<h3 style="text-align: center;">Sam Kendricks (USA)</h3>
Two-time world pole vault champion, world indoor silver medallist and Olympic bronze medallist
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Before I started pole vaulting I was a distance runner. My father used to wake my twin brother and I to go for a run each morning &ndash; giving me the gift of discipline and physical courage.
My journey into pole vaulting started by pure chance. I was 12 years old when my home state of Mississippi added girl's pole vault to the high jump programme. The event was introduced for girls because a judge&rsquo;s daughter from my home town successfully, and for good reason, got the right for girl's pole vault. It was my good fortune that my father was a track coach and that&rsquo;s how I started pole vaulting &ndash; with the girls who, initially, were far better than me!
I was short, small and skinny back then but I think my father saw in me what we in the South call a bit of "want to".&nbsp;
My father is an ex-military officer and a great problem solver and besides giving me the gift of discipline and personal courage he also gave me the gift of time and worked with me for years and years on improving my craft.
Over time I got steadily better. I trained with the girls and I grew past them. That has been the meme of my career. I&rsquo;ve gradually grown into the event and it has only been in the past few years do I feel I have truly mastered pole vaulting.
In some ways I&rsquo;m the very antithesis of the typical thrill-seeking pole vaulter. Yet it was watching the video of the great pole vaulters of the past &ndash; men like Nick Hysong and Steve Hooker among others &ndash; that gave me a vigour for the event.
I call them the "wild men" of the event &ndash; courageous vaulters, who had a mature yet wild heart. Yet each of these vaulters were all quite different. Not one fitted the mould of what you would expect a vaulter to be.
I had to find my own way and imitated my now good friend Jeff Hartwig (a 6.03m vaulter and joint eighth on the all-time list) &ndash; a true professional of the sport. He had a long and prestigious career and was perhaps the most internationally respected vaulter never to win a World Championship or Olympic title.
I knew I never had the skill or the potential to set big records.&nbsp; I&rsquo;m no Sergey Bubka &ndash; I know it in my bones and my heart and it is senseless to lie to myself. However, I knew if I could fill in the gaps then I could carve out a space to enjoy this lifestyle to be a professional.
For me, I needed to adopt a very consistent, professional mindset to vaulting. I&rsquo;m not going to jump as big as Mondo Duplantis, but I am the vaulter that is hard to beat.
Pole vault is very niche. To be able to survive on the circuit you need to bring a number of other skills to the table such as people skills, athletics knowledge &ndash; a full spectrum of responsibility. It helps breed maturity.&nbsp;
One of the coolest elements to vaulting is when you arrive at a meeting with your poles &ndash; it is instantly recognisable that we are vaulters. In many ways we are the travelling circus of track and field and there is a unity which comes from the strangeness and nuances of the event.
The pole vault can seems a little scary to many people but I believe it is thrilling because you have to balance risk versus reward and, for all the factors I&rsquo;ve explained, I think it helps mature you as a person.
Steve Landells for World Athletics

The pole vault can seems a little scary to many people but I believe it is thrilling because you have to balance risk versus reward.

Sam Kendricks: why I vault

If there is an image to epitomise the camaraderie within the pole vault, the photograph of Mondo Duplantis holding an umbrella over Sam Kendricks to protect him from the Gateshead elements would be it.
In far from ideal conditions for any discipline, let alone one which requires athletes to launch themselves skyward, some of the world&rsquo;s best demonstrated how the show must go on, whatever the weather, at the Wanda Diamond League season opener in North East England on Sunday (23). Battling heavy rain, a strong blustery wind and cool temperatures, the USA&rsquo;s two-time world champion Kendricks handed Sweden&rsquo;s world record-holder Duplantis his first defeat since the 2019 World Athletics Championships &ndash; held in slightly different conditions in Doha &ndash; thanks to a second-time 5.74m clearance.
Both athletes had entered the competition at 5.30m, with Duplantis seeking a 24th consecutive victory and Kendricks looking to build on his win in Dessau just two days earlier. After first-time clearances at that height, they passed at 5.45m and then soared clear on their initial attempts at 5.55m. Also choosing to miss 5.65m, as the field took it in turns to shelter each other from the rain, Kendricks achieved 5.74m on his second go, while Duplantis had one try at 5.80m after two 5.74m failures. At first it seemed as though Duplantis had it, but as the 21-year-old hit the mat and looked up to the bar, it wobbled and fell, ending that winning streak which dates back to October 2019.
But these athletes have got each other covered, and not just in a literal under-an-umbrella sense. The unity in the event is nothing new and just as they share in each others&rsquo; successes &ndash; the <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldAthletics/status/1228626241382748160" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scenes after Duplantis&rsquo; world records last year</a> springing to mind &ndash; it&rsquo;s that togetherness in trickier times which paints a fuller picture. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Get a guy that holds an umbrella for you like <a href="https://twitter.com/mondohoss600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mondohoss600</a> does for <a href="https://twitter.com/samkendricks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@samkendricks</a> ☔ 📸: <a href="https://twitter.com/Diamond_League?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Diamond_League</a> <a href="https://t.co/XdEP4Wf5b4">pic.twitter.com/XdEP4Wf5b4</a>
&mdash; World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldAthletics/status/1396538794875174919?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2021</a></blockquote>

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 &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a military man, I understand that hardship brings guys together - shared hardship especially,&rdquo; said Kendricks, a first lieutenant in the US Army Reserve. &ldquo;There was more honour in the event today than there would have been any other day and Mondo almost stole the show with that crisp 5.80m jump, but every time the conditions are weird it exaggerates mistakes and that bar fell and he understands the game. That&rsquo;s just what happens and I came away with the victory, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean I am necessarily on the same level with Mondo right now, I just got in his blind spot today.&rdquo;
The image of Duplantis tightly gripping the umbrella handle to keep the shelter over Kendricks was quickly shared around social media and the world silver medallist was gracious in defeat.
&ldquo;The conditions were what they were, but I just wasn&rsquo;t able to adjust quickly enough,&rdquo; Duplantis explained. &ldquo;I would have loved to be able to get over that last bar, I felt that I was really close to it and I thought it was going to stay up, but it didn&rsquo;t. I&rsquo;m healthy and in one piece right now, after some conditions which are not the safest to jump in, so that&rsquo;s the positive to take away from it.&rdquo;
Asked about the camaraderie &ndash; which was also shown in the women&rsquo;s shot put with Chase Ealey pictured holding an umbrella over Sophie McKinna &ndash; he added: &ldquo;The grip is so important in what we do so we were just trying to make sure that our poles didn&rsquo;t get wet, because it can be really dangerous if you have a little water on your grip. You don&rsquo;t want to slip, especially not when that pole is bending and you&rsquo;re high in the air. It wasn&rsquo;t hard for me to hold an umbrella.&rdquo; 
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 For the athletes, perhaps it was an essential and unassuming gesture, but for the wider world, it was another example of the respect athletes have for each other.
Just the day before, Duplantis had shared another heart-warming story at the pre-event press conference, as athletes traded tales about their school days. Asked about his worst ever school report, Duplantis replied: &ldquo;When I was in middle school we were able to pick between Spanish and French and I remember at the time, I was 13 or 14 years old, so I wasn&rsquo;t jumping that high. Renaud (Lavillenie, France&rsquo;s former world record-holder) was the best in the world so I thought I would take French so that if I was ever able to compete against him, I could speak French and be able to say a few words to him. But the class started at 7am so I slept in most of the days - it didn&rsquo;t really work out that well and I never learned French!&rdquo;
Had they both been competing in Gateshead, and Duplantis had mastered the language, perhaps those words would have been: &ldquo;Je te couvre.&rdquo;
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
Lead photo by&nbsp;Matthew Quine / Diamond League AG

If there is an image to epitomise the camaraderie within the pole vault, the photograph of Mondo Duplantis holding an umbrella over Sam Kendricks to protect him from the Gateshead elements would be it.

How the world's best vaulters have got each other covered

World record-holder Mondo Duplantis will face two-time world champion Sam Kendricks and three-time world medallist Piotr Lisek in the pole vault at the Muller Grand Prix &ndash; the first Wanda Diamond League meeting of 2021 &ndash; on Sunday 23 May.
It will be Duplantis&rsquo;s first competition in the UK since setting a world record of 6.18m in Glasgow during the 2020 indoor season. The 21-year-old from Sweden shared a podium with Kendricks and Lisek at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, finishing second on that occasion. He has been undefeated since then, though, and in 2020 he earned the honour of Male World Athlete of the Year.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m hugely excited to be heading back to the UK to compete at the M&uuml;ller Grand Prix Gateshead this month,&rdquo; said Duplantis. &ldquo;I have great memories of vaulting in the UK. My first World Championships was in London four years ago and I set a world record of 6.18m in Glasgow just over a year ago.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve heard the women&rsquo;s pole vault world record has been broken a few times in Gateshead over the years, so if we get good conditions then hopefully we can clear some good heights. The support is always good at British meetings and it&rsquo;s another important event on the road to Tokyo.&rdquo;
Kendricks also has fond memories of competing in Britain.
&ldquo;The United Kingdom loves athletics,&rdquo; said the US vaulter. &ldquo;When you get to jump for people who love the sport, you can feel it! It has been the site of some of my greatest achievements &ndash; the Anniversary Games, World Cup and World Championships have all been good to me with gold medals and I am happy to return.
&ldquo;Mondo's greatest achievements have also come in the same areas. We love to compete together and always bring the best from one another. He is extremely hard to beat these days, and I love the challenge of world champion jumping against the world record-holder.&rdquo;
Harry Coppell, who last year set a British record of 5.85m, and compatriot Charlie Myers are also in the line-up.
The event was due to take place in Rabat but has been moved to Gateshead due to the coronavirus pandemic. It means Gateshead International Stadium will be staging its first international grand prix meeting since 2010 and it will offer welcome competitive opportunities to many athletes ahead of the Olympic Games.
The meeting organisers look forward to welcoming back fans in some capacity for this month&rsquo;s event and are taking every step to remain as flexible as possible in order to manage ticket distribution accordingly. As a result, tickets will go on sale during the week commencing 10 May, allowing for the maximum number of fans allowed to attend in line with national government guidelines.
Organisers for World Athletics

World record-holder Mondo Duplantis will face two-time world champion Sam Kendricks and three-time world medallist Piotr Lisek in the pole vault at the Muller Grand Prix – the first Wanda Diamond League meeting of 2021 – on Sunday 23 May.

Duplantis takes on Kendricks and Lisek in Gateshead

Fresh from his world-leading 91.50m throw in Offenburg on Saturday (24), Germany&rsquo;s 2017 world javelin champion Johannes Vetter has confirmed that he will compete at the 60th Ostrava Golden Spike Meeting, part of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series, on 19 May.
"I have seldom felt as good after a competition as I did this time. That means the body has adapted well to the stresses and strains of training,&rdquo; said Vetter, who will hope for another strong performance in Ostrava in front of the meeting director and world javelin record-holder Jan Zelezny.
"I&rsquo;m very much looking forward to Ostrava and meeting Zelezny again.&rdquo;
Before heading to the Golden Spike, where he threw 87.88m on his only previous appearance at the event in 2017, Vetter will compete at the European Throwing Cup in Split.
Joining Vetter in Ostrava will be the USA&rsquo;s two-time world pole vault champion Sam Kendricks, who set the meeting record with 5.93m in 2019, and world 1500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot, who is entered for the 800m where he could challenge the meeting record of 1:43.24 set by Wilfred Bungei in 2003.
Poland&rsquo;s hammer great Anita Wlodarczyk is also confirmed as she continues her comeback after knee surgery.
Czech stars set to feature include Pavel Maslak in the 400m, Jakub Holusa and Filip Sasinek in the men&rsquo;s 1500m, Simona Vrzalova in the women&rsquo;s 1500m and Radek Juska in the long jump.
Discussions about the possibility of the event being able to welcome spectators are still being held.
Organisers for World Athletics

Fresh from his world-leading 91.50m throw in Offenburg on Saturday (24), Germany’s 2017 world javelin champion Johannes Vetter has confirmed that he will compete at the 60th Ostrava Golden Spike Meeting, part of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series, on 19 May.

Vetter looks to build on strong start in Ostrava

The world&rsquo;s greatest athletes are still adjusting to having to compete in empty arenas, but fortunately there&rsquo;s no shortage of motivation as their 2021 seasons get going.
In Torun on Tuesday (16) on the eve of the Copernicus Cup &ndash; the penultimate World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting of 2021 &ndash; world champions Grant Holloway and Sam Kendricks of the USA joined Poland&rsquo;s world medallists Marcin Lewandowski, Justyn Swiety-Ersetic and Piotr Lisek to talk about their goals heading into Wednesday&rsquo;s competition.
Holloway, who has produced some of the fastest 60m hurdles times ever in his three competitions so far this year, says Colin Jackson&rsquo;s world record of 7.30 is not his main focus.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to say Colin is afraid of his record going, because records are meant to be broken,&rdquo; said Holloway. &ldquo;Colin Jackson is a big mentor to me. I&rsquo;ve asked him questions on how to stay away from hurdles, how to be fast at the start, how to finish and so on. He&rsquo;s the world record-holder and a world champion, so I look up to him.
&ldquo;At the end of the day, though, I think everyone puts too much emphasis on the world record. I just need to focus on winning, then the records will come.
&ldquo;Competing in an arena with no spectators is horrible,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;The fans bring a lot to the way we compete; we feed off the fans. It&rsquo;s still good that we&rsquo;re able to execute when fans aren&rsquo;t there. And we're doing the right thing, of course, but I can't wait to see the fans.&rdquo;
Kendricks agreed with Holloway&rsquo;s assessment.
&ldquo;This is a very emotional sport, and it's that that draws the best out of us,&rdquo; said the two-time world pole vault champion. &ldquo;We're missing that, but people are still getting it done &ndash; Grant set a national record last week.&rdquo;
Kendricks didn&rsquo;t compete in Torun last year when Mondo Duplantis set his first world record of 6.17m. And while Duplantis has had to skip this year&rsquo;s Copernicus Cup due to a slight hamstring niggle, Kendricks is still fired up to compete against Lisek; a man with whom he has shared a podium at the past two World Championships and World Indoor Championships.
&ldquo;Mondo has set a really high bar, but me and Piotr are always shooting for medals,&rdquo; said Kendricks. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m really excited to jump with him tomorrow. We both perform well when we&rsquo;re up against each other. In our competitions this year I&rsquo;ve got the slight advantage at 2-1, so I&rsquo;m sure he&rsquo;ll be fighting to make that record even tomorrow.&rdquo;
Lisek will be looking for a confidence-boosting performance tomorrow ahead of the European Indoor Championships, which will be held in the same Torun Arena in just a few weeks&rsquo; time.
&ldquo;I would like to show that my form is improving leading into the European Indoor Championships,&rdquo; said Lisek, winner of the European indoor title in 2017. &ldquo;I hope to produce some good jumps in Arena Torun; I have only good memories of competing here.&rdquo;
European champion Swiety-Ersetic also has fond memories of Arena Torun as it&rsquo;s where she set her Polish indoor 400m record of 51.37 last year. Tomorrow she&rsquo;ll line up in that event alongside Dutch duo Femke Bol and Lieke Klaver, who have clocked 50.81 and 51.48 respectively in recent weeks.
But Swiety-Ersetic, who last week set an indoor 300m PB of 37.32 on the same Torun track, says she&rsquo;s ready for her first indoor 400m race of the year.
&ldquo;The opposition will be very strong, because the other women in the field have already shown this year that the level is very high,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;But I have also been working hard and I want to show what I can do.&rdquo;
Lewandowski, the world 1500m bronze medallist, has a slightly different motivation for wanting to perform as well as possible on Wednesday. As he does every year at the Copernicus Cup, Lewandowski will donate his prize money to a charitable cause. And the higher his finishing position, the more money he&rsquo;ll be able to earn.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m always trying to find new motivation, and when there are 5000 spectators here then it&rsquo;s easy to perform well,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This time we won't have spectators, so I&rsquo;ve found different motivation: the plan for tomorrow is to break my own national indoor record (3:36.50). I was close to it in Lievin last week (3:36.83), so that&rsquo;s one of my goals for tomorrow.
&ldquo;Every year, I donate my earnings from this competition to charity,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s my biggest goal for tomorrow &ndash; finish high up in the race and earn as much as possible. This year I&rsquo;ll be donating the money to two people from my neighbourhood. One of them is a young girl who needs an operation, and the other is a good friend of mine from school who is in need at the moment.
&ldquo;People say that I get better with age, like a fine wine,&rdquo; added the 33-year-old former 800m specialist, who set a 3000m PB of 7:51.69 earlier this year. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d agree with that.&rdquo;
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

The world’s greatest athletes are still adjusting to having to compete in empty arenas, but fortunately there’s no shortage of motivation as their 2021 seasons get going.

Despite fan-free atmosphere, world’s best still motivated to perform in Torun

In a year without any major international championships, world 5000m champion Hellen Obiri will experience the next-best thing when she takes to the start line for the 3000m at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha on Friday (25).
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be like a championship race,&rdquo; she said when asked about the quality of the field.
In fact, it&rsquo;s arguably a higher standard than a championship race, because it brings together medallists in four different events from last year&rsquo;s World Championships and isn&rsquo;t limited to just three athletes per nation as would be the case at most championships.
World steeplechase champion Beatrice Chepkoech, world 5000m silver medallist Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi, world 10,000m bronze medallist Agnes Tirop and world 1500m bronze medallist Gudaf Tsegay are just some of the other standout names set to take part. 
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Hellen Obiri at the press conference ahead of the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha</div>
&nbsp;
But Obiri, who won over 5000m at last month&rsquo;s Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco, feels confident.
&ldquo;I've trained well, and when I train well I have no doubts in a race,&rdquo; said the world cross-country champion. &ldquo;Whenever I line up for a race, I'm focused on doing my best. I don't feel the pressure. Maybe I'll do something special.
&ldquo;I've always enjoyed racing in Doha,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;In 2014 I set my PB over 3000m (8:20.68), and last year I won the World Championships here. I like racing here because it's favourable to me.&rdquo;
Fellow Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot also has fond memories of Doha as it&rsquo;s where he won the world 1500m title in Doha last year. It&rsquo;s also, however, the scene of his last defeat, in May 2019.
He has won 16 consecutive races since then, but tomorrow&rsquo;s outing will be his first ever 800m race outside of Kenya.
&ldquo;I chose to do the 800m here because I wanted to test my speed endurance,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;All of my other races at 800m have been in Kenya, so I'm excited to do an 800m in the Diamond League.
&ldquo;I need to work on my speed endurance because it's an important part of 1500m running. Last year in Lausanne I ran the first 800m in 1:49 but still finished in 3:28.77, just outside my PB (3:28.41). I know I have endurance but I'm lacking a bit in my finishing speed, so that's what I want to work on.&rdquo;
His 2020 racing schedule hasn&rsquo;t been anywhere near as busy as it was last year, but Cheruiyot is grateful to have been able to get a few races under his belt.
&ldquo;This year has been different for everyone,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;In all of my races in 2020, I've only been focused on running. I feel blessed because I've been able to race. This will be my fourth race of the year and then from here I'll be going to Nairobi for the Continental Tour meeting.&rdquo; 
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Elaine Thompson at the press conference ahead of the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha</div>
&nbsp;
Jamaica&rsquo;s double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah also expressed her gratitude and relief at being able to race on the Wanda Diamond League circuit.
She raced fairly regularly in low-key competitions in Kingston throughout July and August and then made it to Rome last week, where she won the 100m in a world-leading 10.85.
&ldquo;I'm really grateful to have had the opportunity to race in Rome and Doha,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I'd raced a few times in Jamaica but the level and intensity of competition wasn't the same.
&ldquo;I was a little bit surprised with my run in Rome because I hadn't raced for a few weeks, but I knew I was capable of running fast because I'd put in the work.&rdquo;
Although 2020 has been an unusual year in many ways, Thompson-Herah says her racing and training experiences haven&rsquo;t changed too much.
&ldquo;As a sprinter, you have to learn to block everything else out anyway, so I've got used to racing in a stadium without any fans,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Nothing much has changed with my training. My coach is a genius, though, so I just do what he tells me to do.&rdquo; 
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Sam Kendricks at the press conference ahead of the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha</div>
&nbsp;
Two-time world pole vault champion Sam Kendricks, ever the optimist, has focused on the positives as he navigates his way through the testing season.
&ldquo;I'm just so grateful because meeting organisers have gone above and beyond to make sure competitions can happen,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It's been an adventure. We've all just kind of rolled with it this year, and that's been cool.
&ldquo;You get to put the whole world aside when you step on to the track,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;And when you're on it, time goes fast and the whole world melts away. Not that I don't care about the problems of the world, but they don't matter when you're standing there on the track. At that moment, it's all about how fast you can run or how high you can jump.&rdquo;
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

In a year without any major international championships, world 5000m champion Hellen Obiri will experience the next-best thing when she takes to the start line for the 3000m at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha on Friday (25).

In Doha, world and Olympic champions prepare for memorable end to an unusual year

Ryan Crouser, Sam Kendricks and Laura Muir will bring strong momentum to Silesia's Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Chorzow, Poland, on Sunday (6), the next stop on the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting series.
Crouser, the Olympic shot put champion, has been on a tear this season, improving his personal best to 22.91m and throwing 22.72m in Des Moines last Saturday, in a competition where he threw beyond the 22-metre line on each of his six attempts. His appearance in the freshly renamed National Athletics Stadium will be his first outside the United States this year.
Crouser has been a class apart this year, but organisers have assembled much of the best of the rest to take him on. He'll be butting heads with rising Italian star Leonardo Fabbri, who improved to 21.99m last weekend to take the national title, and Polish star Michal Haratyk, the European champion. Haratyk has shown fine form this season, with a best of 21.88m set at this stadium on 25 August. Nick Ponzio, fourth on this season's world list at 21.72m, is also on the slate, along with two-time world champion David Storl of Germany. 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/LargeL/968caf42-73b9-45b1-8d44-bb68ada817cf.jpg?cachebuster=8efca74e-8018-49b7-b3a9-c438a4399ad5" alt="Ryan Crouser" width="600" height="400" />
 Kendricks, the two-time world pole vault champion, returns to the stadium just days after a 6.02m leap in Lausanne, the second highest of his storied career. That improved on his 5.82m season's best set at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in the same Silesia stadium on 25 August.
The Polish presence will be strong, too, with triple World Championships medallist Piotr Lisek, who has scaled 5.90m this season, and 2011 world champion Pawel Wojciechowski also jumping. Lisek has been nursing an injury that forced him to the sidelines in Lausanne.
Meanwhile, European 1500m champion Muir returns to action after an impressive 3:57.86 victory in Stockholm where she dominated a solid field, and a 2:00.16 800m victory in Marseille on Thursday night.
She&rsquo;ll face Polish star Sofia Ennaoui, who finished second to Muir over the distance at the most recent editions of the European indoor and outdoor championships.
Ethiopians Lemlem Hailu, the world U20 indoor record-holder at 4:01.57, and 800m national record-holder Habitam Alemu are also in the field.
<h3>Honouring a hammer legend</h3>
The meeting honours Kamila Skolimowska, the winner of the inaugural women&rsquo;s Olympic hammer competition in 2000 who passed away in 2009; fittingly her event figures prominently.
Held simultaneously with men and women alternating throws, the men's side features four-time world champion Pawel Fajdek and Wojciech Nowicki, the bronze medallist at the past three World Championships who has thrown 80.28m this year. The women's field is led by Alexandra Tavernier of France, second on the season's list with 74.94m, and Malwina Kopron, third in the world at the moment with 74.18m. 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/LargeL/10340a06-a413-4625-8837-50a9d8688385.jpg?cachebuster=bf3c9951-effc-45c6-807a-cc3cd6ce17c5" alt="Alexandra Tavernier" width="600" height="400" />
 In the discus, world champion Daniel Stahl will be gunning for a 13th straight victory this season and again will face a strong cast which includes 2017 world champion Andrius Gudzius and Kristjan Ceh of Slovenia, the European U23 champion.
World leader Johannes Vetter of Germany and Olympic champion Sara Kolak of Croatia head their respective fields in the javelin while Aliona Dubitskaya of Belarus tops the field in the women's shot put.&nbsp;
In the high jump, Ukraine&rsquo;s Yuliya Levchenko, one of the season's two two-metre jumpers, leads the field where she'll face Pole Kamila Licwinko, the 2014 world indoor champion.
<h3>Kszczot v Lewandowski, chapter 71</h3>
Back on the track, the men's 800m will feature two of Poland's finest middle distance runners of recent years, Adam Kszczot and Marcin Lewandowski, squaring off for the 71st time over the distance.
Kszczot, won the world indoor 800m title two years ago, holds a 41-29 lead in head-to-heads, but Lewandowski, who raced to world 1500m bronze last year, finished ahead of his rival in their last meeting on this very track 10 days ago. That race was won by world bronze medallist Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich, who is also racing again on Sunday after his 1:44.24 victory in Marseille last night.&nbsp;
The women's 100m features rising Swiss star Ajla del Ponte who has chiseled together an unbeaten 100m season, seven victories that include triumphs in the Monaco and Stockholm legs of the Wanda Diamond League. Del Ponte, who has improved to 11.08 in 2020, will face two-time world 200m champion Dafne Schippers and Polish star Ewa Swoboda. 
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 Nadine Visser will start as the woman to beat in the 100m hurdles, arriving unbeaten in six appearances this season and as the world leader with 12.68. She'll take on European champion Elvira Herman from Belarus and Polish challenger Karolina Koleczek, with a best of 12.75 from last year.
The 400m contests will also have a strong domestic focus, with European champion Justyna Swiety-Ersetic and Iga Baumgart-Witan in the spotlight in the women's race and Karol Zalewski, a member of the 4x400m relay quartet that raced to world indoor gold in 2018, the men's. Swiety-Ersetic, who has a 51.44 season's best to her credit, will also face Dutchwoman Lieke Klaver who has improved to 51.39 this season. Zalewski has a 45.47 season's best, placing him eighth on the 2020 season's list.
Poland's current coronavirus pandemic restrictions on public gatherings allow stadiums to be filled to 50% capacity. In Silesia, that means that upwards of 27,000 spectators will be allowed to enter the National Athletics Stadium which will host the World Athletics Relays next April.
Bob Ramsak for World Athletics

Ryan Crouser, Sam Kendricks and Laura Muir will bring strong momentum to Silesia's Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Chorzow, Poland, on Sunday (6), the next stop on the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting series.

Kendricks, Crouser and Muir among the headliners in Silesia

At one point during Athletissima&rsquo;s exhibition city centre pole vault competition, it seemed as though the duel between Mondo Duplantis and Sam Kendricks would never end. Both men simply went higher and higher, clearing each height with ease on their first attempts at the Wanda Diamond League meeting at Lausanne&rsquo;s Place de l&rsquo;Europe on Wednesday (2).
Eventually, though, the only obstacle standing in their way appeared to be the lack of light. The sun set on the Swiss city at about the time the bar moved up past six metres. And although Duplantis ultimately prevailed with a first-time clearance at 6.07m, having seen Kendricks bow out with a best of 6.02m, once the young Swede took an attempt at 6.15m, he knew it would be futile to continue.
After all, the 20-year-old &ndash; who cleared a world record of 6.18m earlier this year &ndash; has plenty of time in which to go higher.
Tonight&rsquo;s competition was less about records and more about a fascinating duel between the world&rsquo;s two best vaulters of their generation. 
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The exhibition city centre pole vault competition at Lausanne&rsquo;s Place de l&rsquo;Europe</div>
&nbsp;
Kendricks, the two-time world champion, opened at the lower height of 5.32m, while Duplantis entered at 5.62m &ndash; a height at which Kendricks registered a failure before clearing successfully. Duplantis passed the next two bars, but Kendricks started to churn out first-attempt clearances, one after the other.
Thiago Braz and Renaud Lavillenie, the 2016 and 2012 Olympic champions respectively, both got over 5.72m but exited the competition with three misses at 5.82m, leaving Duplantis and Kendricks as the sole competitors.
And so began their game of &lsquo;anything you can do&hellip;&rsquo; Just moments after Kendricks sailed over 5.87m on his first try, Duplantis did likewise, albeit with a seemingly larger margin. The same happened at 5.92m and 5.97m.
The bar then moved to 6.02m &ndash; a Swiss all-comers&rsquo; record &ndash; and, astonishingly, both men once again got over it with their first vault. Kendricks nudged the bar slightly but it stayed on, while Duplantis cleared it with room to spare. It&rsquo;s the first time in history that two men have cleared 6.02m in the same competition.
Following seven successive first-attempt clearances, Kendricks recorded just his second foul of the competition with the bar at 6.07m. Duplantis, however, was successful once more, breaking the Diamond League record and his own outdoor Swedish record in the process. 
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Mondo Duplantis in action at the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne</div>
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With darkness setting in, Kendricks registered two more misses to finally bow out of the contest. The bar was then raised to 6.15m while the competition organisers tried to find some makeshift method of getting more light on to the runway. They managed to light the end of the runway and Duplantis took one try but aborted it soon after planting his pole, his first failure of the evening.
Realising that tonight wasn&rsquo;t a night for world records, he stood up from the landing bed and bowed to the crowd. 
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 &ldquo;In the end it got too dark to go for 6.15m and I felt it was unsafe to continue any further,&rdquo; said the world silver medallist. &ldquo;I felt I was in the zone. But you have to be prudent.
&ldquo;It was a fantastic evening. The conditions, crowd, competition &ndash; it was all fabulous. Sam is a fabulous competitor, and I feel we bring the best out of each other. We kept pushing each other and you can see the result. It reminded me a bit of the Ultimate Garden Clash, we kept going after the next height. It was quick. I loved it.
&ldquo;You can see a lot of us are getting back to our best shape,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;Renaud was good, Thiago is getting back there. We could be looking at some great pole vaulting in what is left of this season.&rdquo;
<h3>Double success for Sweden</h3>
The women&rsquo;s event was similarly competitive and boiled down to a four-way contest, but Angelica Bengtsson&rsquo;s last-gasp 4.72m clearance gave the Swede the victory.
She sailed over 4.34m, 4.44m and 4.54m on her first attempts. Britain&rsquo;s Holly Bradshaw opened her series at the latter height, also clearing it on her first try, while France&rsquo;s Marion Lotout, Switzerland&rsquo;s Angelica Moser and Sweden&rsquo;s Michaela Meijer also went clear.
Bradshaw then got over 4.64m on her first attempt, as did Moser, setting a lifetime best in the process. Swedish duo Bengtsson and Meijer both got over it on their second tries, while Lotout exited the competition.
The bar moved up to 4.72m and after two rounds of failed attempts it appeared as though no one would be successful. Moser departed the competition with three misses, but was content with her evening&rsquo;s work. Bengtsson, however, was successful on her third try, setting a season&rsquo;s best in the process.
Having had the lead snatched away from her, Bradshaw was unable to gain it and missed for a third and final time at 4.72m, as did Meijer.
Bengtsson ended her evening with three attempts at a would-be Swedish record of 4.84m, but was unsuccessful.
&ldquo;This has been a beautiful experience, the energy from the fans has been amazing and the city is a great backdrop,&rdquo; said Bengtsson. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy to be able to come out and put on a show for the fans and hopefully help to lift their spirit as it&rsquo;s been a tough year for everyone. For us as athletes it&rsquo;s been tough as well. Personally it has been hard to find the motivation to train after the postponement of the Olympic Games because we focus on that for four years, but I have been able to tell myself summer 2021 will come soon.&rdquo;
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

At one point during Athletissima’s exhibition city centre pole vault competition, it seemed as though the duel between Mondo Duplantis and Sam Kendricks would never end. Both men simply went higher and higher, clearing each height with ease on their first attempts at the Wanda Diamond League meeting at Lausanne’s Place de l’Europe on Wednesday (2).

Duplantis clears 6.07m in Lausanne, best outdoor vault in the world for 26 years

One of the standout performances at last week&rsquo;s Wanda Diamond League opener in Monaco was world champion Timothy Cheruiyot&rsquo;s powerful 3:28.45 victory in the 1500m, just 0.04 shy of his career best. But he was planning to go faster - and intends to go even faster tomorrow at the Bauhaus-Galan meeting here in Stockholm.
&ldquo;It was good, but it could have been better,&rdquo; the Kenyan said, &ldquo;I was expecting to run under 3:28, or 3:27,&rdquo; Cheruiyot said, seemingly disappointed that he didn&rsquo;t manage to move up a place or two on the world all-time list from the No.7 spot he currently occupies.
&ldquo;The first lap was too fast - I tried to maintain the pace so I was able to run 3:28.&rdquo;
Cheruiyot said both speed and endurance training have been going well. That showed in the power he illustrated in the homestretch last week to hold off Jakob Ingebrigtsen&rsquo;s late race assault.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been testing myself with my coach, running 50 (seconds) for 400 metres and 1:48 for 800 metres. So I have endurance and speed.&rdquo;
What kind of pace is he hoping for tomorrow?
&ldquo;I was thinking 1:49,&rdquo; he said, similar to his opening 800 metres in Lausanne last year when he clocked 3:28.77. &ldquo;In Monaco I ran 1:52. So I&rsquo;m capable of running faster. I hope to run a meeting record tomorrow.&rdquo;
<h3>Kipketer&rsquo;s advice to Brazier: &lsquo;show race confidence'</h3>
That record, 3:29.30, belongs to Hicham El Guerrouj, who set it in 1997. That year has special meaning for all-time 800m great Wilson Kipketer, who set his first of three 800m world records that year in Stockholm, clocking 1:41.73.
That was 23 years ago.
When he learned that Donavan Brazier, the world champion over the distance, was 23 years old, Kipketer decided that he had to return to Stockholm this year to watch Brazier race.
He shared plenty of praise but also offered some advice on what the young American has to do next to achieve greatness in the event. 
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Donavan Brazier and Wilson Kipketer ahead of the Bauhaus Galan</div>
&nbsp;
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s still young, he still has a lot to learn, he&rsquo;s running well, he&rsquo;s strong, smart,&rdquo; Kipketer said.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s world champion. Then next is the Olympics. Then we have to look at what motivates him, what he does to push himself.&rdquo;
From now on, Kipketer said, every race for Brazier can&rsquo;t be just another run.
&ldquo;You have to dominate in order for people to remember you. You have to be there every day, every race. I need to see a (race) confidence. You have to decide what you want in a race, not depend on what is happening (in the race). You have to determine it.&rdquo;
At this level, Kipketer, a three time world champion, continued, Brazier has shown he has the foundation for being a great 800m runner - he just has to keep moving up.
&ldquo;So it's not a game anymore. He has to show that confidence. He has to decide that in this race it's going to be like this, and in the next race it&rsquo;s going to be different. And then you get the right rhythm. And then the times will come.
&ldquo;Other runners need to say your name. When I was running, they were saying, &lsquo;he's Wilson Kipketer&rsquo;. They were thinking about who is going to be number two. Even before we started the race. So I won already. So that's the mental part.&rdquo;&nbsp;
As the two shared a table, Brazier, who was 83 days old when Kipketer set that record in Stockholm, listened intently, soaking in as much of that wisdom as he could.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an honour sharing the stage with Wilson,&rdquo; Brazier said. &ldquo;Wilson just said some great things about me, but he&rsquo;ll also go back and say a little shit talk too, so it&rsquo;s nice. (laughs).&nbsp;
&ldquo;It definitely does keep you humble because he&rsquo;s honest with what he says. When he says things like, &lsquo;Yeah, you&rsquo;re good but you definitely have to work on this,&rsquo; he&rsquo;s not just blowing smoke. He&rsquo;s saying stuff that&rsquo;s real. You can see that he wants to see you do the best you can.&rdquo;
<h3>Obiri - &lsquo;I am ready for any pace&rsquo;</h3>
Brazier too arrives on the heels of a strong victory in Monaco, a world-leading 1:43.15. So does Hellen Obiri, who admits that she surprised even herself with her 14:22.12 world lead in the 5000m in her first race in nearly six months.
"I was so happy in Monaco. It was my first race since January and I wanted to do well.
&ldquo;I was going there hoping to do something like 14:40. So actually if was a surprise for me to do 14:22,&rdquo; the world champion said, particularly after inconsistent training during much of the Covid-19 lock down period.
As such, she arrives not having done any speed work in her recent training, which will be a key factor in tomorrow&rsquo;s loaded 1500m field, which includes the likes of Laura Muir, Eilish McColgan, Laura Weightman and Ciara Mageean, all sub-4:01 runners, among others. But her spirits are high.&nbsp;
&ldquo;When I come to race, I say anyone can win. I don&rsquo;t target what I can do. For tomorrow, I&rsquo;m ready for any pace so I hopefully I can do something good. It will depend on the pacesetters and the weather.&rdquo;
Another world leader on the marquee is Yuliya Levchenko, who produced the season&rsquo;s first two-metre high jump in Bydgoszcz on Wednesday. Given the difficulties all athletes have faced this year, she&rsquo;s pleased with that effort and hopes there is more in the tank.
&ldquo;I think it wasn&rsquo;t so easy since 2020 is such a strange year. We, all athletes, want to save our condition and show the best results. So it was good.&rdquo;
Is she finding it fifficult to find focus and motivation this year?
&ldquo;Truly, I don&rsquo;t think about it,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I just focus on the next competition. Now, that&rsquo;s the best way to prepare for (a good performance). &ldquo;
She&rsquo;s also motivated by the success of compatriot Yaroslava Mahuchikh, the world U20 record holder and world silver medallist, who also competes here tomorrow.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s positive motivation because Ukrainian high jump level is very high. It helps me to stay focused and not be so relaxed. I think it&rsquo;s helped me to improve myself and improve my jumps.&rdquo;
<h3>Duplantis targeting better consistency</h3>
Then there is pole vault world record holder Armand Duplantis, the biggest domestic name on the programme, returning to top flight competition in Sweden. He&rsquo;s looking forward to the opportunity, even in a stadium with no spectators, but is hoping for a more consistent performance that he managed in Monaco last weekend.
&nbsp;
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Sam Kendricks and Armand Duplantis ahead of the Bauhaus Galan</div>
&nbsp;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like more first-attempt makes,&rdquo; said Duplantis, who&rsquo;s been undefeated in 10 competitions this year. &ldquo;I got myself into a bind too early, having to take a last attempt at 5.72. It&rsquo;s just a position that I never want to be in.
&ldquo;And then (clearing) six metres was great but having to pull it out in the last attempt was something that I didn&rsquo;t want to have to do. So, just trying to be a little bit more consistent with my jumping (is a goal). Because I know that when I&rsquo;m lining up against Sam, those little, tiny mistakes, especially at those early heights, really cost you. And they can cost you a win.&rdquo;
While he&rsquo;s thrilled to be back in action, Kendricks said that the absence of competition this year won&rsquo;t impact his lead-in to the Olympics as much as it will athletes who haven&rsquo;t yet been on the sport&rsquo;s biggest stages.
&ldquo;This year lacking a championship is not necessarily going to affect the newly-minted world record holder or the reigning world champion so much as it&rsquo;s going to affect the next generation,&rdquo; he said.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had five years of grinding towards many championships. The pressure has always been there. I&rsquo;m not going to forget how it feels. But there are new people that need to feel it in order to get to the next stage. And next year there&rsquo;s going to be twice as many people clawing for those same spots for the Olympics, for the World Indoor Championships.&rdquo;&nbsp;
That said, Kendricks said it was nice spend more time at home. &ldquo;I even came to Europe a little more tanned.&rdquo;
<h3>Stahl promises &lsquo;a show&rsquo;&nbsp;</h3>
&nbsp;
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Daniel Stahl ahead of the Bauhaus Galan</div>
&nbsp;
Meanwhile, Daniel Stahl has carried heightened expectations into the discus throw ring since winning the world title last year, and hasn&rsquo;t disappointed. The Swede has won his last 11 competitions and is eager to add to that total tomorrow.
&ldquo;I'm feeling in really great shape and ready to throw far,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Tomorrow will be a show.&rdquo;
Bob Ramsak for World Athletics

One of the standout performances at last week’s Wanda Diamond League opener in Monaco was world champion Timothy Cheruiyot’s powerful 3:28.45 victory in the 1500m, just 0.04 shy of his career best. But he was planning to go faster - and intends to go even faster tomorrow at the Bauhaus-Galan meeting here in Stockholm.

World leader Cheruiyot seeks faster times in Stockholm

Herculis organisers have announced another four global champions who are set to compete at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco on 14 August.
Two-time world 400m hurdles champion Karsten Warholm will compete in Monaco for the first time in his career. The 24-year-old, who set a world best for 300m hurdles at Oslo&rsquo;s Impossible Games last month, will have one eye on Kevin Young&rsquo;s meeting record of 47.60, set just five days after the US hurdler set a world record of 46.78 to win the 1992 Olympic title.
"I've always wanted to run in Monaco because of the track," said Warholm. "I know people have run fast there before, and I've trained there too. It&rsquo;s a nice stadium and I know I might be able to run even faster on it.
"In Norway we've been able to train very well, so my shape is actually good," he added. "I was hoping to get a chance to test myself, so when the opportunity came for Monaco, that was nice."
Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon and training partner Timothy Cheruiyot, the world 1500m champion, will also be in action. Kipyegon, who&rsquo;s also making her Herculis debut, will contest the 1000m in which she&rsquo;ll face world 800m champion Halimah Nakaayi and European 1500m champion Laura Muir. Cheruiyot, meanwhile, will line up for his specialist distance to take on Jacob and Filip Ingebrigtsen.
Two-time world champion Sam Kendricks has been confirmed for the pole vault. The North American record-holder will face world record-holder Mondo Duplantis, whose participation was announced earlier this month.
Other clashes include Olympic silver medallist Orlando Ortega and world bronze medallist Pascal Martinot Lagarde in the 110m hurdles, Ukrainian duo Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Yuliya Levchenko and world heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson in the high jump, and world bronze medallist Marie-Josee Ta Lou and Ajla del Ponte in the 100m.
They will all join the previously announced stars, including double world champion Sifan Hassan, world 5000m champion Hellen Obiri, world 200m champion Noah Lyles, two-time world triple jump champion Yulimar Rojas and world 10,000m champion Joshua Cheptegei.
Organisers for World Athletics

Herculis organisers have announced another four global champions who are set to compete at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco on 14 August.

Warholm, Kipyegon, Cheruiyot and Kendricks added to Monaco fields

Allyson Felix notched a pair of impressive victories to highlight the Inspiration Games, the Zurich Diamond League organisers' entertaining and innovative answer to the global coronavirus pandemic that brought together 30 athletes competing in seven venues across two continents on Thursday (9).
Felix, competing in Walnut, California, near Los Angeles, kicked off the meeting with a solid victory in the 150m and brought it to its conclusion with her anchor leg on the victorious squad in the closing 3x100m relay. All without another competitor on the track.
Felix&rsquo;s immediate reaction to this first in her storied career?
"Very strange,&rdquo; she said, with a wide smile. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of like practice but not really, with no teammates.&rdquo;
Running alone, she said, &ldquo;It's hard to challenge yourself. But I love this sport so any chance to get out here and run. I'm all about that.&rdquo;
Action on the tracks kicked off with the women's 150m, with Swiss star Mujinga Kambundji competing in Zurich, Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo in Bradenton, Florida, 8000 kilometres and six time zones west, and Felix, another 4000 kilometres to her west.
With track configurations and the camera angles on the synchronized stream varying slightly, it was difficult to follow who was leading until moments before the three approached the finish line. Felix crossed hers first in 16.81, well clear of Miller-Uibo who stopped the clock in 17.15. Kambundji clocked 17.28.
Oddly enough, even as they raced from tracks on opposite coasts of the United States, the winds in their respective races were nearly identical. Felix battled a 2.6 m/s headwind and Miller-Uibo a 2.5.
Felix returned to the track to team with Candace Hill and Tianna Bartoletta to collect another dominant victory in the meet-capping 3x100m relay, the trio clocking 32.25 ahead of a Swiss team that clocked 32.50 in Zurich and a Dutch squad that clocked 32.94 in Papendal.
"This is fun," Felix said. "I can't wait until we can do it in person."
Conversely, the men's 100yd was the day&rsquo;s only on-site face-off, with Jimmy Vicaut of France, Canadian Andre de Grasse and Olympic 110m hurdles champion Omar McLeod meeting on the Bradenton track where they faced a 3.4m/s headwind. For the first half, it was an evenly matched affair until de Grasse, running in the middle of the track, and Vicaut, running on the inside, broke away. De Grasse closed best to nab the narrow victory in 9.68, 0.04 ahead of Vicaut. McLeod was a distant third in 9.87.
<h3>Moline&rsquo;s victorious return</h3>
In the 300m hurdles, Georganne Moline made the most of her late hour call up, powering her way to an impressive win in 39.08 on the Walnut track.
"I promised I'd never take another race or opportunity for granted," said Moline, who'd been sideline with a foot injury for the past 18 months. From the gun, it was clear she&rsquo;d remain true to her word.
&nbsp;
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Georganne Moline in the Inspiration Games</div>
&nbsp;
Clearly ahead by the first hurdle, she padded her lead over each of the next three before cruising through to the finish.
"We just tried to treat it as a practice, but there was lots of anxiety going into the race," she admitted. Moline, who was fifth in the 400m hurdles at the 2012 Olympics, stepped in to replace world 400m hurdles champion and world record holder Dalilah Muhammad at the beginning of the week.
Running in Zurich&rsquo;s Letzigrund Stadium, Lea Sprunger was second in 39.25. Czech Zuzana Hejnova, competing in cooler and wetter conditions in Papendal, Netherlands, was a distant third in 40.97.
<h3>Lyles foiled by start line snafu</h3>
But there was disappointment for Noah Lyles whose dominant performance in the 200m seemed too good to be true from the moment the clock stopped at a would-be world record of 18.90.
It was later learned that he was lined up in the wrong lane and ran just 185 metres. The mishap moved him from first to third, with the win - and the US$10,000 winner&rsquo;s cheque - going to Christophe Lemaitre who clocked 20.65 at Letzigrund. Churandy Martina clocked 20.81 in Papendal to finish second.
<h3>Pichardo takes triple jump showdown</h3>
Competing on his track in Lisbon, Pedro Pablo Pichardo prevailed in the triple jump with a 17.40m (+2.3) effort in the second round. World and Olympic champion Christian Taylor struggled in the early going but produced his best in the sixth round, reaching 17.27m (+4.2) in Bradenton to beat back Omar Craddock who leaped 17.04m in the second round in Walnut.
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Pedro Pablo Pichardo at the Inspiration Games in Lisbon</div>
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Sam Kendricks took a solid victory in the pole vault with a first attempt clearance at 5.81m. Competing in Bradenton, the two-time world champion jumped well, topping 5.36m, 5.46m, 5.56m and 5.66m with his first attempts. Shifting winds caused some problems at the next height, 5.76m, which he topped on his third go.
Piotr Lisek, jumping in Karlstad, Sweden, was second with 5.66m.
Sandi Morris, who was also jumping in Bradenton, took the women's event with 4.66m. Swede Angelica Bengtsson, in Karlstad, was second at 4.46m. Like Valentin Lavillenie in the men's competition, Katerina Stefanidi, who was jumping in Walnut, no-heighted at 4.46m.
Bob Ramsak for World Athletics

Allyson Felix notched a pair of impressive victories to highlight the Inspiration Games, the Zurich Diamond League organisers' entertaining and innovative answer to the global coronavirus pandemic that brought together 30 athletes competing in seven venues across two continents on Thursday (9).

Felix shines at Inspiration Games

France&rsquo;s 2012 Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie and Sweden&rsquo;s world record-holder Mondo Duplantis shared the honours in the inaugural Ultimate Garden Clash &ndash; Pole Vault Edition on Sunday (3), beating arch-rival Sam Kendricks in a unique three-way competition.
The contest, devised by the three pole vaulters, was a race to see who could produce the most 5.00m vaults within a 30-minute period, all from the comfort and safety of their own back gardens. Lavillenie was vaulting from his home in Clermont-Ferrand, Kendricks was competing from his back garden in Oxford, Mississippi, and Duplantis was taking part from his base in Lafayette, Louisiana.
World record-holder Duplantis took an early lead and Lavillenie was not far off the young Swede&rsquo;s pace. Two-time world champion Kendricks, meanwhile, tried to pace himself from the outset and trailed his opponents in the first half.
Despite an aborted attempt, Duplantis was the first to reach double figures and he had tallied 18 five-metre vaults by the half-way mark. Lavillenie was just one shy of that total with 17 while Kendricks had amassed 12.
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In the second half, Duplantis and Lavillenie continued to vault at a similar pace. Duplantis had notched up 25 clearances with 10 minutes remaining while Lavillenie trailed by just one. Kendricks tried to increase his rate of vaulting but had left himself with too much catching up to do.
After a missed attempt from Duplantis, Lavillenie took the lead with two minutes to go as he sailed over his 32nd clearance. His young opponent soon matched that, but Lavillenie kept up his relentless tempo.
By the end of the contest, Lavillenie and Duplantis had each successfully cleared a total of 36 five-metre vaults, beating Kendricks&rsquo; tally of 26. Following a brief discussion between the top two, they decided to share the victory.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m done, I don&rsquo;t want to take any risks,&rdquo; said Lavillenie. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll share the gold with Mondo.
&ldquo;I was really missing the feeling I get competing. It&rsquo;s crazy but even doing this in my garden, I get the same feeling I&rsquo;d get at a major championships. It was very exciting and I&rsquo;m very happy to be a part of it. I'm not going to do it every week, but I'm happy to do it once a year.&rdquo;
Although he was prepared to continue competing for another three minutes to split the tie, Duplantis was happy to share the victory with his predecessor as world record-holder.
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&ldquo;It was really fun being out there competing against those guys,&rdquo; said Duplantis. &ldquo;I had really missed competing. I didn&rsquo;t think it was going to end in a tie, but that&rsquo;s sports!&rdquo;
Kendricks, meanwhile, felt that the outcome may have been different had they been targeting higher heights.
&ldquo;If the bar had been at 5.40m, maybe it would have been a different story,&rdquo; said Kendricks, the only vaulter who didn&rsquo;t record any failures. &ldquo;Preparing for this was honestly my best training of the whole spring.&rdquo;
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe was one of the thousands of fans who tuned in to watch the contest.
"I am so proud of these three talented athletes," said Coe. "This is a brilliant initiative, great fun and really innovative. My thanks go to them, their families and the World Athletics team for bringing live athletics back during lockdown. I hope we can bring a few more events like this to bring to all athletics fans out there. Thank you to all of them and all our athletes staying home and training hard, for watching&rdquo;
World Athletics is exploring the possibility of holding other Ultimate Garden Clash competitions in the coming weeks.

France’s 2012 Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie and Sweden’s world record-holder Mondo Duplantis shared the honours in the inaugural Ultimate Garden Clash – Pole Vault Edition on Sunday (3), beating arch-rival Sam Kendricks in a unique three-way competition.