Hosts China have assembled 73 athletes on their team for the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015, their largest ever squad at a world championships, spearheaded by a group of elite race walkers including Olympic champion Chen Ding and world record-holder Liu Hong.In Moscow two years ago, the Chinese team finished 22nd on the placing table with one silver and three bronze medals. All the four medallists there, Chen, Liu, Gong Lijiao and Zhang Wenxiu, have once again been included in the team for Beijing.It will be the second time for the 23-year-old Chen to compete at the World Championships after his second-place finish in Moscow.Chen&rsquo;s team-mate, Asian record holder and Olympic bronze medallist Wang Zhen, will also be a serious contender in men&rsquo;s 20km race walk. Wang&rsquo;s winning time of 1:18:00 in La Coruna in June is the fourth-fastest so far in what has been a stellar season for fast times in this event. After getting disqualified in Moscow two years ago, Wang has already set his sights on getting on the podiumin Beijing.Liu will be the top favourite in women&rsquo;s 20km race walk. The 28-year-old set a world record of 1:24:38 in La Coruna back in June to demonstrate her solid form and is desperate to win a long-awaited gold medal on her home soil after five successive top-four finishes and three medals at global championships.Seasoned shot putter Gong Lijiao will be competing at her fifth IAAF World Championships. After bronze medals in 2009 and 2013, the 26-year-old is keen to upgrade the colour of the medal and the withdrawal of defending champion Valerie Adams has certainly made it more possible.Gong has thrown beyond 20 metres three times this year and is second on the 2015 world list, behind Germany&rsquo;s Christina Schwanitz.<h3>Zhang looking to top Zhu's feats on home soil</h3>High jumper Zhang Guowei is another medal hope for the hosts. The 24-year-old has progressed significantly this year, adding four centimetres to his personal best and improving to 2.38m. He is only one centimetre away from the long-standing national record, and former world record, of 2.39m set by 1983 world bronze medallist Zhu Jianhua in 1984. Although he will be competing against five jumpers with bests above 2.40m in Beijing, the ambitious Zhang is eager to repeat his success at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Oslo when he upset the favourites to claim the title at 2.36m.World indoor long jump silver medallist Li Jinzhe is also aiming for the gold in Beijing. Although his build-up to the World Championships has been marred by a series of injuries and illness, with his season's best being 8.26m, the Beijing native has shrugged off all the health problems since the start of August and is ready to give his all in the Bird&rsquo;s Nest stadium.The Chinese team also includes pole vaulter Li Ling, who took a surprise victory at the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup, and the country&rsquo;s star sprinter Su Bingtian, who dipped under the 10-second barrier to improve the 100m national record to 9.99 in May.National pole vault record-holder Xue Changrui, who also won at the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup, is unfortunately side-lined after fracturing his foot.Vincent Wu for the IAAF<h3>Chinese team for Beijing</h3>MEN 100m: Su Bingtian, Zhang Peimeng 200m: Xie Zhenye 400m: Guo Zhongze 5000m: Duo Bujie Marathon: Guan Siyang, Muhan Hasi, Xu Wang 110m hurdles: Xie Wenjun, Zhang Honglin 400m hurdles: Cheng Wen High jump: Wang Yu, Zhang Guowei Pole vault: Yao Jie, Zhang Wei Long jump: Gao Xinglong, Li Jinzhe, Wang Jianan Triple jump: Cao Shuo, Dong Bin, Xu Xiaolong Shot put: Liu Yang Hammer: Wan Yong Javelin: Zhao Qinggang 20km race walk: Cai Zelin, Chen Ding, Wang Zhen 50km race walk: Wu Qianlong, Yu Wei, Zhang Lin 4x100m: Chen Shiwei, Liang Jinsheng, Mo Youxue, Su Bingtian, Wu Zhiqiang, Zhang Peimeng WOMEN 100m: Wei Yongli 200m: Liang Xiaojing 400m: Yang Huizhen 800m: Zhao Jing Marathon: Ding Changqin, He Yinli, Wang Xueqin 100m hurdles: Wu Shuijiao 400m hurdles: Xiao Xia 3000m steeplechase: Zhang Xinyan High jump: Zheng Xingjuan Pole vault: Li Ling, Ren Mengqian Long jump: Lu Minjia Triple jump: Li Xiaohong, Li Yanmei, Wang Wupin Shot put: Gao Yang, Gong Lijiao, Guo Tianqian Discus: Lu Xiaoxin, Su Xinyue, Tan Jian Hammer: Liu Tingting, Wang Zheng, Zhang Wenxiu Javelin: Li Lingwei, Lu Huihui, Zhang Li 20km race walk: Liu Hong, Lu Xiuzhi, Nie Jingjing 4x100m: Kong Lingwei, Liang Xiaojing, Lin Huijun, Tao Yujia, Wei Yongli, Yuan Qiqi 4x400m: Cheng Chong, Huang Guifen, Li Xue, Wang Huan, Yang Huizhen, Zhang Gui

Hosts China have assembled 73 athletes on their team for the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015, their largest ever squad at a world championships, spearheaded by a group of elite race walkers including Olympic champion Chen Ding and world record-holder Liu Hong.

Race walkers Chen and Liu lead China’s team for IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015

Pole vaulters Li Ling and Zhang Wei provided the highlights of the three-day 2015 Chinese Championships at the National Stadium, which is almost better known as the Bird&rsquo;s Nest stadium, on Monday (29).Asian record-holder Li soared over 4.15m, 4.30m and 4.50m at her first attempt to clinch the victory on Monday.The 25-year-old then tried to beat her own continental record of 4.66m she set when winning at the Asian Championships earlier this month in Wuhan but failed three times at 4.67m.&ldquo;After I set the 4.66 mark, I have been remaining a solid form so my goal for this event was clearing 4.67,&rdquo; said the winner of 2014 IAAF Continental Cup. &ldquo;But because there were 17 athletes competing so I waited for more than one hour before starting to jump, I felt a little bit out of energy at the end. If I could have started to compete earlier, maybe I could have set a new record today,&rdquo; she reflected.In spite of the absence of injured national record holder Xue Changrui, the men&rsquo;s pole vault event turned out to be the highlight of the first competition day on Saturday.Newly crowned Asian champion Zhang Wei confirmed his good form with a personal best of 5.65m to claim the title.Yao Jie, 24, also set a career best of 5.65m to meet the entry standard for the IAAF World Championships but had to settle for the silver medal on count-back. <h3>Li still finding foul problems</h3>Long jump star Li Jinzhe continues to be bothered with technical problems and only registering two valid jumps, but his third-round effort of 8.11m sealed the victory.&ldquo;I had planned to secure the title with my first two jumps, at around 8.20m,&rdquo; said Li, who has a best of 8.47m. &ldquo;However, I fouled in the first two rounds, which made me a little tense.&rdquo;&ldquo;My main aim for this competition is to adapt to the facilities here. I think I've achieved it today. I will do my best to improve my rhythm leading to the worlds,&rdquo; said Li, who will now travel to the coastal city of Dalian in China&rsquo;s Liaoning Province for a training camp&nbsp;to avoid any external disturbance and distractions prior to the World Championships, where he will be among China&rsquo;s hopes for a medal.Other Chinese jumpers with bests beyond eight metres like world junior champion Wang Jianan and Asian champion Gao Xionglong were both below-par, with Gao finishing second with 7.94m and Wang third at 7.89m.Wang also sustained a muscle injury in his right leg during the competition and limped off the field.<h3>Showers dampen dream </h3>In-form high jumper Zhang Guowei, who recently improved his best mark to 2.38m, took an easy win at 2.31m. Zhang again tried 2.40m in order to break the long-standing national record of 2.39m set by Zhu Jianhua in 1984, when it was also a world record, but failed as showers came down.&ldquo;It was too cold and the surface was a little too slippery,&rdquo; said Zhang. &ldquo;Clearing 2.40 is my dream. I believe I can realise it one day, it is just a matter of time.&rdquo; Three-time world championships medallist Zhang Wenxiu struggled to find her best form in what was only her second outing in 2015, winning the women&rsquo;s hammer with a modest 71.91m. &ldquo;The result was not so good compared to my best performance,&rdquo; Zhang said. &ldquo;But I am still satisfied as I resumed regular training only a month ago. I know that I am not in a good form now. Injuries are also plaguing me, but I will try my best."Asian record-holder Wang Zheng failed to throw beyond the 70-meter mark and only achieved a modest 69.47m to finish second.In men&rsquo;s 400m, 18-year-old Guo Zhongze took a surprising win in 45.66, breaking the national junior record of 45.76 set by Liu Xiaosheng in 2007.The stadium will also stage the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 from 22-30 August 22-30 and this was also an opportunity to have a fully-fledged test of the facilities and officials, with the complete programme of events being undertaken minus the road events.Vincent Wu for the IAAF

Pole vaulters Li Ling and Zhang Wei provided the highlights of the three-day 2015 Chinese Championships at the National Stadium, which is almost better known as the Bird’s Nest stadium, on Monday (29).

Pole vaulters find their wings at Chinese Championships in the Bird’s Nest stadium

The topic of icons is not one you would necessarily associate with an athletics press conference, but icons got a fair old work-out in Shanghai on Saturday ahead of the IAAF Diamond League meeting on Sunday (17).Local boy Liu Xiang has been inextricably linked with the Shanghai meeting throughout its 11-year history. He was already an Olympic champion when it was established in 2005, but his victory in the 110m hurdles in Athens undoubtedly gave the new fixture immediate status, one that he continually burnished with his own performances over the years.Perhaps not so surprisingly then, hurdlers Aries Merritt, David Oliver and Xie Wenjun were asked their opinion on the icon of their generation of hurdlers, while the topic was broadened out to Li Jinzhe when it came to who would be the next icon of Chinese athletics. Through it all, Shelly-Ann Frase-Pryce maintained a dignified poise.&ldquo;I am,&rdquo; says Oliver. &ldquo;He is,&rdquo; say Xie and Li.Olympic champion Merritt was first to go on the question of event icon.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if I&rsquo;m anyone&rsquo;s icon,&rdquo; Merritt replied, adding that he was positive &ldquo;David will say he is.&ldquo;I just try to be the best that I can be,&rdquo; said Merritt.True to his rival&rsquo;s prediction, Oliver did grasp the mantle.&ldquo;I definitely feel that I am the icon of the event, given my level of performance over 11 years,&rdquo; Oliver said.&ldquo;But I don&rsquo;t expect anyone else to regard me as an icon,&rdquo; Oliver added, which was just as well as Merritt alongside him was looking a little iconoclastic.The question to Li and Xie was prefaced on the assumption that China now needed a new hero. Could they cope with the pressure, was the query.&ldquo;I think Xie should take this responsibility,&rdquo; Li deadpanned, &ldquo;and become the flagship for our sport. Runners are more recognisable (than jumpers). People pay more attention to them.&rdquo;Xie took a more inclusive line, before nominating Li.&ldquo;The young (Chinese) generation keeps on growing and have achieved many breakthroughs, especially at the level of the Asian Games. You can expect that potential to start bearing fruit.&ldquo;I expect Li Jinzhe to become the next icon, and to win the gold medal in Rio.&rdquo;Even without Liu&rsquo;s presence, a significant amount of the pre-meeting press conference was taken up with a farewell ceremony for him which will take place after the final event &ndash; the hurdles, what else.Oliver and Merritt, two of Liu&rsquo;s greatest rivals over his career, will both take part in the ceremony, though clearly neither knew much more about it than that.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the greatest in the sport,&rdquo; said Oliver, &ldquo;and has been an ambassador on the track for China. I&rsquo;m sure he will be an ambassador of it, too, in his new role.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s sad to see him leave, but he feels his time in the sport is up. I wish him well,&rdquo; said Merritt.On his form, Oliver said that he was in pretty good shape, despite a disaster at the Manchester City Games.&ldquo;Form-wise I&rsquo;m going pretty well &ndash; 13.19 and 13.25 to start, and now a good competition here.&rdquo;But, he added, it was necessary to keep on building on a good start: &ldquo;The home run you hit last night doesn&rsquo;t win today&rsquo;s game.&rdquo;Merritt has run 13.29. &ldquo;My goal is to run faster than my season best,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There is a lot of new talent in the event.&ldquo;You never know what to expect in hurdles,&rdquo; Merritt added. The Doha IAAF Diamond League women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles was a reminder of that.Oliver demurred when asked if the Shanghai competition would be a dress rehearsal for the IAAF World Championships.&ldquo;This time in 2013 I was running crap,&rdquo; he said bluntly. &ldquo;So, for me, it had no bearing on what happened later (Oliver won the World Championships in Moscow).&rdquo;<h3>Fraser-Pryce keen to leave 2014 behind</h3>Fraser-Pryce came back to earth a little in 2014 after a stellar 2013 which yielded two individual and one relay gold medal at the World Championships.&ldquo;Last year was disappointing,&rdquo; she admitted, &ldquo;but it was important to stay active because 2015 is a World Championships year.&ldquo;The field here is a good one, as always. It&rsquo;s hard to hide in women&rsquo;s sprints. There is always one, or sometimes many, to push you hard. I just want to execute my 100m really well.&rdquo;Fraser-Pryce said she had started with a 22.37 this year, &ldquo;which I&rsquo;ve never done, including 2013, so I&rsquo;m feeling pretty good.&rdquo;Fraser-Pryce indicated she may do the 100m only at this year&rsquo;s World Championships, though stressed the decision would be made in conjunction with her coach.&ldquo;If the coach says I can do it, then I will.&rdquo;Fraser-Pryce said she had run the 100m-200m double for the past three years.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard on your body and with the Olympic Games next year I don&rsquo;t know (if I want to do it again).&rdquo;<h3>Li lauds World Championships final field</h3>Li Jinzhe was under no illusions about the task facing him in the men&rsquo;s long jump.&ldquo;It looks like the final of a World Championships,&rdquo; said Li. With names like Greg Rutherford, Aleksandr Menkov, current world leader Jeff Henderson, Godfrey Mokoena and Ignisious Gaisah on the list, it is hard to argue.&ldquo;You can regard this as a World Championships final,&rdquo; Li repeated for emphasis.Len Johnson for the IAAF

The topic of icons is not one you would necessarily associate with an athletics press conference, but icons got a fair old work-out in Shanghai on Saturday ahead of the IAAF Diamond League meeting on Sunday (17).

Shanghai press conference highlights – IAAF Diamond League

After winning at two indoor meetings during a brief sojourn in Europe last week, in Poland and France, Chinese long jumper Li Jinzhe returned to Beijing on Monday (9). Before continuing his preparations for the 2015 IAAF World Championships this summer, in the wake of him flying out to an Asian-leading indoor mark of 8.10m in the French town of Mondeville on Saturday, the 25-year-old Beijing native will first enjoy some days off to celebrate the Spring Festival, a traditional Chinese holiday that gives people the opportunity to review the past year and make resolutions for the new one.Looking back on the past year, the usually gregarious Li &ndash; known for his spiky hair and sporting gloves or arm accessories while competing &ndash; admits he is filled with mixed feelings, combining both joy and regret.He leapt 8.47m last June to finally make the national record his own, an effort that was only one centimetre shy of the Asian record set by Saudi Arabia&rsquo;s Mohamed Salman Al Khuwalidi in 2006. He was close to winning the gold medal at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland, last March before Brazil&rsquo;s Mauro Da Silva turned the tables in the last round. But a silver was also the best result ever achieved by a Chinese long jumper on the international stage.Although missing the gold medal in Sopot was a disappointment for Li, his biggest regret of 2014 was failing to win the Diamond Race. After winning at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Monaco and finishing third in Birmingham and Lausanne, Li stood a strong chance to win the Diamond Race at the IAAF Diamond League final in Brussels but he had four fouls and only finished fifth with a relatively modest 8.01m.<h3>Asian ambition </h3> &ldquo;I really wanted to be the first Asian athlete to win the Diamond Race but, maybe, I thought too much about it during the competition. I just failed,&rdquo; lamented Li.Later, Li realised that he also missed a chance of probably allowing one more Chinese long jumper perform in front of his friends and family on home soil at the IAAF World Championships as 2014 Diamond Race winners can get a wild card to compete in Beijing. Li could have earned one extra ticket for his country since four other Chinese athletes jumped the 8.10m IAAF World Championships entry standard, or better, in 2014.&ldquo;I jumped over eight metres more than 30 times in 2014, which demonstrates my stability, so qualifying for the World Championships is not a problem for me,&rdquo; Li said. &ldquo;But this time I will not think too much about the result when I am in Beijng for the Worlds. I will just take the competition as it comes and just try my best.&rdquo;Unlike Li, who is reluctant to talk about his expectations in Beijing, his coach Randy Huntington is blunt about his ambition.&ldquo;The expectation is that he wins in Beijing. That's what we are aiming for,&rdquo; said the US coach who used to guide the world record-holder Mike Powell.&ldquo;But expectation is one thing and reality is another. A lot of things can get in the way of that, including injury and improper training. We are trying to eliminate all of those things. Everything we are doing is pointing towards him being top of the podium, that's why I am here.&rdquo;Invited by the Chinese Athletics Association, Huntington started to work as the coach of the national team in November 2013. Although he has had to sometimes cope with the cultural differences in training, he has been working hard to help Li to release his full potential.&ldquo;It is not an easy thing when you think you are pretty good already and someone tells you, 'By the way, you have some flaws we need to take care of if you want to be No.1 of the world',&rdquo; said Huntington. &ldquo;However, he is an incredible competitor. His strength is his desire to compete. We call it an easy gamer.&rdquo;<h3>Home improvement help</h3> In Huntington&rsquo;s mind, Li still has room to improve, with the World Championships now looming on the horizon.&ldquo;He just needs to improve his last three steps. There are some technique issues which caused him a lot of fouls in 2014,&rdquo; added Huntington. &ldquo;Li has got the capability. He has got the speed and elastic strength to jump 8.70m. He could do it but whether he does do it, or not, is another question. Mike Powell had it (question marks) until the day he did it.&rdquo;It will be the third time for Li to compete at the World Championships and, frankly, his previous two experiences were not too successful. In 2009, a few days short of his 20th birthday, Li was 13th in qualifying with 8.01m and failed to make it to the final in Berlin.Two years ago, in Moscow, he made the final but only finished 12th at 7.86m following an accidental toe injury right before the competition.&ldquo;I was doing physical exercise but carelessly dropped the bar of the dumbbell on my right foot, which caused the injury. I think it was a mistake that even a kindergarten kid would not make,&rdquo; said Li, who is still mildly embarrassed when talking about the accident. &ldquo;This year the World Championship is the most important thing for me. And I will make sure I am 100 percent ready for the competition. This time I will leave no regrets behind.&rdquo;Vincent Wu for the IAAF

After winning at two indoor meetings during a brief sojourn in Europe last week, in Poland and France, Chinese long jumper Li Jinzhe returned to Beijing on Monday (9). 

Li Jinzhe is determined to have no regrets after Beijing

Ehsan Hadadi got Iran’s first gold medal of the athletics programme when he won his third successive discus title on the fourth day of the athletics at the Asian Games in the South Korean city of Inchon on Tuesday (30).The Olympic silver medallist dominated the competition and won with his second-round toss of 65.11m, just shy of his season’s best of 65.23m although he was some way short of his Games record of 67.99m set four years ago.In fact, four of Hadadi’s five valid throws would have been enough for victory as India’s Commonwealth champion Vikas Gowda was unable to mount a serious challenge.Gowda reached 62.58m in the second round but fouled his last three attempts while desperately trying to find the extra metres that would put him into pole position.China took the other three events that were decided on Tuesday. Long jumper Li Jinzhe was nowhere near his best but the world indoor silver medallist didn’t need to be as he led after the first round with 8.00m and then improved by one centimetre in round five for the the shortest winning distance since 1986&nbsp; South Korea’s Kim Deokhyeon jumped 7.90m with his final effort to move up from fifth to second and take the silver medal.With only six competitors, the women’s pole vault was over surprisingly quickly by international standards and China’s Asian record-holder and recent IAAF Continental Cup winner Li Ling only needed to clear 4.35m to get the gold medal.With a best of 4.65m, she was the overwhelming favourite and went over her winning height at the first time of asking to equal the Games record set 12 years ago by her compatriot Gao Shuying.With no one else left in the competition, Li then had the bar moved up to 4.50m but had three failures.The men’s 110m hurdles, the last event of the night and the only track final on Tuesday, was won by Xie Wenjun in 13.36. Xie's victory was China's eighth successive Games win. The best performance of the day actually came in a preliminary round.Bahrain’s Kemi Adekoya got her second Games record in Inchon when she sped to a time of 55.09 in her 400m hurdles heat, taking 0.17 off the mark of China’s Leng Xueyan which has stood since 1994.Adekoya will be the big favourite to add the hurdles title to the one she got in the flat 400m on Sunday, as no one else ran within two-and-a-half seconds of that time in the morning heats.China's Wu Shuijiao also impressed when winning her 100m hurdles heat in 13.00. Uzbekistan’s Leonid Andreyev, the silver medallist at the past two Asian Games, leads overnight in the decathlon with 4215 points after a first day which saw personal bests in the shot put and 400m and a high jump which equalled his best.Japan’s Akihiko Nakamura is 92 points behind with 4123 but was let down by a poor shot put, and only had a best of 11.75m, exactly four metres behind Andreyev’s top effort.Nakamura’s compatriot Keisuke Ushiro lies third with 4073 points while Kazakhstan’s 2006 and 2010 Asian Games champion and reigning Asian champion Dmitriy Karpov is in the unfamiliar position of being down in fourth place with 3987 points.Phil Minshull for the IAAF

Ehsan Hadidi got Iran’s first gold medal of the athletics programme when he won the men's discus for the third successive Games on the fourth day of the athletics at the Asian Games in the South Korean city of Inchon on Tuesday (30).

Hadadi's discus hat-trick makes Iran happy at the Asian Games

Caterine Ibarguen produced the best triple jump of the last six years to earn a dramatic victory at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Monaco’s Stade Louis II, registering and Area record of 15.31m to put her fifth on the world all-time list on Friday (18).She touched down in the sand just 19 centimetres shy of Inessa Kravets’s world record of 15.50m set at the 1995 IAAF World Championships.The Colombian needed something big with her final effort to wrest back the lead from Russia’s Yekaterina Koneva, whose second-round personal best of 14.89m had bettered Ibarguen’s first-round effort by 11 centimetres. Koneva’s effort also bettered Ibarguen’s 2014 world-leading mark by two centimetres.The 2013 world champion and this year’s Diamond Race leader strove to regain her lead, registering 14.81m before recording two fouls, the second of which looked long enough to have put her back in front.The Colombian made her frustration plain, her thick black ponytail swishing as she punched the air, but after her next jump, she was jittering her legs in anticipation of the official figures. She knew it was big, and she was right. As Ibarguen skipped back down the runway, Koneva was preparing for the final jump of the competition more in hope than expectation. She produced an effort of 14.50m, highly respectable, but in the circumstances, entirely insufficient. Ibarguen’s mark, as one might expect, was a 2014 world lead, a Diamond League record and a South American record. It was her first jump over 15 metres, adding 32cm to her previous best of 14.99m, set at altitude in Bogota three years ago. It also ended the four-year drought of 15-metre leaps in the women's triple jump. “The hard work is paying off,” said Ibarguen, who extended her winning streak to 17 consecutive competitions. “I never doubted my chances of winning. I never lost faith. The world record is there, it’s not far. I will strive and fight for it.”A 53rd consecutive shot put victory, earned in characteristically commanding fashion by New Zealand’s Valerie Adams, effectively defended her possession of the Diamond Race, although the reigning Olympic and world champion will need to compete in her IAAF Diamond League final in Brussels on 5 September.Adams made her intentions clear with a first-round effort of 19.71m before moving to another level with her second attempt, a mighty roar announced a throw which thudded into the blue plastic cushions laid in the quadrant at 20.38m, just eight centimetres short of her 2014 world-leading mark.A third round of 20.30m underlined her intent. Germany's Christina Schwanitz, who took silver behind Adams at last year’s IAAF World Championships in Moscow, raised her game in the final round to secure second place with 19.54m, but Adams rounded things off with 20.34m. Point made but pressure growing “I like the feeling of having such a long unbeaten series, but the pressure is growing with every competition,” commented Adams. “The last time I lost was in the year of the last Commonwealth Games, so I’m having a fourth anniversary.”The men’s 400m saw world champion LaShawn Merritt win with relative ease in 44.30, with fellow US sprinter Gil Roberts second in 44.52.Fabiana Murer, Brazil’s 2011 world champion, won the pole vault with an effort of 4.76m, pushing Olympic champion Jennifer Suhr into second place with 4.71m, the height also reached by Greece’s third-placed Ekaterini Stefanidi. Cuba’s world indoor champion Yarisley Silva was a disappointing equal seventh with 4.40m.Barbora Spotakova, the double Olympic javelin champion, making a return to international action after taking almost a year out to have a child, got into the winning groove with season’s best of 66.96m, with second place going to Slovenia’s Martina Ratej, who threw 64.58m.Kaliese Spencer of Jamaica earned victory in the 400m hurdles in 54.09, with last year’s world champion and Diamond Race winner Zuzana Hejnova happy enough with seventh place in 55.86 in what was her first race this season after a series of calf injuries and subsequent surgery. “I was careful today,” said Hejnova. “It was a test for me.”Poland’s Piotr Malachowski enhanced his Diamond Race lead with a victory in the discus with a third-round effort of 65.84m, with Cuba’s Jorge Fernandez second with 65.46m.World indoor silver medallist Li Jinzhe of China was victorious in the rather mediocre long jump with a last-round effort of 8.09m which took him past the Netherlands’ world silver medallist Ignisious Gaisah, who had a best of 8.01m.Jairus Birech was the outstanding performer in the men’s 3000m steeplechase. The Kenyan finished 50 metres clear of his nearest challenger to win in 8:03.33, just less than a second shy of his world-leading time of 8:02.37 and he is now in control of the Diamond Race in his event. Mike Rowbottom for the IAAF

Caterine Ibarguen produced the best triple jump of the past six years to earn a dramatic victory at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Monaco’s Stade Louis II, registering 15.31m to put her fifth on the world all-time list on Friday (18).

Ibarguen's terrific triple jump of 15.31m in Monaco – IAAF Diamond League

The qualifying distance was set at 8.05m and the first man to nail it was not one of the fancied pre-championship medal contenders but a man who instantly catapulted himself into local athletics folklore: Adrian Strzalkowski. Strzalkowski had not ventured beyond eight metres before but with his first-round effort, the 23-year-old Pole uncorked a stunning 8.18m.<o:p></o:p>It drew a huge roar from the home crowd in the Ergo Arena, and understandably so. It represented a national indoor record as well as a 22cm improvement for Strzalkowski, the 2013 Francophone Games champion.<o:p></o:p>Not until the third and final round did a second automatic qualifier emerge. Christian Reif, the 2010 European champion from Germany, uncorked an 8.13m, just two centimetres short of his indoor personal best.<o:p></o:p>With that, the floodgates opened somewhat. Greece’s Louis Tsatoumas jumped 8.10m then China’s Li Jinzhe and Sweden’s Michel Torneus leapt 8.08m.<o:p></o:p>The other three men in Saturday’s will include Russia’s world champion Aleksandr Menkov, who settled for an opening round of 8.04m and then declined to take another attempt,<o:p></o:p>Menkov heads the 2014 world indoor lists with 8.30m. Brazil’s defending champion Mauro Da Silva and Mexico’s world bronze medallist Luis Rivera complete the finalists.USA's Tyron Stewart and Zimbabwe's US-based Ngonidzashe Makusha have both jumped well beyond eight metres this year but that sort of form deserted them in Sopot and they failed to make the final.Simon Turnbull for the IAAF<o:p></o:p>

The qualifying distance was set at 8.05m and the first man to nail it was not one of the fancied pre-championship medal contenders but a man who instantly catapulted himself into local athletics folklore: Adrian Strzalkowski.

Report: men's long jump qualifying – Sopot 2014

Michel Torneus has won the long jump on home soil at the XL Galan for the past three years and he will be looking for a fourth consecutive victory at the IAAF Indoor Permit meeting in Stockholm on 6 February.Torneus, who finished fourth at the London 2012 Olympics, won at the Globe Arena last year with a Swedish indoor record of 8.20m before going on to improve that with 8.29m to take the silver medal at the European Indoor Championships in Gothenburg.His appearance at this year’s XL Galan will be his season debut and the European bronze medallist will be up against a tough field.At last year’s IAAF World Championships, Ignisious Gaisah produced his best jump for seven years to take the silver medal with a Dutch record of 8.29m. He has fond memories of the XL Galan meeting, having set his indoor PB of 8.36m there in 2006, one month before winning the world indoor title.Germany’s 2010 European champion Christian Reif finished one place behind Torneus at the 2013 European Indoor Championships. It will be his first ever appearance at the Globe Arena.Panama’s Irving Saladino, the 2008 Olympic champion and 2007 world champion, will be hoping to return to eight-metre territory in what will be his first indoor season for almost four years.Also in the field is British record-holder Chris Tomlinson. The 2010 European bronze medallist and 2008 world indoor silver medallist will look to improve on his fifth-place finish from last year’s XL Galan meeting.China’s Li Jinzhe rounds out the field. He set an indoor PB of 8.11m at last year’s XL Galan meeting and improved to 8.34m outdoors.Organisers for the IAAF

Michel Torneus has won the long jump on home soil at the XL Galan for the past three years and he will be looking for a fourth consecutive victory at the IAAF Indoor Permit meeting in Stockholm on 6 February.

Quality long jump clash set for Stockholm

The 12th National Games got off to a real start on Sunday (8) in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, with a total of 13 finals during the second day of competition following the two finals on Saturday.All of the best athletes in the country are competing and naturally those who did well in Moscow at the IAAF World Championships were also in the spotlight at the National Games.The best result on Sunday was Li Ling's 4.65m Asian Pole Vault record, Li Jinzhe’s competition record of 8.34m in the men's Long Jump, and a fast 100m won by Zhang Peimeng in 10.08.Since first claiming the record with 4.35m in May 2000, Gao Shuying has held the Asian record in the women's pole vault for more than 13 years with her last record – 4.64m from New York in June 2007 – lasting until today.It was only matter of time before Li would break the record as she had cleared 4.54m and 4.55m in 2013, the latter for fifth place in the qualification round at the World Championships in Moscow. Li's first three tries at 4.65m were unsuccessful when she won the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Beijing in May with 4.50m, but this time she only needed one attempt and recorded only one failure during the whole competition.Li’s 4.65m Asian record led the best ever national competition in China with 19-year-old Ren Mengqian finishing second and Wu Sha in third, both equalling their personal bests of 4.40m.Championship records from Li and ZhangIn the men’s Long Jump, there was only one favourite. Li Jinzhe, who jumped an 8.34m personal best to win the Shanghai IAAF Diamond League meeting in May and placed second at the 2009 National Games at the age of 20 with a 8.18m PB, did not find his best form in Moscow, finishing only in 12th with 7.86m.But in Shenyang, Li did not leave it late and was a joint leader after round one with 7.91m, before his second-round effort of 8.19m in windless conditions put the title beyond the reach of others.Li then went on to equal his personal best of 8.34m in round four, despite a negative 0.6 m/s wind, and won comfortably ahead of Su Xiongfeng, who was second with a 8.08m season’s best.Li's 8.34m also eclipsed the previous competition record of 8.27m from 2009 by Zhang Xiaoyi, who was fifth today with a 7.96m season's best. Zhang Yaoguang was third with 7.98m and 19-year-old junior Huang Changzhou was third with a 7.97m personal best.There was much hype around the men’s 100m final and for a good reason. China has two world-class sprinters, who both reached the Moscow World Championships semifinals with 26-year-old Zhang Peimeng clocking a 10.00 national record there.The previous national record-holder Su Bingtian, who ran 10.16 in 2011, has also stepped up this season, clocking a 10.06 personal best in Beijing in May. Both athletes ran in the 2009 National Games final with Zhang finishing in second place and Su fifth, and today their order was the same.Zhang crossed the finish line in 10.08, smashing Zhou Wei’s previous competition record of 10.22 from the prestigious 1997 Games. A helpful 1.1 m/s following wind aided the runners as Su was second in 10.12, his second-best career clocking in what was easily the best ever national competition in China.Zhang and Gong successfully defend throws titlesIn the women’s Hammer, the competition was expected to be an epic battle between the third and fourth-place finishers from the World Championships in Moscow, but Wang Zheng, who had surprised everyone with big personal bests in both qualification and the final in Moscow, was not up to the task on Saturday.Wang, who threw a 74.90m PB in the Moscow final, only broke 70m in round four before improving to 71.48m in round five to finish second. Moscow bronze medallist Zhang Wenxiu had an easy task of winning her second successive National Games title with a winning throw of 73.68m.In the women’s Shot Put, Moscow bronze medallist Gong Lijiao had no problems at all winning her second straight National Games title with her third-round effort of 19.75m. Liu Xiangrong was third with 18.45m and Li Ling third with 18.40m.The top five in the women’s 100m Hurdles final produced their best marks of the season with Wu Shujiao winning in a personal best of 12.96. Sun Yawei was second in a 13.01 season’s best and Wang Dou third with a PB of 13.09.Zhao Jing won the 1500m in a season’s best of 4:12.32, while Zhao Yanmin clocked a 52.15 PB for the 400m win. Tao Yujia won the 100m final in 11.48, equalling her season's best from the heats, and Wang Qingling won the Heptathlon with a personal best of 5785.Surprising depth in Hammer and Pole VaultIn the rest of the men’s events, it was the best ever Chinese competition in the men’s Hammer. 24-year-old Wang Shizhu, competing for the Liaoning Province in front of his home crowd, entered the competition with a PB of 73.25m, but managed to break 73 metres five times in Shenyang and became only the second Chinese in history to surpass 75 metres.He ended his winning series with a personal best of 75.20m, more than a two-metre improvement on the previous competition record from 2001. It was the best mark by a Chinese athlete for 24 years, bettered only by Bi Zhong’s 77.04m national record from 1989.Wan Yong was second with a 73.87m PB, Qi Dakai third with 71.82m and 2009 defending champion Ma Liang was fourth with a 70.63m season’s best.In the Pole Vault, Moscow finalist Xue Changrui was the winner in the best ever domestic Pole Vault competition in China.The 22-year-old cleared 5.60m before making one attempt at 5.76m national record height. Yang Yangsheng, who was in great form during the indoor season clearing 5.80m national indoor record and coming close to clearing 5.90m, capped a disappointing outdoor campaign with a 5.50m season’s best clearance for second place.The next three athletes set personal bests as Yao Jie was third with 5.50m, Zhou Bo finished fourth with 5.45m and Lu Yao was fifth with 5.40m. In sixth, 19-year-old Zhang Wei set a season’s best of 5.40m.Chen Jianxin won the 400m in a 46.19 PB, Zhang Haikun took the 1500m title in 3:41.27, and Wang Yashuan topped the 3000m Steeplechase with a PB of 8:37.66.Tomorrow’s events include the 200m heats, where 100m winner Zhang Peimeng returns to the track, and the 110m Hurdles final, where Liu Xiang will not defend his title. Liu had won the previous three titles between 2001-2009 prior to his latest injury.The women’s Discus, a straight final, will also be held tomorrow with 2011 Daegu World champion Li Yanfeng returning to competition after a bad back injury which has kept her off the field all summer.Mirko Jalava for the IAAF

Chinese National Games begin with Asian pole vault record

Aleksandr Menkov is one of Russia’s big hopes for a home success in Moscow. The European indoor champion has been a model of consistency this season, but he is far from the only gold-medal contender.Menkov, still only 22 but sixth at the last IAAF World Championships in Daegu, was unbeaten in four competitions during the indoor season and improved his absolute best to 8.31m when winning the European indoor title in March.He started the outdoor season where he left off under cover, jumping 8.31m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Shanghai for second place by three centimetres from local surprise Li Jinzhe.Menkov then improved his best to 8.39m at the Diamond League meeting in Eugene, the first of three consecutive wins which included two victories on British soil at the European Team Championships in Gateshead and the Diamond League meeting in Birmingham.However, back home in Kazan, the World University Games last month brought him down to earth and was a reminder that he is not the only likely winner.In a thrilling contest which saw him improve to 8.42m, he was bested by the Mexican revelation Luis Rivera who added 16cm to his own national record set earlier in the season.Rivera, who will be competing in his first World Championships and finished a lowly 32nd in qualifying at the London 2012 Olympic Games, seems to have a problem being consistent despite the occasional big jump.In half of his 14 competitions this year, he has failed to get over 8.00m and his two competitions since Kazan will hardly inspire confidence, jumping only 8.00m for fourth place at the Diamond League meeting in London just over a week ago, a competition won by Menkov with 8.31m, and then 7.99m at a small meeting in Finland on Saturday.In contrast to the prolific Rivera, Li has only jumped once since his eye-catching display in Shanghai, reaching 8.31m at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Beijing three days later, so it will be interesting to see what sort of form he brings to Moscow.Lying third on the 2013 world list is Spain’s Eusebio Caceres, a former European junior record-holder.Caceres improved his personal best by 10cm when he won the European under-23 title last month with 8.37m, coincidentally succeeding Menkov who had won that title in 2011.It was his fifth consecutive win and his preceding two competitions were won with 8.22m and 8.20m, which means that he can be considered a medal contender as well.Brazil’s Mauro Vinicius Da Silva knows what it’s like to stand on top of the podium at a global event, having won the 2012 World Indoor Championships gold medal. This year, he’s improved his best to 8.31m as well as taken the South American title and could cause a surprise, motivated by the thought that no Brazilian man has ever won at the World Championships.Great Britain’s Olympic champion Greg Rutherford has struggled with a hamstring injury but was finally given the green light and included in the British team last week.“Ultimately I am a big game performer. I enjoy these big occasions. I like the big stadiums, the crowds and the pressure, and after a decent training block I'm now going to go in there confident,” said Rutherford on Saturday.By contrast, US long jumpers have only once failed to make the podium, in Seville 1999, but this year their trio don’t have the look of medal contenders. Four-time World champion Dwight Phillips’ best for the year is only 7.89m while both Marquis Dendy and George Kitchens are likely to need to improve considerably on their bests to get into the top three.Click <a href="http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-championships/14th-iaaf-world-championships-4873/athletes" target="_blank">here</a> for OFFICIAL ENTRIES in the Moscow 2013 Athletes section.Phil Minshull for the IAAF

Men’s Long Jump – Preview

All five of China’s reigning global medallists in race walking events have been named on the team for the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow.Olympic 20km Race Walk champion Chen Ding will contest his specialist event alongside Olympic bronze medallist Wang Zhen and Olympic fourth-place finisher Cai Zelin.Si Tianfeng, the Olympic bronze medallist, will compete in the 50km Race Walk with the two men who finished ahead of him at the Race Walking National Games: Wu Qianlong and Li Jianbo.Liu Hong, who took silver in Daegu two years ago, leads the Chinese women in the 20km Race Walk while Olympic bronze medallist Qieyang Shenjie has also been named in the event.There are several other medal hopes on the team of 53 athletes. Li Jinzhe, the long jumper who won at the Shanghai Diamond League meeting, goes to Moscow ranked fourth on this year’s world season lists.High jumper Wang Yu smashed his PB with 2.33m to win at the Beijing World Challenge meeting before taking bronze at the World University Games.Shot putter Gong Lijiao, who currently sits at fourth place on this year’s world season list, is no stranger to the podium at major championships, having won bronze medals at the 2012 Olympic Games and 2009 World Championships.Zhang Peimeng broke the Chinese 100m record earlier this year with 10.04 to qualify for Moscow. He is joined on the team by the athlete whose record he broke, Su Bingtian, and the pair will expect to feature in the 4x100m final.Zhang Wenxiu, bronze medallist in the Hammer two years ago, is once again on the Chinese team. But 2011 World champion Li Yanfeng and 2011 silver medallist Liu Xiang will not be in Moscow.IAAFCHINESE TEAM FOR MOSCOWMen 100m: Su Bingtian, Zhang Peimeng 200m: Xie Zhenye Marathon: Yin Shujin 110m Hurdles: Jiang Fan, Xie Wenjun High Jump: Bi Xiaoliang, Wang Yu, Zhang Guowei Pole Vault: Xue Changrui, Yang Yansheng, Zhang Wei Long Jump: Li Jinzhe, Wang Jianan Triple Jump: Cao Shuo, Dong Bin Javelin: Zhao Qinggang 20km Race Walk: Cai Zelin, Chen Ding, Wang Zhen 50km Race Walk: Li Jianbo, Si Tianfeng, Wu Qianlong 4x100m Relay: Guo Fan, Liang Jiahong, Su, Xie, ZhangWomen 400m: Zhao Yanmin 800m: Wang Chunyu 100m Hurdles: Wu Shujiao Marathon: Cao Mojie, Ding Changqin, He Yinli, Jia Chaofeng, Wei Xiaojie High Jump: Zheng Xingjuan Pole Vault: Li Ling Shot Put: Gong Lijiao, Li Ling, Liu Xiangrong Discus: Gu Siyu, Su Xinyue, Tan Jian Hammer: Liu Tingting, Wang Zheng, Zhang Wenxiu Javelin: Li Lingwei, Zhang Li 20km Race Walk: Li Yanfei, Liu Hong, Qieyang Shenjie, Sun Huanhuan 4x100m Relay: Li Meijuan, Liang Xiaojing, Tao Yujia, Wei Yongli

Race Walkers feature prominently on Chinese team for Moscow

Race walkers feature prominently on Chinese team for Moscow

The 2013 IAAF World Challenge Beijing, the first athletics meeting held at the Bird’s Nest Stadium since the 2008 Olympics, sent a clear message on Tuesday (21) evening in warm and nice weather.- Beijing's Olympic stadium will host the 15th edition of the IAAF World Championships, 22 to 30 August 2015 -The fireworks of good performances, particularly those by local Beijing and other Chinese athletes, created a good atmosphere which really seemed to get the competitors going towards the end of the meet.The meeting was also highlighted by two world leading marks – one by USA’s David Oliver in the 110m Hurdles, which he won in 13.16, and another in the women’s High Jump, which was won by Olympic champion Anna Chicherova with a 2.02m jump.Oliver, 31, returned with a blast to the stadium where he won Olympic bronze five years ago. Hurdling like a different person to the Oliver that was at last weekend’s Shanghai Diamond League, he stormed to a good start and kept his position from start to finish to win by a big margin.His timed of 13.16 was faster than the time he ran in the same stadium to win Olympic bronze in 2008, and erased Orlando Ortega’s previous world-leading mark of 13.17. Training partner Dwight Thomas of Jamaica was second in 13.44, while World champion Jason Richardson, who was never really in the race, was third in 13.48.First two-metre jump of 2013Chicherova became the first jumper over two metres this outdoor season with a 2.02m, before making three unsuccessful tries at 2.04m. 23-year-old Croatian Ana Simic bettered her outdoor personal best by three centimetres to finish second with 1.95m. Nadezhda Dusanova, Marina Aitova and Zheng Xingjuan all cleared 1.92m to finish third, fourth and fifth respectively.After a break in the competition for the opening ceremony, Chicherova had a chat to her support team in the crowd. “They gave me a lot of confidence and calmed me down,” she said.As usual, the most hype was reserved for the men’s 100m, the final track event of the programme. Local attention was on Zhang Peimeng, who last month broke the national record with 10.04. But despite his new-found speed, this race was out of his hands from the start.USA’s Justin Gatlin powered away from the field to win in a season’s best of 9.91 (0.1m/s), looking more than ready to challenge Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay. The performance takes him to the second on the 2013 world list behind Gay’s 9.86.Fellow American Mike Rodgers clocked a season’s best 9.96 in second, but in third place there was a surprise. 23-year-old Chinese Su Bingtian, who held the national record at 10.16 prior to Zhang’s breakthrough, got off to a good start and maintained his form to finish strongly in a PB of 10.06. USA’s Calesio Newman was fourth in 10.08, just 0.01 ahead of Zhang Peimeng – proof that the Chinese duo should be taken seriously this season.Double jumps victory for ChinaAnother big event, naturally, was the men’s Long Jump, where world leader Li Jinzhe jumped in front of his local crowd. The 23-year-old did not disappoint, but the competition did not end well.After producing a winning 8.31m leap, Li was forced to exit the stadium after suffering an injury to his left arm. Former World indoor champion Ignisious Gaisah&nbsp; was second with 8.13m and World bronze medallist Ngonidzashe Makusha, who is coming off an Achilles injury, was third with 8.04m – his best jump since the 2011 World Championships. In fifth place, 16-year-old Wang Jianan jumped a world youth-leading 7.92m.The men’s High Jump was another event that drew big cheers from the crowd. National indoor record-holder Zhang Guowei didn’t quite find his best jumping last weekend in Shanghai, but in this competition all eyes were on him.But there was a surprise in store as there was a high-performing Chinese athlete – and it wasn’t Zhang. Instead, 21-year-old Beijing resident Wang Yu showed from the outset that he was in form to break his 2.30m outright PB, set indoors this season. His first-time clearances at 2.15m and 2.20m were considerably better than any other competitors, and he cleared every other height with ease at the first time of asking through to 2.28m.Russia’s 2010 European champion Aleksandr Shustov also went over 2.28m with his first jump, but was already behind Wang on count-back when the top duo continued to 2.31m. Only at this height did Wang show fatigue, but he eventually cleared it on his third try, as did Shustov. At 2.33m, both jumpers also failed their first two attempts before Wang Cleared it again as Shustov failed for a third time.The celebration from Wang’s home crowd was big, and he decided against trying for a world lead of 2.35m. He bettered his outdoor PB by five centimetres and went to equal second on the Chinese all-time list. The last Chinese athlete to jump higher was former World record-holder Zhu Jianhua back in 1985.“I don’t think the most important thing for an athlete is the result; I think an athlete must enjoy the training and the process," said Wang. "I also find it difficult to give you a target for me in the future as the spirit of an athlete is personal improvement.”Felix and Okagbare clear winnersIn her first 200m race of the season, Allyson Felix was a class apart. She led at half way and continued to pull away from her rivals, winning by almost half a second in 22.36 (0.3m/s) as US team-mate Lashauntea Moore was second (22.85).Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare was similarly dominant in the 100m. The last time she competed in this stadium was as a long jumper, taking the bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics. Now an accomplished sprinter, the 24-year-old won in 11.04 ahead of Mikele Barber’s 11.30.Stadium record for Yego, surprises in throwsFor a meeting held in a stadium that hosted a recent Olympic Games, expectations for a stadium record were low. But Kenya’s Hillary Yego delivered in the men’s 3000m Steeplechase – the only event of the evening to produce a stadium record.The 20-year-old wound up the pace in the final few laps to build up a huge lead, crossing the line in 8:09.17 – more than six seconds ahead of team-mate Brimin Kipruto, the man who triumphed on the same track five years ago at the Olympic Games.After winning in Doha and throwing a season’s best of 86.67m in Shanghai, Vitezslav Vesely had problems in Beijing. His first three throws were awful with the only measured one landing at 71m. With Russian Dmitriy Tarabin leading the competition with 81.11m, the 30-year-old Czech finally got over 80 metres with his fifth and sixth throws, but a 80.81m best was only enough for second place. Ari Mannio of Finland was third with 80.65m and Kenyan Julius Yego was fourth (79.43m).Similarly, the pre-event favourite in the women’s Javelin was also out of sorts. World champion Mariya Abakumova was lacking her usual form and trailed Latvia’s Sinta Ozolina-Kovale, 60.90m to 60.26m. The Russian’s final attempt went out to 62 metres, but it was outside of the sector, leaving Ozolina-Kovale to take the victory.Russian Tatyana Lysenko was the expected winner in the women’s Hammer with 73.12m, but in second place Eva Orban surprised the whole field with her 73.00m, smashing her own Hungarian record by 1.67m. China’s Wang Zheng was third with 71.91m.Close Kenyan finishes in middle-distance eventsThere were Kenyan 1-2 finishes in both middle-distance races. In the women’s 1500m Eunice Sum out-sprinted Mary Kuria, 4:04.49 to 4:05.17, while Alfred Kirwa Yego caught countryman Edwin Melly on the line in the 800m, 1:46.43 to 1:46.46.US 400m specialist LaShawn Merritt won the 200m easily in 20.40, and Olympic bronze medallist Kellie Wells won the 100m Hurdles in 12.87. China’s Liu Xiangrong surprised US favourite Michelle Carter winning with the Shot with an 18.73m season’s best to Carter’s 18.70m.Spaniard Igor Bychkov topped the Pole Vault, equalling his 5.60m PB, while Cao Shuo secured another home win in the Triple Jump, winning his first competition of the season with 16.72m. In the women’s pole vault Li Ling equalled her 4.50m PB to win with Ren Mengqian in second place with 4.40m.Mirko Jalava for the IAAF

World leads from Chicherova and Oliver in Beijing – IAAF World Challenge