World silver medallist Yaroslava Mahuchikh will face fellow Ukrainian Yuliya Levchenko at the Banskobystrick&aacute; latka meeting &ndash; part of the World Athletics Indoor Tour &ndash; on Tuesday 2 February.
Mahuchikh, still only 19, set a world U20 indoor record of 2.02m last year and went on to win in Banska Bystrica 11 days later. The Ukrainian teenager also holds the outdoor world U20 record with the 2.04m leap she produced to take world silver in Doha in 2019.
Two years prior, Levchenko took silver at the World Championships in London, also while still a teenager. Now 23, Levchenko has a lifetime best of 2.02m and she was the only high jumper in the world who managed to defeat Mahuchikh last year.
The pair will line up in Banska Bystrica against 2014 world indoor champion Kamila Licwinko of Poland and Italian duo Elena Vallortigara and Alessia Trost, all of whom have PBs of 2.00m or higher.
The Banskobystrick&aacute; latka is a World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver level meeting. Some of the Gold level meetings were unable to accommodate a men's high jump competition &ndash; one of the scoring disciplines for this year &ndash; due to Covid restrictions, so to allow for an extra scoring opportunity, the men&rsquo;s high jump contest in Banska Bystrica will count towards the scoring in the Gold series.
Italy&rsquo;s 2016 world indoor champion Gianmarco &lsquo;half shave&rsquo; Tamberi will take on 2020 world leader and European silver medallist Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus.
Tamberi, a 2.39m jumper at his best, returned from a career-threatening injury to win the 2019 European indoor title. Nedasekau, meanwhile, jumped a PB of 2.35m in 2019 and went on to finish fourth at that year&rsquo;s World Championships in Doha.
Cuba&rsquo;s Luis Zayas and Jamal Wilson of The Bahamas will return to Banska Bystrica after their 1-2 finish last year. Both men cleared lifetime bests of 2.33m with Zayas winning on countback.
The field also includes world indoor bronze medallist Mateusz Przybylko, 2007 world champion Donald Thomas and three-time US champion Jeron Robinson.

World silver medallist Yaroslava Mahuchikh will face fellow Ukrainian Yuliya Levchenko at the Banskobystrická latka meeting – part of the World Athletics Indoor Tour – on Tuesday 2 February.

Mahuchikh set to take on Levchenko in Banska Bystrica

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. 
<div id="5f41515708b85e01fcc23544" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/e4c49bee-bb95-4b76-9909-687e2ff698d4.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
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;
<div id="5f41511208b85e01fcc23543" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/add61afa-dd52-43b9-967a-679bbdfe02df.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
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;
<div id="5f4150b108b85e01fcc23542" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/31222d94-33d2-43ac-8283-6d9eec7c8ec3.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
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

Yuliya Levchenko produced the season's first two-metre high jump to highlight the Irena Szewinska Memorial, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting, in Bydgoszcz, Poland on Wednesday (19).
Levchenko, 22, sailed clear on her third attempt to defeat fellow Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh, the world U20 record holder, who topped 1.97m before bowing out with three attempts at 2.00m.
A highlight on the track came in the evening-capping men's 2000m where Australia's Matthew Ramsden prevailed in 4:55.44. Marcin Lewandowski finished second in 4:57.09 to break the Polish record with Filip Sasinek third in 4:57.60, a record for the Czech Republic. The first seven finishers broke five minutes.
European champion Michal Haratyk won the shot with a season's best throw of 21.61m, defeating Croatia's Filip Mihaljevic who reached 21.35m. Former world champion David Storl was third with 20.83m.
In other infield action, world pole vault champion Sam Kendrick beat Piotr Lisek on countback at 5.80m. Lisek pulled out of the competition with an undisclosed leg injury after his first attempt at 5.90m.
Noelie Yarigo of Benin notched a big win in the women's 800m in 2:00.11, beating home crowd favourite Sofia Ennaoui and 1500m standout Laura Muir, who clocked 2:00.26 and 2:00.34, respectively. Muir's training partner won the 1500m in 4:09.01 and Eliot Giles of Great Britain took the men's 800m in 1:45.18.
Bob Ramsak for World Athletics

Yuliya Levchenko produced the season's first two-metre high jump to highlight the Irena Szewinska Memorial, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting, in Bydgoszcz, Poland on Wednesday (19).

Levchenko tops 2.00m in Bydgoszcz

Ukrainian high jump duo Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Yuliya Levchenko will compete at the Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe on 31 January, while a host of global medallists will line up for the long jump at the Copernicus Cup in Torun on 8 February, organisers of the World Athletics Indoor Tour meetings announced on Tuesday (21).
Mahuchikh, the World Athletics Rising Star of 2019, set a world U20 record of 2.04m to take the silver medal at last year&rsquo;s World Championships. Still only 18, she started her season in fine style in Lviv last weekend by breaking the world U20 indoor record (pending ratification) with 2.01m, a mark that equals the senior Ukrainian indoor record.
Compatriot Levchenko, who was the world silver medallist in 2017, has also got off to a strong start this year. The 22-year-old equalled her indoor best of 2.00m in Kiev earlier this month, her best ever start to a season.
While Mahuchikh has the better lifetime best, Levchenko has the edge in their career head-to-head record at 9-2.
Germany&rsquo;s Imke Onnen, who set an indoor PB of 1.96m last year before going on to reach the World Championships final, will also compete in Karlsruhe.
While the high jump will be one of Karlsruhe&rsquo;s highlights, the long jump looks set to delight the crowds in Torun.
The three medallists from the 2019 European Indoor Championships &ndash; Ivana Spanovic, Nastassia Mironchyk-Ivanova and Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk &ndash; will renew their rivalry. The addition of world bronze medallist Ese Brume of Nigeria and 2016 world indoor bronze medallist Lorraine Ugen means there will be four seven-metre jumpers in the field.
Spanovic, the world indoor champion and Olympic bronze medallist, is the most accomplished of the field. The Serbian leapt 7.24m to win her second of three European indoor titles, putting her third on the world indoor all-time list.
Torun&rsquo;s 60m field contains Asia&rsquo;s fastest man, the European indoor champion, and the 2014 world indoor champion.
China&rsquo;s Su Bingtian, who moved to fifth on the world indoor all-time list when taking world indoor silver in 6.42 in 2018, will be racing in Torun for the first time in his career. The 30-year-old will face European indoor champion Jan Volko, who set a Slovakian indoor record of 6.57 when winning in Torun in 2018, and 2014 world indoor champion Richard Kilty, who also ran 6.57 when he last competed in Torun back in 2015.

Ukrainian high jump duo Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Yuliya Levchenko will compete at the Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe on 31 January, while a host of global medallists will line up for the long jump at the Copernicus Cup in Torun on 8 February, organisers of the World Athletics Indoor Tour meetings announced on Tuesday (21).

Quality jumps clashes in Karlsruhe and Torun

Yuliya Levchenko cleared 2.02 to take an upset victory in the high jump to highlight the second day of The Match, a duel between the United States and a united European squad in Minsk, Belarus, on Tuesday (9).
Levchenko, 21, was on fire, produceing a flawless scorecard in seven leaps up to and including her winning height which added one centimetre to the personal best she set at the World Championships in London two years ago. She bowed out at 2.04m, but with one especially close attempt, showed that that height was well within her capabilities this season.
"Now I'm going to Doha," said Levchenko, who jumped to surprise silver in London two years ago. "It will be new start, new way and, of course, new results. I hope that everything will go on the best way."
The Ukrainian also inflicted a rare defeat upon Mariya Lasitskene, the reigning world champion, who topped 1.98m but couldn't finish better than third, taking a back seat to another Ukrainian jumper, Iryna Herashchenko, who also topped 1.98m, just one centimetre shy of the career best she set earlier this season.
That top-three finish for Team Europe was one of several for the 'hosts', contributing to their convincing 724.5 to 601.5 victory in what organisers hope will be a regular fixtures on the international calendar.
Another came in the men's javelin competition, dominated by world champion Johannes Vetter.
The German reached a 90.03m season's best in the third round, his first blast beyond 90 metres this year. He is just the second man to throw beyond that barrier in 2019; the other, Magnus Kirt, was second with 88.91m on a night that clearly belonged to Vetter who backed up his big throw with 88.31m, 88.03m and 87.68m efforts.
Lithuania&rsquo;s Edis Matusevicius was a distant third with 83.53m.
Anna Ryzhykova also led a top-three showing in the 400m hurdles in 55.32, in a race that left the top American entrant, Ashley Spencer, laying face down on the track after she took a tumble over the final barrier.&nbsp;
In the men's discus, it was Austrian Lukas Weishaidinger's turn to lead a top-three finish for the continental squad, dominating the proceedings with a third round 67.22m effort. Piotr Malachowski of Poland was second with 64.89m.
Things went even better in the men's pole vault where Armand Duplantis led Europe to a top-four sweep. The teenager topped 5.85m on his first attempt to seal the win, then went on to take two jumps at 5.90m before bowing out with a strong effort at 6.00m.
Poles Piotr Lisek and Pawel Wojciechowski topped 5.80m and 5.75m respectively to finish second and third with Konstadinos Filippidis of Greece fourth, also at 5.75m, to secure the maximum 27 points for Europe.
In the 110m hurdles, Olympic silver medallist Orlando Ortega prevailed in one of the biggest showdowns of the meet, pulling away from former world champion Sergey Shubenkov as the pair approached the seventh hurdle. From there, Ortega was untouchable winning in 13.21 to the authorised neutral athlete's 13.39.
Nastassia Mironchyk-Ivanova thrilled her hometown crowd with a spirited victory in the long jump, reaching 6.74m in the third round to hold off Ukraine's Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk by one centimetre. Reigning world champion Brittney Reese of the US was just another two centimetres back withy 6.71m to finish third.
Joanna Fiodorow of Poland took the hammer throw with a 74.34m effort, not far from her 74.71m season's best. Hanna Malyshik of Belarus was second with 72.70m to give Europe a 1-2 finish in that event.
Amel Tuka and Adam Kszczot finished 1-2 in the men's 800m, the former passing the latter in the waning stages.
Kate Grace delivered one of the strongest performances on the track for the US squad, taking a decisive 1500m victory in 4:02.49, a lifetime best for the 30-year-old 2016 Olympic finalist. Teammate Shannon Osika was second in 4:04.58 with Eilish McColgan finishing third for Europe clocking 4:05.58.
Maggie Ewen, who won NCAA titles in the shot put, discus and hammer throw during her collegiate career, put some of that versatility on display in the shot put, winning with a 19.47m personal best. Fanny Roos broke through the 19-metre barrier for the first time with a 19.06m throw, a Swedish national record, to finish second.
Ramil Guliyev and Brittany Brown turned in dominant performances in their respective 200m contests, the world champion clocking 20.16 in the men's race and Brown, the runner-up at this year's US championships, 22.61 in the women's.
Elsewhere, Chris Benard of the US was the only man to breach the 17-metre line in the triple jump, bounding to a 17.01m season's best. Teammate Dave Kendziera clocked 48.99 to win the 400m hurdles and Sharika Nelvis took the women's 100m hurdles in 12.80. And Ben Blankenship, who was third in the 1500m yesterday, held off Spaniard Adel Mechaal to win the 3000m by 0.07 in 7:57.48.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

Yuliya Levchenko cleared 2.02 to take an upset victory in the high jump to highlight the second day of The Match, a duel between the United States and a united European squad in Minsk, Belarus, on Tuesday (9).

Levchenko tops 2.02m in Minsk as Europe powers to duel match victory over USA

Despite strong headwinds at the British Championships, 100m winner Dina Asher-Smith and 200m victor Adam Gemili broke championship records at Birmingham&rsquo;s Alexander Stadium this weekend.
Triple European gold medallist Asher-Smith was the standout performer on Saturday (24), first clocking 11.03 to win her 100m semifinal into a -2.0m/s headwind and then going on to win the final in 10.96 (-0.9m/s) to break her own championship record by 0.01.
Asha Philip was second in 11.29, 0.01 ahead of world 4x100m silver medal-winning teammate Daryll Neita.
&ldquo;When you have two rounds in a day, you run them like they&rsquo;re World Championships semis and finals,&rdquo; said Asher-Smith. &ldquo;You have to run for each and every place.&rdquo;
The men&rsquo;s 100m was much closer; in fact it was one of the closest finishes ever at the British Championships as all three medallists clocked 10.18 (-1.9m/s) with Ojie Edoburun getting the verdict over Gemili and European 100m champion Zharnel Hughes.
Gemili and Hughes returned to the track 24 hours later for the 200m final. Despite another strong headwind &ndash; this time -1.2m/s &ndash; Gemili won in a championship and stadium record of 20.08, his fastest time since his PB run of 19.97 in September 2016.
Hughes was second in 20.25 with Miguel Francis finishing third (20.34) and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake fourth (20.39).
&ldquo;I knew coming in I didn&rsquo;t have the qualifying time and I knew the field was unreal,&rdquo; said Gemili. &ldquo;I knew there were four of us in there that are sub-10 seconds for the 100m and Zharnel is sub-20 seconds for the 200m in his career and anyone could have taken it.&rdquo;
The women&rsquo;s 200m was held in the windiest conditions of the weekend, but Jodie Williams tackled the -4.3m/s headwind to win in 23.06.
Other record-breaking feats came from Callum Wilkinson, who broke the British 5000m race walk record with 18:42.23, and Holly Bradshaw, who won the pole vault with a championship record of 4.73m.
The women&rsquo;s long jump provided the highlight of the field events. Abigail Irozuru jumped into the lead in round two with 6.71m, only to be bettered by Shara Proctor&rsquo;s season&rsquo;s best of 6.84m in round three. Irozuru then responded with a lifetime best of 6.86m (1.6m/s) to regain the lead.
Lorraine Ugen jumped a season&rsquo;s best of 6.68m in round four to move into third, only to be bumped out of the medals by Jazmin Sawyers, who produced her best leap of the year, 6.71m, in the final round to finish third.
Ben Williams showed his recent European Team Championships victory wasn&rsquo;t a fluke, winning the triple jump with a lifetime best of 17.27m (1.1m/s).
There was much at stake in the middle-distance events as several athletes had qualifying marks for the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 and needed to finish in the top two to guarantee their place on the British team.
In the men&rsquo;s 800m &ndash; an event in which eight Britons hold the World Championships qualifying mark &ndash; the top two places were taken by athletes who don&rsquo;t yet have the standard.
Jamie Webb led coming off the final bend but Spencer Thomas was slowly gaining on him as they neared the line. Guy Learmonth then came striding down on the outside to cross the line in unison with Thomas, both men out-dipping Webb. Thomas and Learmonth were given the same time, 1:46.79, with Thomas crowned the winner.
Selection for the women&rsquo;s event will be more straight-forward as the top three all have the qualifying mark. European indoor champion Shelayna Oskan-Clarke controlled the race and won in 2:02.67 from Lynsey Sharp (2:02.79) and Alexandra Bell (2:02.87).
In the men&rsquo;s 1500m, Neil Gourley timed his kick to perfection to overtake Josh Kerr with about 40 metres to go, winning in 3:48.36 from Kerr (3:48.51). Jake Wightman was third in 3:48.69 while Charlie Grice, who earlier this year clocked a PB of 3:30.62, was fourth in 3:48.83.
<h3>Kambundji breaks Swiss 200m record</h3>
As has been the case for several years in succession, Mujinga Kambundji produced the top performances at the Swiss Championships, which this year returned to Bern for the first time since 2012. 
<div id="53f35376a0ab5102480a3374" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/610a422d-0b2b-483e-9978-b545aeddc7ce.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Swiss sprinter Mujinga Kambundji</div>
&nbsp;
The world indoor bronze medallist won the 100m on Friday (23) in a season&rsquo;s best of 11.00 (-0.2m/s), the second-fastest time of her career behind the national record of 10.95 she clocked to win the Swiss title last year.
She then returned one day later to win the 200m in 22.26, regaining the Swiss record that she held from 2014 until 2016 when Lea Sprunger claimed it with a 22.38 clocking in Geneva.
Fresh from winning the European U20 decathlon title, Simon Ehammer broke his own national U20 record to win the long jump with 7.84m.
<h3>Big shots collide at Polish Championships</h3>
Konrad Bukowiecki beat European champion Michal Haratyk to take the shot put title at the Polish Championships in Radom.
Bukowiecki led from the outset, opening with 21.25m and improving to 21.70m in the fourth round. Haratyk, who set a national record of 22.32m just a few weeks ago, threw 21.18m in round one and extended that to 21.45m but could not catch Bukowiecki, who ended his series with 21.83m, the second-best throw of his career to date. 
<div id="57263caec6def419b4bdec49" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/33067361-e01c-4b86-9b27-c7200b16ce01.png');">&nbsp;</div>
Polish shot putter Konrad Bukowiecki</div>
&nbsp;
Three-time world champion Pawel Fajdek won the hammer with 78.61m from European champion Wojciech Nowicki (74.75m), while Malwina Kopron got the better of Joanna Fiodorow in the women&rsquo;s event, 73.95m to 72.76.
Just 20 hours after setting a national 1500m record of 3:31.95 at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Paris, Marcin Lewandowski was back on home soil and won the Polish 1500m title in 3:57.60.
European champion Justyna Swiety-Ersetic was beaten into third place in the women&rsquo;s 400m, which was won by Iga Baumgart-Witan in 51.48. Anna Kielbasinska was second in 51.51, 0.12 ahead of Swiety-Ersetic.
<h3>Levchenko clears 2.00m at Ukrainian Championships</h3>
World silver medallist Yuliya Levchenko cleared a season&rsquo;s best of 2.00m to win the high jump at the Ukrainian Championships in Lutsk on Friday (23).
The 21-year-old led for most of the competition but was briefly bumped into third place after Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Iryna Herashchenko both cleared 1.91m on their first attempts while Levchenko needed two.
But Levchenko regained command of the competition with a first-time clearance at 1.94m. Herashchenko got over that bar on her third try but went no higher. Mahuchikh managed 1.96m and then bowed out with three misses at 1.98m. Levchenko, meanwhile, went on to clear 1.98m and 2.00m before ending her series with three unsuccessful attempts at a would-be PB of 2.02m.
Daryna Sloboda came from behind to win the heptathlon. Having duelled with world U20 javelin champion Alina Shukh for much of the two days, Sloboda&rsquo;s superior 800m run of 2:11.35 was enough to move her back into the lead, winning with a PB of 6208.
Shukh, who had struggled for form in the middle of the season, produced season&rsquo;s bests in six of the seven disciplines and was rewarded with a score of 6178, her best mark since setting a national U20 record of 6381 in 2017.
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

Despite strong headwinds at the British Championships, 100m winner Dina Asher-Smith and 200m victor Adam Gemili broke championship records at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium this weekend.

National championships round-up: records broken at British and Swiss Championships

It has been a stunning season by any account for Ukrainian high jumper Yuliya Levchenko.
Even though the two biggest prizes of the season evaded her, having to settle for second at the IAAF World Championships London 2017 and IAAF Diamond League final in Brussels, at the age of 19 she has established herself among the world elite for her event and, barring injury, looks set to occupy that position for many years to come.
Having won gold at the Youth Olympic Games in 2014 and then taking the bronze at the IAAF World U20 Championships last year, she was already on an upward trajectory, but her feats this season have established her as probably the closest rival to the undisputed current world No.1, Maria Lasitskene.
Levchenko, in her first year in the senior ranks, started the season with a personal best of 1.95m but increased that on three occasions.
She took the European U23 title with 1.96m in Bydgoszcz in July, partial compensation for finishing third at the same venue 12 months before when she crossed the border to neighbouring Poland as favourite for the global U20 crown.
The IAAF Diamond League meeting in Monaco witnessed Levchenko clear 1.97m but she finished second behind Lasitskene &ndash; in fact, Levchenko has yet to beat Lasitskene in 10 encounters stretching back to 2015 &ndash; as she was subsequently to do at the World Championships and Brussels.
This was a prelude to her going higher and higher in London, producing a soaring clearance at 1.99m to temporarily take the lead in the hunt for the gold medal, and then &ndash; having watched Lasitskene regain pole position by going over 2.01m on her first attempt &ndash; slithered over 2.01m to become the 70th woman ever to clear two metres or better.
<h3>A forgiving bar</h3>
"It was an unbelievable [world] championships for me," she said after the final, which lasted nearly two hours. "I was focused from the opening jump until the last attempt. I didn't allow myself to get emotional.
&ldquo;When I got the bronze medal at the European Indoors in Belgrade, I showed how happy I was, but here I just tried to keep myself under control.
&ldquo;My clearance at 2.01m was not my best attempt technically. I thought that such a height would not be so forgiving of any mistakes that I made; that&rsquo;s one reason why I was just sitting there looking stunned rather than dancing with delight as I had done at 1.99m. I couldn&rsquo;t believe how I had got over; I suppose sheer willpower and strength.
&ldquo;My boyfriend had sent me a message before the competition that I would jump 2.01m. I didn't believe him but it looks like he was right,&rdquo; she joked.
&ldquo;One thing that helped me focus at 2.01m was that of the three women remaining (Poland&rsquo;s 2014 world indoor champion Kamila Licwinko was also in the competition having also got over 1.99m at the first time of asking but with failures earlier in the competition), I was the last to jump.
<h3>Satisfied with second</h3>
&ldquo;I saw Maria go clear (Licwinko then had failures with her first and second attempts) then I knew I was in second place. I just tried to relax and I got over 2.01m on my second attempt.
&ldquo;I have to be honest and say Maria was clearly stronger throughout the competition, as she has been all season. It would have been hard to beat her, but I was very pleased with second place.&rdquo;
So too were the rest of the Ukrainian team; 'relieved' might even be a better word.
Surprisingly, Ukraine had not won a medal until Levchenko&rsquo;s silver on the penultimate day of the championships and it was to be the only time in London that a Ukrainian athlete stood on the podium.
&ldquo;You always worry about your team. You want more medals, more successful performances. But this is a sport and not always everything turns out the way people want, there are many factors,&rdquo; she said, in response to some post-championships chest-beating about their country&rsquo;s medal tally in the Ukrainian media.
&ldquo;There were athletes who could not show their best result, and we were all very upset for them.&rdquo;
By contrast, Levchenko was feted like a returning hero, at least by modest Ukrainian standards. &ldquo;We do not celebrate in the street, we do not ask (well-known people) for an autograph. But when I returned to Kiev after the World Championships, the border guards recognised me and congratulated me. It was tremendously pleasant.&rdquo;
<h3>Domestic duels</h3>
Levchenko naturally attributes one of the reasons to her success to her coach Irina Pustovit.
Another factor is that she has a number of domestic rivals.
In addition to her good friend Iryna Gerashchenko, there is also 2017 World University Games winner Oksana Okuneva and 2013 European junior champion Kateryna Tabashnyk to reckon with locally. All three women accompany Levchenko in the 2017 top 10 world outdoor list having jumped 1.95m or better.
In addition, knocking on the door, is this year&rsquo;s world U18 champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who jumped 1.92m this year.
&ldquo;Domestic competition is always good, it produces good results. It pushes and does not let you relax,&rdquo; added Levchenko.
&ldquo;I am very friendly with Iryna so that&rsquo;s slightly different and I don&rsquo;t feel I am competing with her in the same way; instead we both fight with the bar rather than between ourselves.&rdquo;
Inga Bakakova&rsquo;s long-standing and impressive Ukrainian high jump record of 2.05m, set more than two decades ago in 1995, is still some way from being beaten but the gap is closing. And Levchenko &ndash; who moved up to equal third on the Ukrainian all-time list &ndash; this season closed it more than any of her contemporaries.
Phil Minshull for the IAAF

It has been a stunning season by any account for Ukrainian high jumper Yuliya Levchenko.

Levchenko's London silver levitates her standing as Lasitskene’s main rival

Rising star Maryna Bekh confirmed her vast potential by soaring out to&nbsp;6.93m to win the women's long jump at the Ukrainian Championships in Lutsk, a four-day competition which came to an end on Sunday (19).
Bekh, the European junior bronze medallist in 2013 and world junior finalist in 2014, added 15cm to her previous personal best of 6.78m, which she set at the age of 16 back in 2013.
Now 20, she posted her breakthrough effort in the second round of Friday&rsquo;s competition, her leap&nbsp;of 6.93m a personal best and Olympic standard.&nbsp;She confirmed that she is in the greatest shape of her career by going out to 6.80m in the fourth round and 6.88m in the fifth, the latter aided by a +3.0m/s wind.
&ldquo;We were very focused preparing for the Olympic year,&rdquo; said Bekh, explaining her breakthrough performance. &ldquo;All my training velocity, power and lifting tests grew considerably. I increased my approach from 17 to 19 steps and it was very important to find new rhythm and to cope with scaled-up speed on the board.&rdquo;
Bekh also believes that there is more to come.
&ldquo;Certainly I would like to overcome the seven-metre mark as soon as possible but it&rsquo;s much more important to consolidate 6.80-6.90m jumps and then make another step further,&rdquo; said Bekh, who will compete at the European Championships in Amsterdam next month.&nbsp;
Two-time Paralympic Games champion in the F12 (visually impared) category, Oksana Zubkovska, surprised with second place, also posting an Olympic standard of 6.70m in her sixth attempt. The 34-year-old beat Anna Kornuta, who finished the competition with the same result after having only one successful jump in the first round.
On the men&rsquo;s side, Serhiy Nykyforov missed the Olympic standard by four centimetres despite winning the event with an 8.18m jump in the last round, an effort boosted by a 2.2m/s wind. Nevertheless, he achieved 8.11m in his first attempt with a legal wind to improve his outdoor PB by a massive 36cm.
Two more male long jumpers landed over the eight-metre mark. Taras Neledva was second with 8.11m (+3.0m/s) and 2008 Olympic triple jump finalist, Viktor Kuznetsov, leapt 8.05m for bronze.
Ruslana Tsykhotska jumped 14.41m to take gold in the women&rsquo;s triple jump but 2011 world champion Olha Saladukha, who already has the qualifying standard for Rio, missed the event while continuing her recovery from a back injury. &nbsp;&nbsp;
<h3>Okuneva edges Levchenko in high jump</h3>
Yuliya Levchenko fought&nbsp;against a slight knee injury but was able to improve her personal best by three centimeres when clearing&nbsp;1.95m on her first attempt, the highest jump in the world by an U20 athlete this year.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz are my priority as that is my category&rsquo;s competition, but I really had the goal to reach Rio as well for my first experience as a senior Olympian," said Levchenko. "Now I&rsquo;m aiming to cure my knee injury and to be full healthy competing at the major events.&rdquo;
The teenager's jump was also a national U20 and U23 record but it wasn't good enough to take the title.
In spite of her great performance, Levchenko was beaten by the experienced Oksana Okuneva, who cleared 1.95m only on the&nbsp;third attempt but was then successful over 1.97m at the first try, equalling what was then the world-leading mark, before bringing the bar down three times at what would have been a personal best 2.00m.
Another&nbsp;young star to shine was 2015 world youth championships bronze medallist Alina Shukh, who in the absence of Ukraine's strongest female multi-eventers scored 6099 points in the women's heptathlon using senior implements to top the 2016 world U20&nbsp;list.
During the competition Shukh, 17,&nbsp;cleared 1.92m in the high jump and&nbsp;improved her personal bests in the long jump to 6.15m and in the javelin to 51.52m. She also clocked 14.72 for 100m hurdles, threw 12.94m in the shot put and finished with a&nbsp;2:17.68 800m.
In the throws, Nataliya Semenova ruled the women's discus field with a best of 62.41m, while Mykyta Nesterenko won the men's title with 59.88m. Hanna Hatsko-Fedusova threw 60.12m to win the women's javelin, with Dmytro Kosynskyy firing the spear 81.10m to win the men's event. Iryna Novozhylova confirmed her Rio standard in the women's hammer with a best throw of&nbsp;71.00m.
<h3>Relay women return to form</h3>
There were several strong&nbsp;performances in the women's sprints. All four members of Ukraine's 4x100m team which&nbsp;took bronze medals at the&nbsp;London 2012 Olympic Games&nbsp;confirmed their ambitions for Rio de Janeiro in the individual disciplines in Lutsk.&nbsp;
Nathaliya Pohrebnyak completed a golden&nbsp;double when winning 100m in 11.11, despite running into a 2.2m/s wind, and 200m in&nbsp;22.76. Mariya Ryemyen finished third in both finals with 11.50 and 23.45 respectively behind Olesya Povkh, who clocked 11.30 in the&nbsp;100m, and Yelizaveta Bryzgina, who ran 23.24 in 200m final.&nbsp;
"All the girls are drawing into relay practices," said the head coach of women's relay team, Kostyantyn Rurak. "Unfortunately, Khrystyna Stuy was injured at the Rome Diamond League but we hope for her recovery soon as we&rsquo;re full of ambition to shine again at the highest world level."
Serhiy Smelyk was fastest in the men's 200m with a winning time of 20.40.&nbsp;
Former world finalist Anna Titimets faced strong opposition in women's 400m hurdles from 2015 European U23 finalist Olena Kolesnychenko and semi-finalist Viktoriya Tkachuk, but repelled their challenge to win in&nbsp;55.00. Kolesnychenko booked her flight to Rio by finishing second in a&nbsp;personal best of 55.48, with Tkachuk third in&nbsp;55.96.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
In the women's 400m, the gold medal went to Olha Bibik in 51.69 ahead of Yuliya Olishevska, 51.70, and 2014&nbsp;European silver medallist Olha Zemlyak, who ran 51.89. Vitaliy Butrym clocked 45.85 to win the men's title over one lap of the track.
Nataliya Lupu broke&nbsp;two minutes for the first time this summer when taking second place&nbsp;in the 800m in&nbsp;1:59.70, but was well beaten by the 2014 European 1500m bronze medallist, Nataliya Pryshchepa, who set a personal best of 1:59.08.
Roman Yarko improved his personal best to 1:46.80 to win the men's 800m. Mariya Shatalova ran 9:44.25 to win the women's 3000m steeplechase, while Vadym Slobodenyuk clocked 8:36.68 to win the men's race.
Liudmyla Iakusheva for the IAAF

Rising star Maryna Bekh confirmed her vast potential by soaring out to 6.93m to win the women's long jump at the Ukrainian Championships in Lutsk, a four-day competition which came to an end on Sunday (19).

Bekh long jumps 6.93m at Ukrainian Championships 

Yomif Kejelcha offered another exciting glimpse of his star quality by cruising to victory in the boys’ 3000m final on the penultimate day of athletics action at the Youth Olympic Games in the Nanjing Olympic Sport Centre Stadium on Sunday (24).The tall, fluid-striding Ethiopian, who secured the world junior 5000m title last month, easily repelled a ferocious – and some might say foolhardy – early attack from Kenya’s Moses Koech to kick clear of the field with little more than three laps to go.The 17-year-old Kejelcha could then afford to serenely ease to a processional win in a time of 7:56.20 – the second-fastest time by a youth athlete this year – albeit nearly a full 20 seconds behind the staggering time of 7:36.28 he posted at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Ostrava in June, which sits second on the senior 3000m world lists this year.His triumph brings to an end an impressive 13-month period in which the gifted Ethiopian has snared all three major age group global titles, a sequence kick-started by his 3000m gold medal at the 2013 IAAF World Youth Championships in Ukraine. In a furious battle for silver, Theirry Ndikumwenayo of Burundi pipped Koech by 0.28 in 8:05.05, but there is little doubt that Kejelcha is a special talent and his future development will be monitored with great anticipation.During the morning session, another African talent popped his head above the parapet to reveal a special running talent and then proceeded to entertain the crowd with his personal display of karate moves in the boys’ 1500m final.Glibert Soet laid waste to the opposition with a scintillating last-lap performance to stop the clock in a world-youth-leading time of 3:41.99. The 16-year-old Kenyan left the crowd with something else to remember him by, a hitherto unknown talent for mirroring martial arts moves.Lyles leaves family screamingThe pre-race favourites struck gold in the 200m A finals with US sprinter Noah Lyles securing a comfortable victory in the boys’ race and Natalliah Whyte ensuring Jamaican gold in the girls’ equivalent.On a cooler night in Nanjing, Lyles could not quite match his personal best of 20.71 from the heats but, running from lane seven, he proved too good for the rest, crossing the line for gold in 20.80.Chad Walker of Jamaica crossed the line second but was later disqualified for running out of his lane and Botswana’s Baboloki Thebe was awarded silver in 21.20.Lyles said of the USA’s first athletics gold medal in Nanjing: “Coming in with a big target on your back, there’s always pressure. But you can’t worry about it. You've just got to run your own race and do the best you can. My father, who coaches me, would be at home screaming with brothers going crazy in the house telling everybody just what I did.”White, who had placed seventh in the 200m final at last month’s World Junior Championships, said she was “overwhelmed” to take gold in 23.55, 0.39 clear of Ukraine’s Dzhois Koba.Koba’s silver in the morning session preceded a memorable evening for Ukraine who took two shock gold medals in the evening stanza. Hlib Piskunov produced the performance of his young life to defeat world youth leader and red-hot pre-event favourite Bence Halasz of Hungary in a dramatic boys’ hammer final.Halasz, who hurled the hammer a monster 87.17m for a world youth best in May and was the owner of the 14 longest youth throws in the world this year leading into the final, could only summon a best of 81.90m as Piskunov advanced his personal best by more than two-and-half metres to take gold with 82.65m.His compatriot Yuliya Levchenko vowed “to party” after earning a stunning success in the girls’ high jump by bettering her pre-final best of1.83m on three occasions to edge France’s Nawal Meniker, with her second-time clearance at 1.89m securing the gold medal.“A personal best in the final was more than I dreamed of. I have so many emotions, I can’t understand it,” was Levchenko’s response to a dramatic and unexpected gold medal. &nbsp;&nbsp;Just a month after securing the world junior shot put title, Pole Konrad Bukowiecki proved unassailable in the under-18 age group as he hurled his implement out to a world-youth-leading mark of 23.17m to ease to gold. As a further measure of the magnitude of his performance, it was the fifth best performance by a youth in history and added to his 2013 world youth title.Double Japanese goldJapan also enjoyed a memorable night inside the Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre Stadium with a welcome double dose of endurance success. Nozomi Takamatsu proved far too strong for the rest while setting a personal best of 9:01.58 to triumph in the girls’ 3000m from Germany’s Alina Reh, who took the silver in 9:05.07.Earlier in the session, Minoru Onogawa celebrated Japanese gold after circling 25 laps of the track in a lifetime best of 42:03:54 to take gold in the boys’ 10,000m race walk, more than seven seconds clear of Russia’s Vladislav Saraikin.It could not have been any tighter in the final of the girls’ hammer as home thrower Xu Xinying pulled out a final effort of 68.35m to exactly match the best performance of Australia’s Alex Hulley.However, much to the delight of the home fans, the Chinese athlete was awarded the gold by virtue of a superior second-best effort.As predicted, world youth leader and world youth silver medallist Alena Bugakova was far too good for the rest of the field in the girl’s shot, winning with 18.95m. Her fellow Russian Anatoly Ryapolov, the world youth long jump champion, defied wet conditions in the morning session to secure the boys’ long jump crown with 7.54m.Steve Landells for the IAAF

Yomif Kejelcha offered another exciting glimpse of his star quality by cruising to victory in the boys’ 3000m final on the penultimate day of athletics action at the Youth Olympic Games in the Nanjing Olympic Sport Centre Stadium on Sunday (24).