Local heroes Mutaz Essa Barshim and Abdalelah Haroun will be out to impress their home fans at the opening IAAF Diamond League meeting of 2016, which see the series start in Doha on 6 May.
At a press conference on Tuesday (29), Qatar Athletics Federation President Major General Dahlan Al Hamad released another list of top overseas athletes who will compete at what has become the traditional curtain-raiser to the IAAF Diamond League.
Barshim has competed at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Doha on three previous occasions but the 2014 world indoor champion has yet to notch a win.
Three Olympic and two world medallists will challenge Barshim: world champion and Olympic bronze medallist Derek Drouin of Canada, China&rsquo;s world silver medallist Zhang Guowei, USA's Olympic silver medallist Erik Kynard, and Britain's Olympic bronze medallist Robbie Grabarz.
Donald Thomas, the 2007 world champion from The Bahamas, Italy&rsquo;s Marco Fassinotti and Qatari youngsters Muamer Aissa Barshim and Hamdi Alamine complete the high jump list.
Haroun, still 19, won a non-Diamond Race 400m contest for Asian athletes only in Doha last May. Since then he has earned the Asian title and a silver medal at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016 already this year.
Among his rivals will be the 2008 Olympic and two-time world champion LaShawn Merriitt, who also finished second in Beijing last summer.
Merritt set the current meeting record of 44.19 in 2014. The US sprinter&rsquo;s personal best of 43.65 ranks him sixth on the world all-time list, one place above another Doha-bound 400m runnerIsaac Makwala of Botswana.
In 2015, Makwala, the former African record-holder with a personal best of 43.72, was fifth in Beijing and a winner at the All Africa Games in the Congolese capital Brazzaville.
Another athlete with sub-44 credentials is Saudi Arabia's Youssef Ahmed Masrahi, the Asian 400m record-holder with 43.93.
Masrahi was eighth in Beijing, one place behind Machel Cedenio from Trinidad and Tobago, who is another Doha starter.
Middle distance enthusiasts will be delighted to see a stellar line-up in the 1500m which features, among others, Kenyan trio Asbel Kiprop, Elijah Manangoi and Silas Kiplagat.
Kiprop, the 2008 Olympic champion, has won each of the past three world titles, while last year he also produced the fastest time in 14 years when clocking 3:26.69 in Monaco, the third best time ever. The Kenyan also set the Doha meeting record of 3:29.18 in 2014.
Manangoi, whose personal best is 3:29.67, was second behind Kiprop in Beijing while Kiplagat was the winner in Doha in 2012 and can boast of being the fifth fastest man ever in his event with a time of 3:27.64.
The Kenyans&rsquo; fiercest rivals will undoubtedly be Djibouti&rsquo;s 2014 world indoor champion Ayanleh Souleiman and Ethiopia&rsquo;s Aman Wote, who both have bests faster than 3:30.00.
The 800m is not part of the Diamond Race schedule in Doha this year, but Beijing and Portland finalist Musaeb Abdulrahman Balla will feature in a national race along with Jamal Hairane and Abubaker Haydar Abdalla who finished second and fourth respectively at the recent Asian Indoor Championships.
"The IAAF Diamond League meeting has been held annually in Doha since the series started in 2010 and is well established as one of the series&rsquo; top meetings,&rdquo; said Dahlan Al Hamad.
&ldquo;All these years we brought to Doha dozens of star athletes. We raised the awareness of our sport and engaged, inspired and motivated a growing number of young athletes. Some of them have come of age and are now ready to compete against their idols.
&ldquo;Most of the Qatar Olympic team members, along with a large number of youngsters, will make their outdoor debut, competing against the best, at the top international meeting held in Qatar," added Al Hamad.
&ldquo;I believe that all these early announcements show that we will not let down the athletics fans and that the meeting will be once more of a very high calibre with top athletes competing."
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

Local heroes Mutaz Essa Barshim and Abdalelah Haroun will be out to impress their home fans at the opening IAAF Diamond League meeting of 2016, which see the series start in Doha on 6 May.

 Barshim and Haroun out to impress home fans in Doha – IAAF Diamond League

Qatar&rsquo;s Musaeb Abdulrahman Balla underlined his status as favourite for the men&rsquo;s 800m title when coasting to victory in 1:47.61 during the qualifying heats on Friday afternoon (18).
Balla is the only one of the competitors to have broken 1:46.00 this year &ndash; having run 1:45.93 in Stockholm last month &ndash; and he ran with the confidence of an athlete vastly superior to his rivals. The 27-year-old shot to the front on the first of four laps, passed 400m in a steady 53.22, and looked well within himself as he maintained the lead throughout the rest of the race and came home in 1:47.61.
Reigning champion Mohammed Aman of Ethiopia closed late to take second in 1:48.02 ahead of Erik Sowinski in 1:48.11. With only the winner of each heat advancing, Aman and Sowinski had a nervous wait before seeing if they had secured a non-automatic qualifying spot, but they duly advanced on time.
In the earlier heats, Burundi&rsquo;s Antoine Gakeme unleashed a furious sprint on the last lap to take victory in 1:48.09 ahead of Boris Berian of the US (1:48.55), who edged Kenya&rsquo;s Jeremiah Mutai to advance on time.
Morocco&rsquo;s Mostafa Smaili was the only athlete to advance from a slow-run first heat, the 19-year-old controlling the race from the front and coming home in 1:52.16, just ahead of Kenya&rsquo;s Edward Kibet Kemboi (1:52.39) and Spain&rsquo;s Alvaro De Arriba (1:52.60).
Cathal Dennehy for the IAAF

Qatar’s Musaeb Abdulrahman Balla underlined his status as favourite for the men’s 800m title when coasting to victory in 1:47.61 during the qualifying heats on Friday afternoon (18). 

Report: men's 800m heats – IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016

Mohamed Al-Garni successfully defended his second title of the weekend, his 3000m win on home turf providing the highlight the final day of theAsian Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday (21).Five more championship records fell on the third day of competition in the Aspire Dome, but it was Al-Garni&rsquo;s victory over 15 laps of the track, his second successive Asian indoor double triumph, that really stood out from the rest.Biding his time behind Bahrain&rsquo;s Asian indoor record-holder Albert Rop for much of the race, Al-Garni took the lead for good as he entered the back straight for the final time. Unlike the early celebration in Saturday&rsquo;s 1500m that almost certainly cost Al-Garni an Asian indoor record, this time his finish was more subdued: just a raised arm two strides before the finish as he powered through the line in 7:39.23, a national indoor record and the fastest time by an Asian runner this year."It wasn&rsquo;t my plan to stay behind Rop, it was his tactic to make me tired after he watched me running the 1500m yesterday," said Al-Garni. "Still I was able to stay close behind him and make the final kick on the last lap."Rop finished just a few strides behind in 7:40.27 with Qatar&rsquo;s Said Aden Said taking third with a personal best of 7:44.69 to collect his second bronze medal in as many days after his third place in the 1500m.Qatar&rsquo;s first gold of the afternoon came in a thrilling men&rsquo;s 800m contest where Musaeb Balla took the victory as expected. It was a strong run for the two-time Asian champion who took command from the outset and was never headed en route to a 1:46.92 championship record."I wanted to win and set a new area record as well, but I didn&rsquo;t recover in time after the unsuccessful attempt to beat the Asian record in Stockholm," said Balla, who clocked 1:45.93 in the Swedish capital, 0.7 seconds outside of Yusuf Saad Kamel&rsquo;s continental mark. "Nevertheless, victory makes me really happy. I expect a very good result in Portland at the World Indoor Championships, as well as at the Olympics."Behind him an intense battle ensued. Qatari teammates Abubaker Haydar Abdalla and Jamal Hairane shadowed Balla, trying to gain and hold position for a host nation sweep, but Iran&rsquo;s Mostafa Gholamerza Kordiyani wouldn't relent. Heading into the the homestretch, first Hairane and then Kordiyani found another gear to overtake Abdalla to finish second and third in 1:48.05 and 1:48.26 respectively.A similar scenario played out in the women&rsquo;s race. Marta Hirpato of Bahrain settled into pole position about 80 metres into the race, with Sri Lanka&rsquo;s Nimal Waliwarsha Arachchige and Japan&rsquo;s Yume Kitamura giving chase. The order remained the same coming into the final 100 metres before Hirpato powered away to win in 2:04.59 to the Sri Lankan&rsquo;s 2:04.88. Kitamura was later disqualified for a lane infraction, elevating Tatyana Neroznak of Kazakhstan to bronze.<h3>Almandeel successfully defends 60m hurdles title</h3>Another successful title defence came courtesy of Kuwait&rsquo;s Abdulaziz Al-Mandeel, who prevailed in 7.60 in the 60m hurdles. His time was his second national record and championship record in as many days as well as the fastest time by an Asian athlete this season."I am so excited with my time," said Almandeel, who arrived in the Qatari capital with a career best of 7.74. "I feel I can run faster in Portland and secure a place in the final."In the women&rsquo;s contest it took a photo reading to separate Kazakhstan&rsquo;s hurdling Anastasiyas. The verdict went in favour of Anastasiya Soprunova over teammate Pilipenko by a scant 0.002 as each were credited with 8.17, the latter taking the silver medal for the second successive championships.The penultimate event, the women's 4x400m, witnessed another Asian indoor record courtesy of Bahrain. The quartet &ndash; Alwa Eid Naser, Uwaseun Yusuf Jamal, Iman Essa Jasim and individual 400m winner Oluwakemi Adekoya &ndash; clocked 3:35.07 to eclipse the mark set by an Indian team at these championships in 2008.Qatar won the men's event in 3:08.20, also a championship record, more than three seconds clear of runners-up Iran.Elsewhere, favourite and defending champion Svetlana Radzivil won the women&rsquo;s high jump at 1.92m, with teammate Nadiya Dusanova second with 1.88m, to lead a 1-2 finish for Uzbekistan.Akihiko Nakamura, the 2014 silver medallist, won the men&rsquo;s heptathlon to capture Japan&rsquo;s first gold of the championships, adding 107 points to his national record with a tally of 5831. China&rsquo;s Hu Yufei was second with 5745 points and Uzbekistan&rsquo;s Marat Khaaydarov third with 5619. Zhang Yaoguang of China won the long jump with 7.99m ahead of India&rsquo;s Prem Kumar Kumaravel, who was second in 7.92m.Liu Yang, also from China and the bronze medallist two years ago at the last edition of the championships, moved up two rungs on the podium after winning the men&rsquo;s shot put with 19.30m.Qatar topped the medal table with six golds, followed by China with five, and Kazakhstan with four. China won 13 medals in all, followed by Qatar and Kazakhstan with 10 apiece.Bob Ramsak (organisers) for the IAAF

Mohamed Al-Garni successfully defended his second title of the weekend, his 3000m win on home turf providing the highlight the final day of the Asian Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday (21).

 Al-Garni clinches second successive double at Asian Indoor Championships

Hosts China collected four more gold medals to finish on top of the medal table with 15 titles at the 2015 Asian Championships, which concluded in heavy rain in Wuhan on Sunday (7).Thanks to the powerful home stretch from 400m champion Yang Huizhen, the anchor leg runner in the women&rsquo;s 4x400m relay, China rallied to run down defending champions India in the final few metres, snatching victory in 3:33.44.&ldquo;My plan was to follow in the first 200 and then charge for the win after the final curve. I have given everything. With such rainy weather, we are satisfied with the time,&rdquo; said the 22-year-old Yang, who set a personal best of 52.37 to win the individual 400m title on Thursday.Despite the absence of Olympic and world championships medallist Gong Lijiao, China&rsquo;s rule in the women&rsquo;s shot put was still unshakable. The 2011 world youth and 2014 world junior champion Guo Tianqian improved her best by two centimetres to win with her fourth round effort of 18.59m.China&rsquo;s Gao Yang took the silver with 17.98m while her countrywomen Bian Ka finished third with 17.78 and completed a clean sweep for the hosts.<h3>Chinese triple jump medal takeaway</h3> The women&rsquo;s triple jump event also witnessed a 1-2-3 by China.Wang Wupin claimed the title with 13.76m, followed by Li Yanmei and Wang Rong with 13.57m and 13.44m respectively&ldquo;I planned to jump over 14 metres but the rain was too heavy and the runway was wet and slippery, making it impossible to compete to my best level,&rdquo; reflected Wang, who improved her best to 14.10m last month in Beijing.Javelin thrower Liu Shiying contributed the fourth gold for China as she reached 61.33m with her fifth round effort to seal the victory, beating the championship record of 60.65 set by her compatriot Li Lingwei two years ago.The biggest surprise of the day and perhaps the whole championships, was the defeat of Qatari high jump star and 2015 world-leader Mutaz Essa Barshim.Barshim, whose Asian record is 2.43m, struggled to find his form in the rain and failed to go higher than 2.20m.Japan&rsquo;s Takashi Eto, a modest 11th last autumn at the Asian Games in the South Korean city of Incheaon when Barshim took the gold medal, took an unexpected gold medal when he went over 2.24m.Hsiang Chunhsien, of Chinese Taipei, also went over that height but had to settle for the silver on count-back.&ldquo;It's not my best. I don&rsquo;t like competing in this weather,&rdquo; bemoaned Barshim, who suffered his first defeat in right competitions in 2015.<h3>Two more golds for Ogunode</h3> Fellow Qatari Femi Ogunode was also bothered by the wet conditions but managed to win the men&rsquo;s 200m. &ldquo;Breaking the 200m Asian record was my plan before the rain started this morning. So my goal was just going for the win, not the record because I do not want to push myself and get injured,&rdquo; said Ogunode after winning the race in 20.32, just 0.04 shy of the championship record he set in the semi-final on Saturday.As the winner of men&rsquo;s 100m and 200m events, Ogunode added a third title to his name in Wuhan as he helped Qatar win the men&rsquo;s 4x400m gold with a championship record of 3:02.50.The men&rsquo;s 800m was also won by Qatar with reigning champion Musaeb Abdulrahman Balla clocking 1:49.40.United Arab Emirates distance runner Alia Saeed Mohammed added the continental title to her Asian Games gold as she clocked 31:52.29 to win over 25 laps of the track, slicing 35 seconds from the previous championship record by Bahrain&rsquo;s Shitaye Eshete of Bahrain at the last edition of the championship in 2013. Defending champion Viktoriya Zyabkin,a of Kazakhstan, shrugged off a laboriously slow start with a reaction time of 0.351 seconds to win the women&rsquo;s 200m in 23.09. India&rsquo;s Tintu Lukka produced a season&rsquo;s best of 2:01.53 to win the women&rsquo;s 800m while Japan&rsquo;s Nakamura Akihiko took the decathlon gold medal with 7773 points.Vincent Wu for the IAAF

Hosts China collected four more gold medals to finish on top of the medal table with 15 titles at the 2015 Asian Championships, which concluded in heavy rain in Wuhan on Sunday (7).

China add four gold on final day to finish on top at Asian Championships

Many of the world&rsquo;s leading athletes will be in action in Doha on 15 May for the opening fixture of the 2015 IAAF Diamond League, but there will be plenty for the local fans to cheer for too as a handful of Qatar&rsquo;s top athletes will be set to compete.With no men&rsquo;s high jump on the schedule, world indoor champion Mutaz Essa Barshim won&rsquo;t be in attendance, but a handful of talented Qatari athletes will be in action instead.National record-holder Musaeb Balla will be making his fifth appearance at the Doha IAAF Diamond League meeting, having previously set PBs at the 2010, 2012 and 2013 editions. Already this year, the 26-year-old clocked a world-leading time indoors over 800m and more recently won the Arab title.In Doha on 15 May he will come up against world 800m champion Mohammed Aman and world 1500m champion Asbel Kiprop.Qatar&rsquo;s new wonder kid Abdalelah Haroun will make his IAAF Diamond League debut in a non-scoring 400m race, exclusively for Asian athletes. Haroun, just 18, burst on to the scene earlier this year with a sensational clocking of 45.39 indoors. Not only was it the fastest indoor debut in history, it also broke the senior Asian indoor record.Already this year, he has clocked 44.68 in both of his outdoor competitions, most recently when winning the Arab title in bad conditions in Manama. The Asian junior record is just 0.02 away from his current PB.The hosts will be represented in the 100m by double Asian Games champion Femi Ogunode. Last year the 23-year-old took the bronze medal in the 60m at the IAAF World Indoor Championships and then went on to set an Asian 100m record of 9.93 and a Qatari 200m record of 20.06.His two previous appearances at the Doha IAAF Diamond League meeting have been in the 200m, finishing in the top three on both occasions.Organisers for the IAAF<a href="http://fantasydiamondrace.com/" target="_blank">Sign up for the 2015 Fantasy Diamond Race</a>2015 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

Many of the world’s leading athletes will be in action in Doha on 15 May for the opening fixture of the 2015 IAAF Diamond League, but there will be plenty for the local fans to cheer for too as a handful of Qatar’s top athletes will be set to compete.

Qatar’s rising stars set to shine in Doha – IAAF Diamond League

A year ago, Genzebe Dibaba demolished the 3000m world Indoor record at the XL-Galan in the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm. When she returned this Thursday evening (19) she delivered the best kind of deja-vu experience for almost 10,000 spectators at the penultimate IAAF Indoor Permit meeting of the winter.Despite having pace making help only for the first two kilometres in the 5000m, Dibaba was still capable of running the third world indoor record* of her career when she clocked a stunning 14:18.86 for 25 laps of an indoor track She took more than five seconds off the previous mark of 14:24:37 set by her compatriot Meseret Defar on the same track in 2009.Just like 12 months ago, Dibaba was quickly on world record schedule and gradually distanced herself from the intermediate times in Defar&rsquo;s world record race.At 1000m, Dibaba was 1.2 seconds ahead; at 2000m, 3.0; at 3000m, 5.2; at 4000m, 6.0. And even though she couldn&rsquo;t quite match Defar&rsquo;s final lap of 30.17 Dibaba still stopped the clock in a time that only two women &ndash; her sister and world record-holder Tirunesh Dibaba and Defar &ndash; have beaten outdoors.Her unofficial kilometre splits (to 0.1) were: 2:53.3, 2:51.5, 2:52.4, 2:54.6 and 2:47.1.More than a minute in arrears, Dibaba's fellow Ethiopian Birtukan Fente was a distant second in 15:22.56.The 10th world record performance in the arena was, of course, the main highlight of the evening but there were four more world-leading marks.<h3>1500m world leads for Hassan and Tesfaye </h3> In the women&rsquo;s 1500m, Sifan Hassan pushed hard from halfway and was obviously aiming for the first sub-four-minute time of this year. In the end, the Dutch runner missed by less than 0.5, winning in a national record of 4:00.46, but it was still a most impressive display of running, illustrated by the fact that she left the rest of the field more than five seconds behind. In second place, UAE&rsquo;s Betlhem Desalegn set a national record of 4:05.61.Germany&rsquo;s Homiyu Tesfaye entered the men&rsquo;s 1500m as the world leader with 3:35.71 and he left the race still the as the world leader but now with a national record of 3:34:13 to his name, moving him to third on the European all-time list.Tesfaye was pushed hard to the line by Kenya&rsquo;s Bethwell Birgen, who clocked 3:34.62 for second place.The men&rsquo;s 800m produced an almost total rewriting of the top end of the 2015 world list with the top six in the race producing the six fastest times of this winter.The Polish co-favourites, European champion Adam Kszczot and Marcin Lewandowski, surprisingly chose a more conservative opening strategy this evening and that provided their downfall.&nbsp; Qatar&rsquo;s Musaeb Balla stuck to the pacemaker right from the start and didn&rsquo;t falter all the way to the line. Although Kszczot and Lewandowski finished fast, they didn&rsquo;t quite manage to haul in Balla, who won in 1:45.48 with the Polish pair second and third with 1:45.77 and 1:45.78 respectively.Another unexpected world-leading mark came in the women&rsquo;s long jump where Canada&rsquo;s Christabel Nettey opened with a 6.81m personal best and then reached a national record of 6.99m in the third round, surpassing the national outdoor mark too. Nettey improved her overall best by no less than 21 centimetres after choosing to pass her last three attempts.Sweden's 20-year-old 2010 Youth Olympic Games triple jump winner Khaddi Sagnia jumped 6.62m for second place.<h3>Haroun who? </h3> When it came to surprises though, the biggest one was provided before the main programme of the evening got under way when the completely unheralded Qatari teenager Abadalleleh Haroun stormed to an Asian indoor record of 45.39 as the winner of the 400m B-final. World indoor champion Pavel Maslak from the Czech Republic was almost a full second slower when taking the A-final in 46.38.Cuba&rsquo;s Orlando Ortega underlined his current world-leading position in the 60m hurdles with his third victory in a week, leading from start to finish to win in 7.52 from Dayron Robles and David Oliver, who were second and third in 7.56 and 7.66 respectively.In the women&rsquo;s high jump, experience triumphed as Spain&rsquo;s Ruth Beitia was the only one to clear 1.93m. She also had one good attempt at 1.98m so the other high jumpers should be warned that the reigning European indoor champion still has to be reckoned with when she defends her title in Prague in two weeks&rsquo; time.The pole vault was rather more competitive with six women still in the competition with the bar at 4.60m, although, in the end, it turned to be a clear-cut win for Greece&rsquo;s Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou. She cleared 4.65m on her second attempt and after her two last remaining opponents, 2011 world champion Fabiana Murer and Angelica Bengtsson, were eliminated at 4.70m, Kyriakopoulou asked to have the bar set at a European-leading 4.76m.This height was four centimetres above her own national indoor record which, incidentally, was set at this meeting last year, but she still made it on her first attempt with daylight between herself and the bar.The vault probably would have been enough for 4.81m but Kyriakopoulou, sadly, didn&rsquo;t manage to reproduce that sort of form with any of her three attempts at that height.The home crowd in Stockholm also got quite something to cheer for.Local long jump hero Michel Torneus opened his season with 8.07m, which proved to be the best of the evening as no one else managed to go beyond eight metres.In women&rsquo;s 200m, Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s Michelle-Lee Ahye won in a meeting record and personal best of 23.37 from home teenage talent and world youth champion Irene Ekelund, who was second in 23.55.A Lennart Julin for the IAAF*subject to the usual ratification procedures

A year ago, Genzebe Dibaba demolished the 3000m world Indoor record at the XL-Galan in the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm. When she returned this Thursday evening (19) she delivered the best kind of deja-vu experience for almost 10,000 spectators at the penultimate IAAF Indoor Permit meeting of the winter.

Dibaba sets world indoor 5000m record in Stockholm

St Kitts&rsquo; sprinter Kim Collins continued to astound and defy Father Time at the traditional Russian Winter meeting, the second of the 2015 IAAF Indoor Permit meetings, which ironically fell on the warmest February day for many years in Moscow with temperatures about 3 degrees Celsius outside the CSKA Arena on Sunday (1). Collins, now 38 and a familiar face in the Russian capital, won the 60m in a world-leading time and national record of 6.48, shaving 0.01 from his previous best set last year. USA&rsquo;s Mike Rodgers was second in 6.56.&ldquo;I have six kids, and it now seems I&rsquo;ve got more mascots from the Russian Winter meeting than kids to give them to as presents,&rdquo; joked Collins.Joint world indoor high jump champions Kamila Licwinko and Mariya Kuchina were the only ones left in their event after both cleared 1.94m with their first jumps.They then fought out an exciting duel.The Pole cleared 1.97m with her first jump while Kuchina needed three attempts. Licwinko decided not to jump 1.99m, clearly thinking that Kuchina would struggle, but the latter jumped that height with her second try to put the pressure on. <h3>Licwinko moves into new territory </h3> However, Licwinko's nerve and form held and she confidently went over a national record, world-leading mark and meeting record of 2.01m on her first attempt while Kuchina brought the bar down three times.&ldquo;I am very happy to set a PB, I&rsquo;ve been feeling I was close to beating it for a while already,&rdquo; said Licwinko, who had three unsuccessful attempts at 2.03m &ldquo;I am improving with every competition this winter, which is nice. Hopefully, I will be on the top of my form at the European Indoors in Prague. It was very interesting to jump against Kuchina, she is young and talented, but I cannot say that the fact we are the joint world indoor champions makes her a special opponent for me.&rdquo;&nbsp; The men&rsquo;s high jump saw Dmitriy Semyonov and Daniyil Tsyplakov both go over 2.31m with their first attempts before failing at 2.34mHowever, Semyanov took a memorable win on count-back after adding one centimetre to his personal best.The pair also took a number of impressive scalps, including two men who jumped 2.40m last year. Aleksey Dmitrik only jumped 2.28m and was fourth while Ukraine&rsquo;s European silver medallist Andriy Protsenko could do no better than 2.24m and was sixth. &nbsp;The first final of the day was the men&rsquo;s 1500m and saw Kenya&rsquo;s Vincent Kibet win in a personal best and world-leading 3:37.79. His countryman Bethwell Birghen was a close second with 3:37.81 while Silas Kiplagat made it an all-Kenyan podium when he clocked 3:38.28 for third. The pre-event favourite Louis Tsatoumas matched expectations and won the long jump with 8.05m.The Greek jumper was the only one to jump beyond eight metres, with Russian champion Pavel Shalin second with 7.94m.World indoor 400m champion Pavel Maslak made an impressive comeback to the track after injury ruined much of his summer and the Czech sprinter posted a European-leading time of 45.80, winning by more than a second.Maslak also managed to break one of the oldest Russian Winter meeting records, which dated back to 1996, and the outing will give him considerable confidence in his bid to defend his European indoor 400m title on home soil in five weeks&rsquo; time.Triple jump specialist Yekaterina Koneva smashed her long jump best twice during the afternoon, with 6.81m on her first attempt and then 6.82m in the third round. Koneva is now second on the 2015 world list, but she still intends to compete in just the triple jump at the European Indoor Championships.&ldquo;People say I follow in Tatyana Lebedeva&rsquo;s steps but that's not really the case. I used to do sprints and long jump even before the triple," said Koneva. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have ambitions for the double at the championships. If they had the triple on the (Russian Winter) meeting program this time, I would definitely prefer to do it and not the long jump."<h3>Balla close to Asian best</h3> Qatar&rsquo;s Musaeb Balla won the 600m in 1:15.99, just 0.16 shy of his own Asian indoor best for the non-championship distance that he set last year in Moscow.In the closest contest of the meeting, a photo-finish was needed to separate Cuba&rsquo;s Dayron Robles and Russia&rsquo;s Konstantin Shabanov in the 60m hurdles. Both men were given the same time of 7.69 but the verdict went to the former 110m world record-holder and 2008 Olympic champion.Curiously, the best Russian hurdler, two-time European 110m hurdles champion Sergey Shubenkov, was an interested observer and working for TV as he will not be competing indoors this season. &ldquo;I made my debut as a TV interviewer last summer when Colin Jackson came to visit me at my home in Barnaul, when he was there as an IAAF Ambassador," Shubenkov said. &ldquo;This time the interviews were very easy, just 15 seconds, so its hard to mess up an interview too badly.&rdquo; Belarusian Alina Talay won the women&rsquo;s 60m hurdles in 8.02.In the other women&rsquo;s track races, Ukraine&rsquo;s Olesya Povh won the 60m in 7.27 while there were home wins for Yekaterina Renzhina and Yekaterina Poistogova in the 400m and 800m, clocking 52.08 and 2:02.11 respectively.Renzhina, still only 20, ran a world-leading time on a standard track and took more than a second off her previous indoor best of 53.52 from last year. Russia&rsquo;s 2004 Olympic 800m champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy, who was recently appointed as the head coach of the Russian national team, was honoured with a farewell ceremony to officially declare the end to his track career and pole vault queen Yelena Isinbayeva, currently on maternity leave, flew specially from Volgograd to say goodbye and pay tribute to one of the biggest Russian stars of her generation. &ldquo;Our international careers started at the same competition, at the World Youth Games in Moscow in 1998,&rdquo; recalled Isinbayeva.&ldquo;We both won back then, and both became the champions at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens,&rdquo; she added. "Now, I am very sad that if I am going to the 2016 Olympics in Rio, I will have to fly there without Yuriy."Natalia Maryanchik for the IAAF

St Kitts’ sprinter Kim Collins continued to astound and defy Father Time at the traditional Russian Winter meeting, the second of the 2015 IAAF Indoor Permit meetings, which ironically fell on the warmest February day for many years in Moscow with temperatures about 3 degrees Celsius outside the CSKA Arena on Sunday (1). 

Collins, Kibet and Licwinko all post world-leading marks in Moscow 

World finalist Marion Lotout broke the championship record in the Pole Vault at the Francophone Games, bagging one of the five gold medals won by host nation France on 11 September, the second day of athletics action.The 23-year-old needed just two attempts to win the competition. She opened with a first-time clearance at 4.20m to steal the lead from Belgium’s Fanny Smets, then went clear at 4.40m at the first time of asking.Smets also cleared the same height, albeit on her second attempt. The pair then unsuccessfully attempted 4.50m, leaving Lotout to take the gold medal on count-back.Mediterranean Games champion Emmanuel Biron won the men’s 100m in 10.41 into a -1.4m/s wind, becoming the first French winner of the title since the inaugural event in 1989. Team-mate Ayodele Ikuesan took the women’s title in a photo finish from Romania’s Andreea Ograzeanu, both clocking 11.72 into a -2.1m/s wind.It’s the first time since 1989 that both Francophone Games 100m titles were won by athletes from the same nation.The fourth French athlete to strike gold was high jumper Melanie Melfort who won with 1.90m, beating Poland’s World finalist and pre-event favourite Justyna Kasprzycka, who jumped 1.88m.The fifth and final gold medal for the host nation was won by French teenager Laura Arteil, who became the youngest ever winner of the Heptathlon at the Francophone Games. Buoyed by a PB of 44.20m in the Javelin, the 19-year-old took gold with a score of 5534.The Heptathlon and Decathlon at the Francophone Games are part of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge.Qatar is competing for the first time at the Francophone Games, having joined the International Organization of La Francophonie (IOF) last year. Middle-distance runner Musaeb Balla duly became Qatar’s first ever Francophone Games athletics gold medallist in winning the 800m.The Asian champion, who won at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Rieti three days prior with a national record of 1:43.93, led at the bell in 52.64 and maintained his lead until the finish, winning in 1:46.57, just 0.04 outside the Games record set in 2001.Almost a second behind Balla, Moroccan athletes took silver and bronze with Samir Jamma just holding off team-mate Nader Belhanbel, 1:47.50 to 1:47.72.Qatar won two more medals in the Discus, though neither of them was gold. Romania’s Sergiu Ursu took the title with 62.87m, the second-best winning throw in the history of the Francophone Games, while Qatari pair Rashid Al Dosari (59.06m) and Ahmed Dheeb (58.65m) took the other places on the podium.In the men’s Long Jump, Polish champion Adrian Strzalkowski equalled his PB of 7.90m in round two to take the lead, then produced two wind-assisted jumps of 7.99m. France’s 2010 European silver medallist Kafetien Gomis took the silver with 7.81m.Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

Lotout sets championship record in Pole Vault at Francophone Games

Silas Kiplagat and Musaeb Balla posted quick times in the middle-distance events, while Anita Wlodarczyk and Sally Pearson broke meeting records at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Rieti on a highly entertaining afternoon of athletics on Sunday (8).Rieti staged the final leg of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge for both men and women. A qualifying round was held on Saturday afternoon to determine the best four best throwers in both categories.Anita Wlodarczyk, silver medallist at the World Championships in Moscow, clinched the win in Rieti with a meeting record of 76.57m to secure the win in the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge. The Polish star backed up her winning mark with two more throws over 75 metres (75.07m and 75.14m). Olympic and World champion Tatyana Lysenko had to settle with runner-up place with 73.90m. Wlodarczyk won the Hammer Throw Challenge with 233.83m ahead of Lysenko (227.59m).Hungary’s Olympic champion Krisztian Pars, who set the best qualifying mark of 78.17m, won the men’s Hammer with 79.80m in the third round, beating World champion Pawel Fajdek who produced a best throw of 76.29m in the fourth and last attempt after three fouls to finish ahead of veterans Szymon Ziolkowski (75.30m) and Nicola Vizzoni (74.50m).Despite this defeat, Fajdek clinched first place in the Hammer Throw Challenge with 246.23m ahead of Pars (264.17m).Kiplagat makes up for Moscow disappointment with 3:30 in 1500mThe magic blue track of the Raul Guidobaldi lived up to its reputation as the temple of middle-distance running produced fast times on a sunny and warm afternoon of outstanding performances.Silas Kiplagat, sixth at the World Championships in the 1500m in Moscow, backed up his post-championships good form, clinching his second consecutive win after Zurich.The 1500m was paced by Ismael Kombich who went through 400m in 53.48 before Collins Cheboi took over as pacemaker, clocking 1:50.73 at 800m and 2:47.73 at 1200m. Kiplagat went to the front with 300m to go and ran an outstanding final lap to finish first, setting a season’s best of 3:30.13 for his second win in a row in Rieti.Johan Cronje, World bronze medallist in Moscow, set a South African record of 3:31.93 in second place as the top nine runners all clocked a seasonal or a personal best. Mohamed Moustaoui from Morocco set a season’s best of 3:32.08 in third to finish ahead of Nick Willis who also lowered his 2013 best with 3:32.57.“In Moscow I was not in good shape,” said Kiplagat. “I felt very weak and the weather was too hot. I wanted to win and set a fast time. Winning in Rieti for the second consecutive year was very special.”&nbsp; Qatar’s Musaeb Abdulrahman Balla, 24, dipped under 1:44 in the 800m for the first time to set a national record of 1:43.93.The fast pace was set by 2011 World youth champion Leonard Kosencha who went through 400m in 49.08. USA’s former 400m hurdler Brandon Johnson took the lead at 500m after Kosencha dropped out, then passed 600m in 1:16.56 before Balla took the lead coming off the bend.Balla ran a great final straight to take the win ahead of World Junior bronze medallist Edwin Melly, who set a season’s best of 1:44.49 to hold off Johnson by 0.06. Ireland’s Mark English dipped under 1:45 for the second time in his career with 1:44.89.Semenya returns with sub-two formSouth Africa’s Caster Semenya, World champion in 2009 and Olympic silver medallist in London last year, returned to sub-two-minute form to clinch the win in the women’s 800m with a season’s best of 1:58.92.She held off Kenya’s Nelly Jepkosgei, who smashed her personal best with 1:59.40. Ukraine’s European indoor champion and World finalist Nataliya Lupu dipped below two minutes to take third place in 1:59.52, beating 2011 World 1500m silver medallist Hannah England from Great Britain (2:00.39).World 5000m silver medallist Mercy Cherono also impressed by winning the women’s 3000m in a solid 8:35.97 in a race where eight athletes set personal bests. Sylvia Kibet, World silver medallist in the 5000m in Berlin and Daegu, ran the fastest time of her career with 8:37.47 to beat compatriot Agnes Tirop (8:39.13) and Netherlands’ World finalist Susan Kuijken who dipped under 8:40 with a life-time best of 8:39.65.Edwin Soi, Olympic bronze medallist in 2008 and fifth at the World Championships in Moscow, narrowly edged USA’s Ben True by just 0.06 in the men’s 3000m, winning in 7:36.53 as True smashed his PB by almost eight seconds.Three men – Soi, True and 1500m specialist Caleb Ndiku – broke away with 600m to go. Soi and True launched their kick with one lap to go, opening a gap on Ndiku who was eventually overtaken by Cyrus Rutto who was rewarded by a career best of 7:37:57.Meeting records from Pearson and Perkovic Australian star Sally Pearson, Olympic champion in London and World silver medallist in Moscow, improved the 100m Hurdles meeting record, clocking 12.64 to win ahead of Jamaican Andrea Bliss, second in 12.93.“The meeting record confirmed that I’m still in good shape,” said Pearson. “I’m happy with the season. The silver medal was not what I wanted but I’m happy considering the injury. It was very special to run in Rieti. I enjoyed the weather and the atmosphere of this meeting.”Croatian superstar Sandra Perkovic, reigning Olympic, World and European Discus champion, set a meeting record of 66.12m on her fourth attempt to cap another great season in which she won her first World title, the Diamond Race and lost only once.The women’s Discus was one of the best events of the meeting as it featured the entire Moscow podium, but it was Zaneta Glanc from Poland who took second place with 62.24m ahead of World bronze medallist Yarelys Barrios (61.98m) and France’s Melina Robert Michon (61.62m).US sprinter Walter Dix, double Olympic bronze medallist in 2008 and double World silver medallist in 2011, returned to sub-10 territory. He clocked 9.99 to win the men’s 100m to back up his recent 20.12 200m performance in Brussels.Dix edged 2010 World indoor champion Dwain Chambers (10.09) and 2012 Olympic finalist Ryan Bailey (10.10).Jamaican doubles in men’s and women’s sprintsStephanie McPherson from Jamaica, fourth at the World Championships, missed her PB by 0.08 to win the 400m in 50.00, beating compatriot Kaliese Spencer who set a personal best of 50.19.Carrie Russell scored another Jamaican sprint win, taking victory in the 200m in 22.62 to set her third PB of the season in this event with her best before this year being 23.86.Jamaica confirmed their dominance of the men’s 200m where 2011 World University Games champion Rasheed Dwyer took first place in 20.30, beating Ukraine’s Serhiy Smelyk who set a personal best of 20.39. Two days after setting a 400m PB in Brussels, Italian Matteo Galvan set a 200m lifetime best of 20.50.Jamaican Rusheen McDonald, World 4x400m silver medallist in Moscow, set a meeting record in the 300m with a world-leading 31.97. The race commemorated late Italian sprint legend Pietro Mennea, who competed eleven times in Rieti and set a 300m world best of 32.28 in 1979 on this track.McDonald was awarded by Tommie Smith, 1968 Olympic 200m champion and former World record-holder, who was the special guest of the Rieti meeting together with another athletics legend Alberto Juantorena, Olympic 400m and 800m champion in 1976.European bronze medallist Irina Gordeeva upset Olympic champion Anna Chicherova in the women’s High Jump. The Russian had a clean sheet up to 1.99m while Chicherova needed two attempts to clear the routine height of 1.85m and jumped 1.96 at the second time of asking.Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF

Fast middle-distance races and four meeting records in Rieti – IAAF World Challenge

On a rain-soaked Sunday (7), Betlhem Desalegn of the UAE rewrote the championship record in the women’s 5000m en route to a golden double to highlight the final day of the 20th Asian Athletics Championships in Pune, India.The 21-year-old Desalegn, originally from Ethiopia, prevented a distance double for Bahrain’s 10,000m winner Shitaye Eshete. Desalgen, who has claimed the 1500m gold two days ago, won the 5000m in a championship record of 15:12.84.Tejitu Daba’s mark of 15:22.48, set in 2011, became history as Desalegn put in a strong show in an event not too familiar to her. Eshete, Daba and Desalegn played out a fascinating game, with the lead changing hands several times. It seemed the two Bahraini women would outwit Desalegn, but she proved too strong at the finish.Taking the lead with about 600m left, Desalegn cruised home, leaving Eshete (15:22.17) in silver position. In heavy conditions, Daba faded away to finish third in 15:38.63.“I am not used to running in rainy conditions,” said Desalgen. “It was very tough but I feel great as I have two gold medals now.”Saudi Arabia’s men’s 4x400m relay team set the other championship record of the day. Anchored by the 400m gold medallist Youssef Al-Masrahi, the Saudi team clocked 3:02.53 to erase the previous record of 3:02.61 set by Japan in 1998.On the final day, China won four more gold medals to take their final total to 16 gold, six silver and five bronze. Despite keeping many of their top performers at home, the Chinese team was a cut above the rest, with the second-placed Bahrain ending with a haul of 5-7-3.For the third straight time, Japan won both the 400m Hurdles events. Yasuhiro Fueki timed 49.86 to take the men’s gold from China’s Cheng Wen (50.07). India’s Satinder Singh warded off a late threat from Japan’s Yuta Imazeki to win the bronze in 50.35.Satomi Kubokura snatched the women’s title in 56.82 for her fourth straight gold medal in her sixth Asian Championships. The two successes gave respectability to Japan’s tally, as they ended third with four gold, six silver and ten bronze medals.The men’s High Jump turned out to be a prolonged affair with six men clearing 2.21m and none succeeding in going further in difficult conditions. China’s Bi Xioliang, Irain’s Keyvan Ghanbarzadeh and India’s Jithin Thomas were tied in first place with the same number of failures, forcing a jump-off.As the bar was brought lower, Xioliang cleared 2.18m for the gold while Ghanbarzadeh and Thomas both failed, leaving them sharing the silver medal. Qatar’s Asian record-holder Mutaz Essa Barshim skipped the event due to a back injury.Musaeb Abdulrahman Balla won Qatar’s only gold medal, leading from start to finish in the men’s 800m. It was a confident run by Balla, who powered through the two laps in 1:46.92. Saudi Arabia’s Abdulaziz Laden Mohammed tried to offer a challenge but could not match Balla’s pace and settled for the silver in 1:47.01. Bilal Mansour Ali took the bronze for Bahrain in 1:48.56.“I could have run faster but I was bit tired having run the heats and finals of the 400m,” said the 24-year-old Balla, who was fourth in the 400m. “I will focus on preparing for the World Championships now.”Yusuf Saad Kamel, Bahrain’s 2009 World 1500m champion, was sixth while Iran’s Asian Games champion Sajjad Moradi, hampered by a right hamstring strain, hobbled home eighth.China’s Wang Chunyu out-sprinted Bahrain’s Genzeb Shumi Regasa (2:04.16) and India’s Tintu Luka (2:04.48) for the women’s 800m gold. The 18-year-old Chunyu, who had run 2:02.81 at the Shanghai Diamond League, improved her season’s best to 2:02.47.Bahrain’s Dejene Regassa Mootuma retained his gold in the men’s 5000m. His compatriot Alemu Bekele, going for a double after his win in the 10,000m on the opening night, seemed the stronger of the two as they attempted to ward off the challenge from Saudi Arabia’s Imad Hamed Noor.Mootuma even dropped back to third and seemed to be fading away, but he found a second wind to catch up with the leaders. With a little over a lap left, he overtook Bekele before surging to the finish in 13:53.25, running zig-zag on the track and waving to the fans. Bekele’s silver came in 13:57.23 and Noor’s bronze in 14:05.88.Golden finishFor the home fans who thronged the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in large numbers, the best part of the programme came near the end. The Indian women’s 4x400m relay team, comprising Nirmala Sheoran, Luka, Anu Mariam Jose and Machettira Raju Poovamma, won the gold medal in 3:32.26, earning them a qualification spot for the World Championships. India had last won the event in 2007.Viktoriya Zyabkina won Kazakhstan’s first-ever gold in the women’s 200m in a race that saw the defending champion Chisato Fukushima of Japan slipping to fourth place. Zyabkina timed 23.62 to rebuff the challenge from India’s Asha Roy who claimed a surprise silver in 23.71. Dutee Chand, 17, sprang another surprise by emerging ahead of Fukushima by one-thousandth of a second. Both were credited with a time of 23.82.Xie Zhenye, another Chinese teenager, remained strong at the finish to seal the men’s 200m gold. The 19-year-old clocked 20.87 (+0.7) while Saudi Arabia’s Fahad Mohammed Al-Subaie (20.92) edged out Japan’s Kei Takase (20.92) for the silver, also by one-thousandth of a second.China’s Cao Shuo dashed Indian hopes in the men’s Triple Jump to win the gold by the narrowest of margins. Shuo, the 2010 Asian Junior Champion and the Asian Games bronze medallist, delivered his season’s best of 16.77m in the fourth round. Indian Renjith Maheswary, the 2007 champion, almost matched it with a 16.76m in the fifth round but couldn’t go any further. Arpinder Singh fetched another bronze for India with a 16.58m leap, relegating Kazakhstan’s 2009 champion Roman Valiyev (16.55m) to fourth. Valiyev had headed the Asian charts this season with a 17.10m effort.A correspondent for the IAAF

Desalegn lands distance double at Asian Championships