 May &ndash; Rabat, MAR 28 May &ndash; Eugene, USA 2 Jun &ndash; Rome, ITA 5 Jun &ndash; Birmingham, GBR 9 Jun &ndash; Oslo, NOR 16 Jun &ndash; Stockholm, SWE 15 Jul &ndash; Monaco, MON 22-23 Jul &ndash; London, GBR 25 Aug &ndash; Lausanne, SUI 27 Aug &ndash; Paris, FRA 1 Sep &ndash; Zurich, SUI 9 Sep &ndash; Brussels, BEL

Organisers of the IAAF Diamond League meeting in London are dubbing the two-day event ‘Rio in a weekend’ a wave of Olympic-bound stars have been announced for the ‘Super Saturday’ of the Müller Anniversary Games at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on Saturday 23 July.

Global champions galore set for Super Saturday in London – IAAF Diamond League

Poland finished top of the medal table at the 2016 European Championships after a hat trick of golds on Sunday (10) in Amsterdam.
The most inevitable of those was Pawel Fajdek&rsquo;s in the men&rsquo;s hammer. The world champion&rsquo;s 80.46m opener would have been enough to win, but he produced five more throws that none of his competitors could better, just to be sure.
A fifth-round 80.93m was his best, and ensured that he upgraded on the silver he won two years ago in Zurich. It is his 27th straight victory. Ivan Tikhon of Belarus won silver with a last-round 78.84m that saw him leapfrog Poland&rsquo;s Wojciech Nowicki, whose third-round 77.53m was enough for bronze.
In the men&rsquo;s 800m, Adam Kszczot hit the front at the final bend after Thijmen Kupers led the field through 400m in 52.51. From there the Pole was never troubled as he sped away for gold in 1:45.18.
&ldquo;I defended my title &ndash; this was my day,&rdquo; Kszczot said.
His countryman Marcin Lewandowski, who had stuck close to Kupers at the front, was able to hold his form to pip Briton Elliot Giles for silver as both were given a time of 1:45.54.
The third Polish gold came in the women&rsquo;s 1500m. 2014 champion Sifan Hassan didn&rsquo;t take advantage of her status as the fastest in the field, allowing a pedestrian affair to play out as the single group of athletes passed 800m in 2:46.
At that point Hassan, the world indoor champion, manoeuvred to the front, but didn&rsquo;t pull away. Off the final bend the athletes were still bunched. Angelika Cichocka picked her moment perfectly, speeding past Hassan to take gold in 4:33.00.
&ldquo;I was happy that it was a slow start because I knew I had a strong finish,&rdquo; said Cichocka, who upgrades on her European indoor silver medal from last year.
Hassan just held on for silver in 4:33.76. Ireland&rsquo;s Ciara Mageean finished strong for bronze in 4:33.76.
In the day&rsquo;s first track event, Sara Slott Petersen won the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles in 55.12. The Dane took the lead coming off the second bend after a determined start. She then repelled the late drive of Poland&rsquo;s Joanna Linkiewicz (silver in 55.33) and Switzerland&rsquo;s Lea Sprunger (bronze in 55.41).
&ldquo;I hope this is the start of something special,&rdquo; said Petersen, whose gold is her first as a senior.
<h3>Storl completes hat trick</h3>
David Storl is fast becoming one of the most decorated athletes in the sport. The 25-year-old German is already a double world champion, and in Amsterdam he won his third straight European outdoor title with a fifth-round 21.31m.
&ldquo;This result helps me,&rdquo; said Storl, who hasn&rsquo;t hit full form this season. &ldquo;Rio is the big target. This is one step closer.&rdquo;
Poland&rsquo;s Michal Haratyk threw 21.19m in round four for silver. Portugal&rsquo;s Tsanko Arnaudov took bronze courtesy of a season&rsquo;s best of 20.59m with his opener.
Italy&rsquo;s Gianmarco Tamberi added to his world indoor title with the European high jump crown.
The 24-year-old, who tackled his first heights wearing basketball shorts, cleared first time up to 2.32m, which was enough to secure gold. He had three cracks at 2.40m, and though each effort looked technically good, he could not find the height to join the exclusive club.
&ldquo;When I started jumping I had a good feeling,&rdquo; Tamberi said. &ldquo;I tried 2.40m because it was [above] my record. I would like to jump higher in the future.&rdquo;
Briton Robbie Grabarz cleared 2.29m first time for silver. Chris Baker and German Eike Onnen shared bronze after both needed two attempts to clear the same height.
The finish in the men&rsquo;s 5000m was a classic.
Hayle Ibrahimov set a reasonable pace, passing 3000m in 8:25. He still led at the bell (12:45) but as the final lap wore on, his energy departed him.
That wasn&rsquo;t the case for Spaniards Ilias Fifa and Adel Mechaal, German Richard Ringer, Norway&rsquo;s Henrik Ingebrigtsen and France&rsquo;s Mourad Amdouni, who sped past the Azerbaijani pace setter with 80 metres to go.
From there it was chaotic and close. Ingebrigtsen appeared to time his burst to perfection, but his dip wasn&rsquo;t quite there as he, Ringer, Mechaal and Fifa crossed the line together. Or not quite. Ingebrigtsen was given a time 0.01 slower than the other three, who tied in 13:40.85.
Fifa was given the nod for gold in the photo finish, his compatriot Mechaal taking silver, while Mechaal was given bronze.
&ldquo;I am currently the king of the 5000m in Europe!&rdquo; declared an ecstatic Fifa. Only just.
Gesa Felicitas Krause blitzed to steeplechase gold with a stylish gun-to-tape win. Any athlete who dared take her on was shrugged off with her superior speed and hurdling technique.
The world bronze medallist finished in 9:18.85, little more than a second outside the championship record. It completes her set of European junior, under-23 and senior titles.
Luiza Gega finished in an Albanian record of 9:28.52 for silver. Bronze went to Ozlem Kaya of Turkey in 9:44.41.
There was another national record for Portugal&rsquo;s Patricia Mamona in the triple jump. Her last-round 14.58m (0.8m/s) sealed a dramatic gold medal ahead of Israel&rsquo;s Hanna Minenko, who had led with 14.51m. She settled for silver, while bronze went to Greece&rsquo;s Paraskevi Papachristou with 14.47m.
<h3>Dutch delight and world leads in relays</h3>
The women&rsquo;s 4x100m, the evening&rsquo;s first relay final, was won by hosts the Netherlands.
Individual 100m champion Dafne Schippers ran a superb second leg to set her teammates on the way after a solid start from Jamile Samuel. The lead was five metres as Tess van Schagen handed to Naomi Sedney, who held the gap to win in a national record of 42.04.
Britain earned silver in 42.45, while Germany took bronze in 42.48.
The men&rsquo;s event was won by Great Britain. James Ellington ran a fantastic bend on leg three, handing a marginal lead to Chijindu Ujah who stormed to gold in 38.17. France won silver in 38.38, while Germany won bronze again in 38.47.
More relay British joy came as they won gold in the women&rsquo;s 4x400m with a world-leading performance.
Individual bronze medallist Anyika Onuora set it up with a brilliant second leg after Emily Diamond&rsquo;s controlled opener. Eilidh Doyle held the 10-metre lead she was handed, and Seren Bundy-Davies anchored the baton home in 3:25.05 &ndash; the fastest time in the world this year.
France came home second in 3:25.96, while Italy earned bronze in 3:27.49, thanks to a 49.72 anchor from individual 400m champion Libania Grenot.
In the closing event, Great Britain looked on course for a third gold until Matt Hudson-Smith&rsquo;s legs tied up with 30 metres to go. He was in a helpless stagger as Kevin Borlee passed him to win gold for Belgium. Rafal Omelko also went by to take Poland&rsquo;s eighth medal of the day, and ensure his nation topped the medal table for the first time in history.
<h3>Moreira and Abraham rule the roads</h3>
The final morning in Amsterdam began on the streets with the half marathon.
Sara Moreira of Portgual and Italian Veronica Inglese set the pace in warm, clear conditions, breaking away early. Moreira pulled away with 5km to run to take gold in 1:10:19, with the Italian earning silver in 1:10:35.
&ldquo;It is a beautiful day,&rdquo; Moreira said, expressing her delight to recover from her DNF in Wednesday&rsquo;s 10,000m.
Jessica Augusto, also of Portugal, made a late break of her own for bronze in 1:10:55. There was more joy for Portugal, who earned team gold ahead of the Italy and Turkey.
Tadesse Abraham also kicked late to win the men&rsquo;s race, leading Switzerland to team gold in the process. After dropping Turk Kaan Kigen Ozbilen, Abraham moved through the gears to finish in 1:02:03, despite having to be redirected after missing the turn for the home straight.
Ozbilen was 24 seconds back and took silver, while 2014 European marathon champion Daniele Meucci finished in 1:02:38 to earn bronze. He would get another for landing the Italian team to third in the team standings.
Thomas Byrne for the IAAF

Poland finished top of the medal table at the 2016 European Championships after a hat trick of golds on Sunday (10) in Amsterdam.

Fajdek leads Polish gold rush as European Championships conclude

The planet&rsquo;s two best men&rsquo;s shot putters on recent form &ndash; Joe Kovacs and David Storl &ndash; are ready for a new duel at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene, the meeting organisers of the Prefontaine Classic announced on Wednesday (30).
Some might call it a rematch, but others see it as a continuation of the Pre Classic tradition for major shot put clashes.
Kovacs&rsquo; biggest moment to date came in topping a stellar field at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015.
The victory in the Chinese capital was only one of several crowning moments for Kovacs, who earlier in the summer heaved the shot to a world-leading mark of 22.56m, the best distance in the world for 12 years, before then going on to win the season-long Diamond Race.
Kovacs will face the man who preceded him as world champion in 2011 and 2013, Germany&rsquo;s David Storl, who also finished second to Kovacs at last year&rsquo;s Pre Classic and in Beijing.
However, the Eugene field also has incredible depth.
New Zealand&rsquo;s Tom Walsh is the youngest in the field at 24. He won the gold medal at the recent IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016 with an Oceanian record of 21.78m.&nbsp;
A decade older, Tomasz Majewski has two Olympic gold medals, joining legendary Parry O&rsquo;Brien in an exclusive club. The Polish record-holder at 21.95m, Majewski has competed at the past six Pre Classics.&nbsp;
Reese Hoffa has already competed 11 times at the event with four victories. The 38-year-old won gold at the 2007 IAAF World Championships and is the only two-time Diamond Race winner in this event, ending the 2012 and 2014 seasons victorious.
In Beijing last year, O&rsquo;Dayne Richards earned Jamaica's first World Championships shot put medal when he equalled his national record of 21.69m, which was set in winning the Pan American Games gold medal last July.
Two 25-year-olds are prepared for their first Pre Classic. Jordan Clarke, who represented USA in Beijing, will be joined by Canada&rsquo;s three-time national champion Tim Nedow, who earned a silver medal at last summer&rsquo;s Pan American Games behind Richards before winning the overall shot put title on the IAAF World Indoor Tour this winter.
Organisers for the IAAF
2016 IAAF Diamond League calendar 6 May &ndash; Doha, QAT 14 May &ndash; Shanghai, CHN 22 May &ndash; Rabat, MAR 28 May &ndash; Eugene, USA 2 Jun &ndash; Rome, ITA 5 Jun &ndash; Birmingham, GBR 9 Jun &ndash; Oslo, NOR 16 Jun &ndash; Stockholm, SWE 15 Jul &ndash; Monaco, MON 22-23 Jul &ndash; London, GBR 25 Aug &ndash; Lausanne, SUI 27 Aug &ndash; Paris, FRA 1 Sep &ndash; Zurich, SUI 9 Sep &ndash; Brussels, BEL

The planet’s two best men’s shot putters on recent form – Joe Kovacs and David Storl – are ready for a new duel at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene, the meeting organisers of the Prefontaine Classic announced on Wednesday (30).

Kovacs and Storl set to duel again in Eugene – IAAF Diamond League

Joe Kovacs remembers vividly where he was the last time a global athletics event was held in the Bird&rsquo;s Nest stadium.&ldquo;In Fiji, on a mission there. I was chopping down trees and building houses for the local people there and in the evening we would watch the Olympics on TV. In those days, I was more into football (the American variety) although I loved track as well.&ldquo;I remember watching Christian Cantwell and Reese Hoffa at those Olympics and, I can tell you, I would never have imagined that one day I would be competing on the same team as them and in the same stadium as those Olympics,&rdquo; said Kovacs recently, with an air of wonder.However, it was the rest of the shot putters who contested the final on Sunday who were left wondering what they would have had to have done to beat the strong man from Pennsylvania who showed fantastic composure and competitiveness to win the gold medal at his first major glocal championship.As expected, the final results showed Kovacs and Germany's two-time defending champion David Storl in the final two places, and most pundits had predicted that they would be the top two in Beijing, but that doesn&rsquo;t do justice to an enthralling and entertaining contest with several other protagonists.Kovacs, throwing second in the opening rotation, quickly imposed his authority on the competition with an effort of 21.23m while Storl was next in the ring and, as he has done so often on the big occasion, fouled his first attempt.However, in the next round, after Kovacs had put a more modest 20.48m, the German took the lead with 21.46m.In the third round, both the favourites fouled their attempts but one can only wonder what was going through their minds when they saw the Jamaican O&rsquo;Dayne Richards unleash a huge throw, accompanied with a mighty yell, which was measured at 21.69m to equal his national record set when winning at the Pan American Games almost exactly a month ago.With the order revised, more surprises happened in the fourth round as Tom Walsh, lying in sixth place, unleashed an Oceanian record of 21.58m to move up into second place.However, Kovacs responded with 21.67m later in the round to move back into second place, just two centimetres away from the lead as Richards fouled his fourth effort.The fifth round was crucial in determining who got the medals and what colour they would be.With both Storl and Richards throwing after him, Kovacs heaved the shot out to 21.93m, punching the air and delighted to take the lead, but by no means sure that it was enough to win.Storl went straight into the circle and reached 21.74m to go back into second while Richards, perhaps a little emotionally and physically drained, could only reach 20.54m.Kovacs&rsquo; final effort reached 21.66m and he then had a nail-biting few minutes to see whether either Storl or Richards could surpass him but neither could. In his first global championship, Kovacs returned the title to the USA after a four-year hiatus when it had been in the hands of his German rival.For the record, Kovacs&rsquo; inspirations Hoffa and Cantwell both made the final. Hoffa, the 2007 world champion, finished fifth with 21.00m while the latter, the 2009 world champion, didn&rsquo;t start the final having picked up a slight injury during qualifying.Phil Minshull for the IAAF

Joe Kovacs remembers vividly where he was the last time a global athletics event was held in the Bird’s Nest stadium.

Report: men's shot put final – IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015

The German Athletics Federation (DLV) will travel to the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 with a team of 65 athletes.Three of Germany&rsquo;s gold medal winners from 2013 have been named on the team, including shot putter David Storl, pole vaulter Raphael Holzdeppe and javelin thrower Christina Obergfoll.World discus champion Robert Harting, who has been out of action this year with a cruciate ligament injury, made a last-minute decision not to accept his wild card entry to the championships.The team combines youth with experience. European junior 200m champion Gina Luckenkemper, 18, is named in the 100m, while 38-year-old Alexander Kosenkow will contest the 4x100m relay, 14 years after making his World Championships debut.&ldquo;We have nominated a strong team for Beijing, which is composed of young and established athletes,&rdquo; said DLV head coach Idriss Gonschinska. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure that each individual will give everything to get the best performance for the team.&rdquo;DLV for the IAAF<h3>German team for Beijing</h3>MEN 100m: Sven Knipphals, Julian Reus 200m: Robin Erewa, Julian Reus 800m: Robin Schembera 5000m: Richard Ringer 10,000m: Arne Gabius 110m hurdles: Matthias Buhler, Alexander John, Gregor Traber High jump: Eike Onnen, Mateusz Przybylko Pole vault: Raphael Holzdeppe, Carlo Paech, Tobias Scherbarth Long jump: Alyn Camara, Fabian Heinle Shot put: David Storl Discus: Christoph Harting, Martin Wierig Javelin: Lars Hamann, Andreas Hofmann, Thomas Rohler, Johannes Vetter Decathlon: Rico Freimuth, Kai Kazmirek, Michael Schrader 20km race walk: Nils Brembach, Christopher Linke, Hagen Pohle 50km race walk: Carl Dohmann 4x100m: Robert Hering, Lucas Jakubczyk, Sven Knipphals, Alexander Kosenkow, Aleixo Platini Menga, Julian ReusWOMEN 100m: Rebekka Haase, Gina Luckenkemper, Verena Sailer 800m: Christina Hering, Fabienne Kohlmann 100m hurdles: Cindy Roleder 3000m steeplechase: Gesa Felicitas Krause High jump: Marie-Laurence Jungfleisch Pole vault: Lisa Ryzih, Silke Spiegelburg, Martina Strutz Long jump: Lena Malkus, Malaika Mihambo, Sosthene Moguenara Triple jump: Kristin Gierich Shot put: Christina Schwanitz Discus: Shanice Craft, Julia Fischer, Nadine Muller Hammer: Betty Heidler, Kathrin Klaas Javelin: Christin Hussong, Katharina Molitor, Christina Obergfoll, Linda Stahl Heptathlon: Jennifer Oeser, Claudia Rath, Carolin Schafer 4x100m: Alexandra Burghardt, Anna-Lena Freese, Rebekka Haase, Yasmin Kwadwo, Gina Luckenkemper, Verena Sailer

The German Athletics Federation (DLV) will travel to the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 with a team of 65 athletes.

Three defending champions on Germany’s team for IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015

World champions Raphael Holzdeppe and David Storl were among the leading performers at the German Championships in Nurnberg, which concluded on Sunday (26) after three days of action.Holzdeppe showed he is rounding into his best form ahead of the defence of his world title in Beijing, winning the pole vault with a lifetime best of 5.94m.After first-time clearances at 5.60m and 5.70m, he waited until his two remaining opponents &ndash; Tobias Scherbath and Carlo Paech &ndash; had bowed out before upping the bar to a PB height. Once again, he got over it on his first attempt, adding two centimetres to the championship record and moving to second on the 2015 world list.The 25-year-old then upped the bar to a would-be national record of 6.02m, a height he wasn&rsquo;t quite able to negotiate, but he was more than pleased with his result.&ldquo;To jump a personal best and championship record is an incredible feeling,&rdquo; said Holzdeppe after moving up one place to fifth on the German all-time list. &ldquo;I have planned for this for a long time and today it finally worked.&rdquo;In the shot put, Storl showed that he has sufficiently recovered from the niggling neck injury that kept him out of the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Monaco, winning his event with 21.47m.With five attempts at 21 metres or better, and a sixth attempt just two centimetres shy of that line, any of his throws would have been enough to win by more than a metre.&ldquo;I was missing a bit of speed, but this was my last competition before the World Championships,&rdquo; said Storl, who was competing on the eve of his 25th birthday. &ldquo;There, I will push a little further to defend my title.&rdquo;World silver medallist Christina Schwanitz was just as dominant in the women&rsquo;s event. She followed her opening-round throw of 20.00m with three more efforts beyond 19 metres, eventually winning by almost three metres from World University Games champion Lena Urbaniak.Having been denied a 10th successive national title last year, former world record-holder Betty Heidler regained her crown from leading domestic rival Kathrin Klaas in the hammer, winning easily with a throw of 75.34m.The women&rsquo;s javelin and discus, however, were a lot closer. Katharina Molitor&rsquo;s early lead of 63.37m was bettered in the second round by world champion Christina Obergfoll, who threw a season&rsquo;s best of 64.11m. But Molitor responded in the next round with 65.40m, a mark that remained the lead for the duration of the contest.Nadine Muller threw a season&rsquo;s best of 65.72m in the first round of the discus to lead from European under-23 Shanice Craft, who opened with 64.79m. But while neither of them bettered their opening marks, Julia Fischer was improving with each throw and eventually landed one at a season&rsquo;s best of 65.98m to take her first senior national title.Thomas Rohler won his fourth successive German title in the javelin, all six of his throws landing well beyond the 81-metre line. His winning distance of 84.73m was achieved in the fifth round and saw him overtake Johannes Vetter, who had thrown 83.12m in round two. Lars Hamann finished third with 81.03m.Three-time world champion Robert Harting may still be out of action, but younger brother Christoph ensured the German discus title remained within the family. Having trailed Martin Wierig for much of the competition, the 24-year-old saved his best for last, throwing 64.06m in the final round to win by 51 centimetres.World indoor finalist Marie-Laurence Jungfleisch won the high jump with 1.95m, finishing 11 centimetres in front of Katarina Mogenburg, daughter of former world record-holder and 1984 Olympic champion Dietmar Mogenburg.<h3>Kohlmann now a regular sub-two performer</h3>Before this month, Fabienne Kohlmann had never run faster than two minutes for 800m; her PB dating back to 2010. But the former 400m hurdler is now the World University Games bronze medallist, the fastest German since 2000 and the national champion over two laps of the track with a PB of 1:58.37.Following the lifetime best she set in Bellinzona last week, Kohlmann produced the second-best time of her life to win in Nurnberg. Training partner Christina Hering led for most of the first lap before Kohlmann took up the running, passing the bell in 59.62.Kohlmann maintained the lead to the finish but was chased hard by Hering as the pair crossed the lien in 1:59.28 and 1:59.54, a PB for the latter.Julian Reus replicated his feats from 2013 by winning both the 100m and 200m titles. After clocking 10.09 (1.8m/s) in the heats, he won the 100m final in 10.12 (-0.2m/s). He returned 24 hours later to comfortably win the 200m title in 20.42, the second-fastest clocking of his career.Verena Sailer similarly ran a faster time in the heats than in the final to win the women&rsquo;s 100m title. Having clocked a season&rsquo;s best of 11.16 in the first round, she ran 11.20 to take victory in the final.Triple European under-23 sprint champion Rebekka Haase finished second in the 100m in 11.29 but returned to win the 200m in a PB of 22.95.Following her PB of 9:20.15 at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Monaco, Gesa-Felicitas Krause produced her fastest time on German soil to win the 3000m steeplechase in 9:32.20, crossing the finish line just as her nearest rival was negotiating the final water jump.Gregor Traber ran the fastest time by a German athlete in 10 years to win the 110m hurdles. The world indoor finalist clocked 13.32 to finish a metre in front of Matthias Buhler.Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

World champions Raphael Holzdeppe and David Storl were among the leading performers at the German Championships in Nurnberg, which concluded on Sunday (26) after three days of action.

Field eventers stand out at German Championships

Two months after their historic performances in Doha, Christian Taylor and Pedro Pablo Pichardo provided a packed crowd at Lausanne&rsquo;s Athletissima meeting with another stupendous night of IAAF Diamond League triple jumping on Thursday (9).The US jumper reversed fortunes against his Cuban rival in winning with 18.06m &ndash; a meeting record and equal to the IAAF Diamond League record Pichardo set in Qatar. On that occasion, Taylor almost eclipsed the Cuban with his own final effort, only to fall two centimetres short.Here, on a bright but blustery evening at the Stade De La Pontaise, Taylor&rsquo;s late flourish proved to be a winning one. In many ways, it was an even better competition than the one in Doha for an event which promises to keep on giving to the sport over the next few years.Pichardo made an electric start to the event, sprinting off excitedly into the infield after an effort of 17.85m which gave him a half-metre first-round lead.The 25-year-old Olympic champion closed the gap in the second round with an effort of 17.76m, but one round later the 22-year-old from Santiago de Cuba was completing the same crazy circuit with an even greater zeal after lengthening his lead with a jump of 17.99m.When Taylor fouled his fourth attempt, it looked as if, once again, he was going to have to accept honourable defeat by an inspired opponent. But the 2011 world champion, his normally pleasant face set in deep concentration, found energy from somewhere to produce an effort that was enough to take him into the lead as he reached 18.02m, the second time he had passed the 18-metre barrier.Pichardo, in emerald green, responded in turn with a huge effort which was ruled as a foul. The stare he gave the judges was almost scary in its intensity.And then Taylor&rsquo;s final effort added another four centimetres to the lead.Pichardo did everything to raise the crowd support before his last jump of the competition, rousing them with his arms, cupping his hand to his ear. But on this occasion he couldn&rsquo;t turn ambition into achievement as he mistimed his take-off and ran through his final effort.&ldquo;It was a great meet for me,&rdquo; said Taylor. &ldquo;I did a meet record and I improved on my personal best. I also had two jumps over 18 metres, which means I am getting more consistent at high levels. The goal right now is to keep on improving and to keep the triple jump as an exciting event this year.&ldquo;In Beijing I am looking forward to the competition. Pablo knows now that I am fit and ready. I also have my eye on the American record of 18.09m. My next meet is in Monaco &ndash; let&rsquo;s see what happens!&rdquo;Who knows what their next meeting will bring. Between them, these two young athletes are taking their event into a new era of achievement.This year, the javelin is another event that keeps on giving in the IAAF Diamond League.After Julius Yego&rsquo;s final flourish of 91.39m to win the Birmingham meeting last month, it was the turn of the surprise Olympic champion, Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s Keshorn Walcott, to surprise here with an opening effort of 90.16m that was a national and meeting record.After that throw, the chase was on &ndash; but nobody could match it. Vitezslav Veseley, the Czech Republic&rsquo;s world champion, came closest with a third-round effort of 87.97m. Tero Pitkamaki of Finland was third with 87.44m.Victory in the women&rsquo;s discus here went not to the Diamond Race leader Sandra Perkovic, but to a Cuban thrower &ndash; as many had expected. But nobody expected it to be Yaimi Perez.The 24-year-old 2010 world junior champion produced two personal bests, culminating in a fifth-round effort of 67.13m which settled matters after Perkovic, responding like the Olympic, world and European champion she is, had matched her second-round leading mark of 67.06m.The main challenge to Perkovic had been expected to come from 25-year-old Denia Caballero, who produced a personal best of 70.65m in Bilbao on June 20 to lead this year&rsquo;s world standings.But although Caballero led with her first-round effort of 66.00m and followed it with some big fouls, she had to settle for third place.Perkovic, unbeaten in her four IAAF Diamond League discus competitions this year, had arrived here knowing that one more win could secure her fourth consecutive Diamond Race victory.But she couldn&rsquo;t respond a second time to her young Cuban rival, and ended the competition with three fouls.David Storl, leader of the Diamond Race in the men&rsquo;s shot put, had a similarly competitive evening in prospect against six US throwers.But the two-time world champion and part-time policeman knows how to lay down the law in the shot circle. After Joe Kovacs had surpassed Storl&rsquo;s opening lead of 21.64m with 21.71m, the German responded in the fourth round with a stadium record of 22.20m, bettering the mark of 21.88m set by Ryan Whiting two years ago.Not only was Storl's throw a personal best, it is also the best outdoor mark by a European thrower since Ulf Timmerman's victory at the 1988 Olympics.Storl knew it was good as soon as he had released the shot, jumping backwards and clenching both of his fists. Four more points, and he leads Kovacs 14-10.Tianna Bartoletta, fresh &ndash; or relatively so &ndash; from winning the US long jump title, continued in the same manner here as she maintained her Diamond Race lead thanks to a second-round effort of 6.86m.Britain&rsquo;s Shara Proctor came closest to it with a third-round effort of 6.79m, and third place went to Canada&rsquo;s Christabel Nettey with 6.68m in swirling wind conditions which made jumping difficult to judge.Mike Rowbottom for the IAAF

Two months after their historic performances in Doha, Christian Taylor and Pedro Pablo Pichardo provided a packed crowd at Lausanne’s Athletissima meeting with another stupendous night of IAAF Diamond League triple jumping on Thursday (9).

Taylor topples Pichardo in Lausanne – IAAF Diamond League

The Herculis meeting organisers, the 10th IAAF Diamond League meeting of 2015, have announced the names of six more European champions who will grace their event on Friday 17 July.Germany&rsquo;s David Storl, both the two-time world and European champion, will come to the principality for the first time and the meeting record of 21.25m, set by USA&rsquo;s Reese Hoffa in 2011, has to be in danger.The worst performance of Storl&rsquo;s five outdoor contests this season has been 21.20m and he is the current leader of the Diamond Race thanks to his wins at the IAAF Diamond League meetings in Doha and Rome.Another two-time European champion who will compete this year in Monaco almost exactly a month before the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 is Spain&rsquo;s evergreen Ruth Beitia.With her victories at the IAAF Diamond League meetings in Rome and New York, Beitia is not only leading the Diamond Race in her event but also the world outdoor list, thanks to her jump of 2.00m in the Italian capital.Like Storl, Poland&rsquo;s Adam Kszczot will also compete in Monaco for the first time.The European 800m champion has the ambition of improving his personal best of 1:43.30 and going under the 1:43:00 barrier, as no fewer than five runners did so last year in Monaco. The 2014 European Athlete of the Year Dafne Schippers, who was helped to her accolade by a 100m and 200m double at the European Championships in Zurich last summer, will run over the longer distance in Monaco. Completing the list of European champions from last summer competing in the Stade Louis II are Switzerland&rsquo;s 400m hurdles winner Kariem Hussein and Italy&rsquo;s Libania Grenot, the women&rsquo;s 400m gold medallist in Zurich.The above six join fellow European champions Renaud Lavillenie, Banjamin Compaore and Mo Farah, who have already been announced as competing at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Monaco this year.Organisers for the IAAF2015 IAAF Diamond League calendar Doha, QAT &ndash; 15 May Shanghai, CHN &ndash; 17 May Eugene, USA &ndash; 30 May Rome, ITA &ndash; 4 June Birmingham, GBR &ndash; 7 June Oslo, NOR &ndash; 11 June New York, USA &ndash; 13 June Paris, FRA &ndash; 4 July Lausanne, SUI &ndash; 9 July Monaco, MON &ndash; 17 July London, GBR &ndash; 24-25 July Stockholm, SWE &ndash; 30 July Zurich, SUI &ndash; 3 September Brussels, BEL &ndash; 11 September

The Herculis meeting organisers, the 10th IAAF Diamond League meeting of 2015, have announced the names of six more European champions who will grace their event on Friday 17 July.

Six more European champions to grace Monaco's Herculis meeting – IAAF Diamond League

As expected, host nation Russia leads the team standings at the end of the first day of action at the European Team Championships in Cheboksary with world champion Aleksandr Menkov being one of five Russian winners on Saturday (20).Roared on by the enthusiastic home crowd in 31C heat, Menkov took an early lead in the long jump with 8.14m in the first round. He bettered that mark two rounds later with 8.26m, aided by a perfect 2.0m/s following breeze.Just the top four athletes in any field event in this competition are given a fourth and final attempt and France&rsquo;s fourth-placed Kafetien Gomis seized the opportunity. The 35-year-old flew out to a personal best of 8.26m to move up to second place on countback behind Menkov, who didn&rsquo;t improve with his final jump.&ldquo;Of course the result is not so good, but the weather was too hot,&rdquo; said Menkov. &ldquo;I am really glad with the win but not with the result.&rdquo;Russian athletes won two of the other three jumps events on Saturday. World indoor champion Ekaterina Koneva dominated the triple jump, winning with a wind-assisted 14.98m, while European indoor champion Daniil Tsyplakov equalled his outdoor personal best of 2.33m to win the high jump.German pole vaulter Silke Spiegelburg prevented an all-Russian sweep of the jumps. The 2013 European Team Championships winner was level with Anzhelika Sidorova before the bar moved to 4.70m, but the Russian cleared that height on her first attempt. After one failure, Spiegelburg moved to 4.75m and got over it on her second try to equal the competition record.Sidorova tried going higher but was unsuccessful at 4.80m, while Spiegelburg ended with three unsuccessful tries at 4.85m.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m so happy right now,&rdquo; said Spiegelburg, who missed the indoor season through injury. &ldquo;One month ago, I didn&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;d be able to jump 4.75m, but now I hope to improve with each competition.&rdquo;Spiegelburg&rsquo;s team-mate David Storl was an easy winner of the men&rsquo;s shot. The two-time world champion opened with 21.12m and improved to 21.20m in the final round to beat two-time Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski, who threw a season&rsquo;s bet of 20.23m.Germany also scored maximum points in the javelin, won by world champion Christina Obergfoll with 61.69m, and the steeplechase, won by Gesa-Felicitas Krause in 9:46.49, more than 13 seconds ahead of her nearest challenger.Along with Storl and Obergfoll, Pawel Fajdek was another world champion thrower to win. The Pole sent his hammer out to 81.64m, the best mark in this competition since 1987 when the event was known as the European Cup.France had a good first day with four victories on the track and one on the field.Christophe Lemaitre came through strong at the end of the 100m to pass world indoor champion Richard Kilty, winning in 10.26 into a -1.7m/s headwind. Mourad Amdouni won a tactical 5000m in 14:04.63, while Renelle Lamote held off a fast-finishing Joanna Jozwik to win the 800m in 2:00.18. European 4x400m champion Floria Guei won over one lap of the track in 51.55. World silver medallist Melina Robert-Michon won her third successive discus title with 62.24m.British athletes won three of the individual sprint events. 2007 world youth champion Asha Philip battled a -1.7m/s headwind to win the 100m in 11.27. European champion Eilidh Child clocked a European-leading 54.46 to win the 400m hurdles, while Jarryd Dunn was a surprise winner of the 400m, holding on to his early lead to clock a big PB of 45.09.The British men won the 4x100m in 38.21, while Ukraine dominated the women&rsquo;s event to win in 42.50. Both winning times were the fastest at this competition since it changed its name in 2009 to the European Team Championships.Aside from Sofia Ennaoui's 9:20.39 victory in the 3000m, the two other individual track events of the day were won by Russians. European bronze medallist Denis Kudryavtsev smashed his PB to win the 400m hurdles in 48.66 and Valentin Smirnov won a close and tactical 1500m in 3:52.03.It meant the hosts ended the day at the top of the team standings with 187 points. France is currently second with 175.5 with Germany close behind on 172.Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

As expected, host nation Russia leads the team standings at the end of the first day of action at the European Team Championships in Cheboksary with world champion Aleksandr Menkov being one of five Russian winners on Saturday (20).

Russia leads after first day of European Team Championships in Cheboksary

The world&rsquo;s two fastest women of last year will line up over 200m at Athletissima when Olympic champion Allyson Felix takes on European champion Dafne Schippers at the IAAF Diamond League meeting on 9 July.Felix currently tops the world lists after her 21.98 run at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Doha last month. It is the fastest time in the world since her Olympic triumph three years ago.Schippers, meanwhile, recently set a Dutch 100m record of 10.94 and will now be keen to better her own 22.03 national 200m record set last year in Zurich.Both athletes will be contesting the 200m for the first time in Lausanne following two previous appearances in the Swiss city. Felix ran the 100m in 2005 and 2007, while Schippers competed in the 4x100m and the 100m &lsquo;B&rsquo; races in 2013 and 2014.Just like the women&rsquo;s 200m, the men&rsquo;s shot put in Lausanne will also bring together the best athletes from USA and Europe.Germany&rsquo;s two-time world champion David Storl and Poland&rsquo;s double Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski will face US champion and world leader Joe Kovacs and two-time world indoor champion Ryan Whiting.Olympic 400m champion Sanya Richards-Ross returns to the city that played host to her first victory on European soil. The US sprinter won in Lausanne back in 2005 with 49.95 which, coincidentally, matches her best time of the season so far in 2015.Organisers for the IAAF2015 IAAF Diamond League calendar Doha, QAT &ndash; 15 May Shanghai, CHN &ndash; 17 May Eugene, USA &ndash; 30 May Rome, ITA &ndash; 4 June Birmingham, GBR &ndash; 7 June Oslo, NOR &ndash; 11 June New York, USA &ndash; 13 June Paris, FRA &ndash; 4 July Lausanne, SUI &ndash; 9 July Monaco, MON &ndash; 17 July London, GBR &ndash; 24-25 July Stockholm, SWE &ndash; 30 July Zurich, SUI &ndash; 3 September Brussels, BEL &ndash; 11 September

The world’s two fastest women of last year will line up over 200m at Athletissima when Olympic champion Allyson Felix takes on European champion Dafne Schippers at the IAAF Diamond League meeting on 9 July.

Felix faces Schippers while Kovacs will clash with Storl in Lausanne – IAAF Diamond League

The 40th edition of Lausanne&rsquo;s famous Athletissima meeting on 9 July, an IAAF Diamond League meeting, will have a rematch between superstar triple jumpers Pedro Pablo Pichardo and Christian Taylor, the meeting organisers announced on Thursday (21).The pair became just the fourth and fifth men in history to jump beyond 18 metres in a thrilling contest last Friday in Doha at the opening IAAF Diamond League meeting of 2015.Cuba&rsquo;s Pichardo triumphed with an IAAF Diamond League record of 18.06m with the USA's Olympic champion just two centimetres behind.No other competition in history had previously seen more than one man go farther than 18 metres and the Lausanne meeting organisers are hoping that the Pontaise stadium will witness similar feats from the duo.US sprinter Allyson Felix is another athlete who got her 2015 IAAF Diamond League campaign off to a stunning start in Doha, with a 21.98 200m which equalled the IAAF Diamond League record.The three-time world 200m champion will contest the same event in LausanneAnother Doha winner, world and European shot put champion David Storl, will also be in Lausanne. The German giant will be making his debut in the Swiss city.Croatian discus thrower Sandra Perkovic, who set a stadium record with 68.96m two years ago, will be back and aiming for a second victory. In the women&rsquo;s high jump, Spain&rsquo;s European champion Ruth Beitia will face Croatia&rsquo;s two-time world champion Blanka Vlasic. Unlike Perkovic, neither woman has won in Lausanne before.Organisers for the IAAF2015 IAAF Diamond League calendar Doha, QAT &ndash; 15 May Shanghai, CHN &ndash; 17 May Eugene, USA &ndash; 30 May Rome, ITA &ndash; 4 June Birmingham, GBR &ndash; 7 June Oslo, NOR &ndash; 11 June New York, USA &ndash; 13 June Paris, FRA &ndash; 4 July Lausanne, SUI &ndash; 9 July Monaco, MON &ndash; 17 July London, GBR &ndash; 24-25 July Stockholm, SWE &ndash; 30 July Zurich, SUI &ndash; 3 September Brussels, BEL &ndash; 11 September

The 40th edition of Lausanne’s famous Athletissima meeting on 9 July, an IAAF Diamond League meeting, will have a rematch between superstar triple jumpers Pedro Pablo Pichardo and Christian Taylor, the meeting organisers announced on Thursday (21).