Germany&rsquo;s Niklas Kaul will be among the athletes looking to secure an Olympic spot when the World Athletics Challenge &ndash; Combined Events moves on to the Stadtwerke Ratingen Mehrkampf-Meeting on 19-20 June.
The qualification period for combined events ends on 29 June, with the standards being 8350 points for the decathlon and 6420 points for the heptathlon.
<h3>Decathletes look to make their mark</h3>
Kaul has the standard for Tokyo thanks to his 8691-point PB to win the world title in Doha in 2019, but having decided not to compete in 2020, and following the elbow surgery he underwent that year, the 23-year-old is keen to make a statement and prove his form in Ratingen. He returned to decathlon action for the first time since Doha in G&ouml;tzis, scoring 8263 to finish fifth.
His compatriot Kai Kazmirek, the 2017 world bronze medallist, is another who has the standard from 2019 having scored 8444 to win in Ratingen and will be looking to get close to that to secure a spot for Tokyo.
Also among those fighting for places on Germany&rsquo;s Olympic team will be 2016 world indoor heptathlon bronze medallist Mathias Brugger, who set his PB of 8304 points in 2018, and Tim Nowak, whose best is 8229 from 2018.
As well as the 11 athletes competing on home soil, the event will feature nine international decathletes including Ukraine&rsquo;s 2009 world bronze medallist Oleksiy Kasyanov, Japan&rsquo;s Asian champion Keisuke Ushiro and Sweden&rsquo;s Fredrik Samuelsson. 
<h3>Weissenberg and Grimm seek standard</h3>
Although she also has the Tokyo standard with the 6426-point score she achieved in 2019, Germany's 2017 world heptathlon silver medallist Carolin Schafer had been planning to compete in Ratingen to demonstrate her form. However, unexpected vaccination side effects have disrupted her preparation and she will no longer compete.
Among those in action will be Austrian record-holder Verena Mayr, who won world bronze in 2019 as Verena Preiner, and Austria&rsquo;s world indoor pentathlon silver medallist Ivona Dadic, who both have the Tokyo entry standard from 2019.
Others with the standard in their sights will be Germany&rsquo;s European U23 silver medallist Sophie Weissenberg and Vanessa Grimm, who set a PB of 6316 points to finish fifth in G&ouml;tzis at the end of last month.
World Athletics

Germany’s Niklas Kaul will be among the athletes looking to secure an Olympic spot when the World Athletics Challenge – Combined Events moves on to the Stadtwerke Ratingen Mehrkampf-Meeting on 19-20 June.

Kaul targets Tokyo in Ratingen

Athletes will have Olympic qualification in mind when they head to the Meeting Internacional Arona in Tenerife on 12-13 June.
The Canary Islands competition made its debut as part of the&nbsp;World Athletics Challenge &ndash; Combined Events&nbsp;in 2019 and this 10th edition also gives athletes the opportunity to achieve standards for the Games in Tokyo ahead of the qualification period for combined events ending on 29 June. 
<h3>Nana Djimou and Zheng in heptathlon</h3>
Among those seeking the 6420-point heptathlon standard for Tokyo will be France&rsquo;s Antoinette Nana Djimou and China&rsquo;s Zheng Ninali.
Three-time Olympian Nana Djimou finished fourth at the London 2012 Olympics and also has three top eight places at the World Athletics Championships &ndash; in 2009, 2011 and 2013 &ndash; to her name. She will be looking to get close to her PB of 6576 points achieved at the 2012 Games to secure her spot at another global competition.
Competing as Nina Schultz, Zheng secured silver for Canada at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and now representing China will be looking to build on the 6153 PB score she set in Xi'an in April.
Joining them in Arona will be Switzerland&rsquo;s 2019 European U23 champion Geraldine Ruckstuhl and Spain&rsquo;s 2017 world U18 champion Maria Vicente, who scored 6304 points to win at the Multistars event in Lana in April, plus Britain&rsquo;s Holly Mills, Switzerland&rsquo;s Caroline Agnou and Austria&rsquo;s Sarah Lagger. 
<h3>Sintnicolaas seeks decathlon standard</h3>
The decathlon qualifying mark for Tokyo is 8350 points and among the athletes aiming for that will be two-time world fifth-placer Eelco Sintnicolaas of the Netherlands. Having originally planned to return to decathlon action in April, Sintnicolaas decided to push that back a couple of months and will now hope to rediscover the sort of form which saw him achieve his 8539-point Dutch record in G&ouml;tzis in 2017.
Norway&rsquo;s Martin Roe returns as the 2019 champion, his national record of 8228 points having been set in Florence in 2018, while the entry list also features Venezuela&rsquo;s 2019 South American Championships winner Georni Jaramillo and Spain&rsquo;s Jorge Urena, who won European indoor heptathlon gold in 2019 and silver earlier this year, plus Czech Republic&rsquo;s Adam Helcelet and Japan&rsquo;s Keisuke Ushiro.&nbsp;
The meeting will also feature U20 and U18 competition.
World Athletics

Athletes will have Olympic qualification in mind when they head to the Meeting Internacional Arona in Tenerife on 12-13 June.

Tokyo marks the target for athletes in Arona

Fresh from her heroics at the FBK Games in Hengelo, world record-breaker Sifan Hassan will again take centre stage at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea, a Wanda Diamond League meeting, in Florence on Thursday (10).
Dutch world champion Hassan, who improved the global 10,000m record to 29:06.82c on Sunday (pending ratification), will give herself a speed test in the Italian city, stepping down to her other world title distance, the 1500m, where another exceptional challenge awaits.
The other contenders include the Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon, also in brilliant form after a commanding win in the 800m at the previous Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha, and the European champion Laura Muir, undefeated outdoors this year at this distance.
But having won the world titles over 10,000m and 1500m a week apart in Doha in 2019, Hassan will fancy her chances at taking this double too.
On the 40th anniversary of Sebastian Coe&rsquo;s monumental world 800m record, also set in Florence, it is fitting that the middle distance events will command the spotlight.
The men&rsquo;s 5000m and 3000m steeplechase also promise to be outstanding races based on the quality of the fields assembled.
Uganda&rsquo;s world 5000m record-breaker Joshua Cheptegei heads a stacked 5000m field that includes seven sub-13-minute men, among them the Ethiopian duo of world champion Muktar Edris and Hagos Gebrhiwet, as well as the Norwegian boy wonder Jakob Ingebrigtsen, European champion but yet to prove he can mix it with the world&rsquo;s very best over this distance. This is his opportunity. 
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Joshua Cheptegei on his way to a world 5000m record in Monaco</div>
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Spain&rsquo;s Mohamed Katir, who was an impressive winner of this event at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Gateshead last month, will also contend.
Cheptegei returns to this distance for the first time since he set the world record in Monaco last year. He has made no secret of his desire to turn his dominance of the clock over 5000m and 10,000m in the past two years, into two Olympic gold medals in Tokyo in August.
The steeplechase line-up is equally formidable, featuring three of the first four from the 2019 World Championships podium from Doha, Kenyan winner Conseslus Kipruto, Morocco&rsquo;s bronze medallist Soufiane El Bakkali and fourth-placed Getnet Wale.
Another athlete who will bring outstanding form to Florence is the world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith, who will have her first outing over her preferred distance this year, coming off a dominant display over 100m at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Hengelo.
Waiting for her will be the dual world champion Dafne Schippers, world bronze medallist Mujinga Kambundji and the highly-regarded Marie-Josee Ta Lou.
In the men&rsquo;s 100m, Akani Simbine, who inspired South Africa to victory in the 4x100m at the World Athletics Relays in Silesia last month, returns to Europe to take on a field that includes four other sub-10-second performers.
A warm evening in early summer in Italy promises to provide perfect conditions for the sprints, and will give world leader in the 100m hurdles Jasmine Camacho-Quinn every chance of improving her personal best of 12.32 and extending her unbeaten run this year. 
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Jasmine Camacho-Quinn at the 2021 USATF Grand Prix in Eugene</div>
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Olympic 110m hurdles champion Omar McLeod is also rounding into form after a 13.08 clocking in Hengelo and will take on world bronze medallist Pascal Martinot-Lagarde.
Following her 54.33 400m hurdles season-opener in Hengelo last weekend, Femke Bol will look to go even quicker in Florence when she takes on Olympic silver medallist Sara Slott Petersen, the winner in Gateshead, and Ukraine&rsquo;s Anna Ryzhykova.
In the men&rsquo;s 400m, world silver medallist Anthony Zambrano takes on Botswana&rsquo;s Isaac Makwala, European champion Matt Hudson-Smith and Italian record-holder Davide Re.
Florence is not only likely to be faster, but higher too, with world-class fields assembled in both the women&rsquo;s pole vault and men&rsquo;s high jump.
The pole vault will feature Olympic champion Katerina Stefanidi on the comeback trail from injury where she will face world champion Anzhelika Sidorova and in the in-form Holly Bradshaw.
In the high jump, world champion Mutaz Essar Barshim of Qatar will compete in Europe for the first time in two years, taking on the early season pacesetter Ilya Ivanyuk (2.37m) and the home favourite Gianmarco Tamberi. 
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Mutaz Barshim at the Ready Steady Tokyo meeting</div>
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The only horizontal jump programmed, the women&rsquo;s long jump, will be similarly intriguing as world champion Malaika Mihambo takes on a high-quality field including fellow seven-metre jumpers Chantel Malone and Nastassia Mironchyk-Ivanova, two-time world triple jump champion Caterine Ibarguen, world indoor champion Ivana Spanovic and world silver medallist Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk.
For stronger (to complete the Olympic motto), look to the men&rsquo;s shot put and the women&rsquo;s discus.
New Zealand&rsquo;s 2017 world shot put champion Tom Walsh will face the leading thrower in Europe this season, Poland&rsquo;s Michal Haratyk, who has a best mark of 22.17m this year.
Cuba&rsquo;s world discus champion Yaime Perez will look to extend her unbeaten run this year, taking on the dual Olympic discus champion Sandra Perkovic again after a narrow victory in Hengelo.
Nicole Jeffery for World Athletics

Fresh from her heroics at the FBK Games in Hengelo, world record-breaker Sifan Hassan will again take centre stage at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea, a Wanda Diamond League meeting, in Florence on Thursday (10).

World record-breakers Hassan and Cheptegei lead distance showcase in Florence

All eyes will be on the hammer throw circle in Turku, Finland, this week as two titans of the event &ndash; Anita Wlodarczyk and Pawel Fajdek &ndash; fine-tune their Olympic preparations at the Paavo Nurmi Games, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting.
The two-day meeting kicks off on Monday (7) but the Polish duo will be in action on Tuesday (8), pitting their talent against quality opposition. For Wlodarczyk it&rsquo;s a chance to re-establish her credentials as the weeks tick by to the Tokyo Games, where the 35-year-old will try to win her third successive Olympic title.
Wlodarczyk&rsquo;s best this year is the 73.87m she threw in Antalya last month and she was beaten on her three most recent outings, twice by compatriot Malwina Kapron, who she takes on again in Turku. Also in the field is their fellow Pole Joanna Fiodorow, along with France&rsquo;s Alexandra Tavernier and Slovakia&rsquo;s Martina Hrasnova, who have all gone beyond 75 metres at their best.
Fajdek will be the star attraction in the men&rsquo;s hammer, the four-time world champion returning to the site where he set the meeting record with a whopping 82.40m in 2017. Having been eliminated in qualifying at the 2016 Olympics, the 31-year-old appears well on his way to making amends this year, unleashing a world lead of 82.98m at the European Team Championships in Chorzow, Poland, last weekend.
In Turku he faces the three men he shared the podium with at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha: Quentin Bigot of France, Wojciech Nowicki of Poland and Bence Halasz of Hungary. Nowicki is the best of that trio this year with his 79.54m throw in Andujar, Spain, last month.
Daniel Stahl of Sweden should prove tough to beat in the men&rsquo;s discus. The world champion threw a world lead of 69.71m in Helsingborg last month, though his compatriot Simon Pettersson should give him plenty to think about in Turku. He beat Stahl recently in Vaxjo, Sweden, throwing a PB of 69.48m. Also in the field are 2015 world champion Piotr Malachowski of Poland, 2017 world champion Andrius Gudzius of Lithuania and 2019 world bronze medallist Lukas Weisshaidinger of Austria. 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Original/5c13af9e-52a9-4594-bde5-c698e383a2cc.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" /> Daniel Stahl&nbsp;(&copy;&nbsp;Thomas Windestam)
 World champion Anderson Peters of Grenada will be in action in the men&rsquo;s javelin, a field also featuring 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago.
In the women&rsquo;s javelin Germany&rsquo;s Christin Hussong is the leading entrant, the European champion arriving in fine form after a PB of 69.19m at the European Team Championships.
Ukraine&rsquo;s Yuliya Levchenko will be looking to rekindle some strong form in the women&rsquo;s high jump, the 2017 world silver medallist well below her best of 2.02m in her three outdoor competitions this year, her highest clearance of 1.89m coming last week in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine. Also in the field is Bulgaria&rsquo;s Mirela Demireva, the Olympic silver medallist, along with Poland&rsquo;s Kamila Licwinko and Sweden&rsquo;s Erika Kinsey.
Finland's&nbsp;Elina Lampela is the leading entrant in the women&rsquo;s pole vault with a best of 4.53m this year, while British duo Shara Proctor and Abigail Irozuru take top billing in the women&rsquo;s long jump. Jamaica&rsquo;s Kimberly Williams will take on Bulgaria&rsquo;s Gabriela Petrova in the women&rsquo;s triple jump, the former arriving off the back of a 14.69m PB in Doha recently.
Britain&rsquo;s Ben Williams and Finland&rsquo;s Simo Lipsanen are the two athletes with 17-metre jumps to their name in the men&rsquo;s triple jump, though Portugal&rsquo;s Tiago Pereira is approaching that with a 16.94m leap last year. Five eight-metre jumpers are set to take to the runway for the men&rsquo;s long jump, led by Finland&rsquo;s Kristian Pulli who has a best of 8.27m. 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Original/39c5d7a7-13c6-4427-8c57-572926bbb299.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="715" /> Yuliya Levchenko&nbsp;(&copy; Chris Cooper)
 On the track, Kenya&rsquo;s Ferguson Rotich headlines a decent field in the men&rsquo;s 800m, the world bronze medallist taking on compatriot Cornelius Tuwei and Britain&rsquo;s Jamie Webb. Kenyans should also be to the fore in the men&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase where Barnabas Kipyego and Nicholas Bett are the quickest in the field on paper.
Bahrain&rsquo;s Winfred Yavi looks a class apart ahead of the women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase, the 21-year-old having recently set a PB of 9:02.64 to finish third at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha.
Ireland&rsquo;s Thomas Barr will start as favourite in the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, the Olympic finalist arriving off the back of a win in Gothenburg last week where he clocked 49.02. Estonia&rsquo;s Rasmus Magi and Dutch athlete Nick Smidt should be his biggest challengers.
USA&rsquo;s Mike Rodgers is the star attraction in the men&rsquo;s 100m, where he faces Britain&rsquo;s Ojie Edoburun. Finland&rsquo;s Elmo Lakka is the quickest this year in the men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles with the 13.31 Nordic record he clocked in Jyvaskyla last week.
British trio Imani Lansiquot, Asha Philip and Kristal Awuah race the women&rsquo;s 100m, with Lansiquot the quickest of them this year with 11.27.
Sweden&rsquo;s Lovisa Lindh, who has dipped below two minutes this year, should be in contention in the women's 800m along with Ireland&rsquo;s Nadia Power and Benin&rsquo;s Noelie Yarigo.
Hungary&rsquo;s Luca Kozak, Norway&rsquo;s Isabelle Pedersen and local favourite Annimari Korte should be the biggest challengers in the women's 100m hurdles.
Two and a half thousand spectators will be able to attend each session of this year&rsquo;s meeting.
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics
Lead photo by&nbsp;Hasse Sjogren

All eyes will be on the hammer throw circle in Turku, Finland, this week as two titans of the event – Anita Wlodarczyk and Pawel Fajdek – fine-tune their Olympic preparations at the Paavo Nurmi Games, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting.

Wlodarczyk and Fajdek to tune up for Tokyo in Turku

Five world champions, four Olympic gold medallists and two world record-holders are set to compete at the FBK Games &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting &ndash; in Hengelo on Sunday (6).
Pole vault world record-holder Mondo Duplantis will be raring to go after his 23-meet winning streak came to an end at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Gateshead at the end of last month. Battling tough conditions, the 21-year-old from Sweden gave the bar a slight nudge on his final attempt at 5.80m &ndash; what would have been a winning height &ndash; and it came down, meaning victory went to two-time world champion Sam Kendricks.
Kendricks won&rsquo;t be in Hengelo, but Duplantis will have one eye on the US vaulter&rsquo;s meeting record and Dutch all-comers&rsquo; record of 5.91m.
Olympic champion Thiago Braz and Dutch vaulter Menno Vloon, who set a national indoor record of 5.96m earlier this year, are also in the line-up.
Double world champion Sifan Hassan will return to the track on which she set a European 10,000m record of 29:36.67 last year and will again contest the 25-lap discpline. The Dutch distance runner has tested her form over a range of distances this year, clocking 8:33.62 for 3000m indoors, followed by 14:35.34 for 5000m and 2:01.54 for 800m outdoors. 
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Sifan Hassan in the Hengelo rain</div>
&nbsp;
Kenya&rsquo;s Daisy Cherotich, New Zealand&rsquo;s world finalist Camille Buscomb and Canada&rsquo;s Andrea Seccafien will all be hoping to emerge from the race with lifetime bests.
World 800m champion Halimah Nakaayi will open her 2021 campaign over her specialist distance. The Ugandan middle-distance runner takes on a quartet of Britons &ndash; Laura Muir, Kelly Hodgkinson, Jemma Reekie and Adelle Tracey &ndash; as well as Norway&rsquo;s Hedda Hynne and France&rsquo;s Renelle Lamote.
In the men&rsquo;s event, indoor sensation Elliot Giles lines up for his first outdoor 800m of the year, taking on fellow Brits Max Burgin &ndash; who set a European U20 record of 1:44.14 in Ostrava last month &ndash; and Daniel Rowden. Tony van Diepen, one of the Netherlands&rsquo; top performers at the World Athletics Relays Silesia 21, is also in the field.
Recent Montreuil winner Abel Kipsang goes in the men&rsquo;s 1500m where he&rsquo;ll take on Uganda&rsquo;s Ronald Musagala and Britain&rsquo;s sub-3:30 performer Jake Wightman.
<h3>Asher-Smith, Kerley and McLeod set to produce sprint highlights</h3>
Although she has raced there only once before, world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith has fond memories of racing in Hengelo.
It is where, as a teenager back in 2015, she set her first senior national record over 100m, clocking 11.02. Six years on from that performance, and having bagged many more records and medals, the world 200m champion will be hoping for a sub-11-second clocking to improve on the 11.35 season&rsquo;s best she recorded when winning in Gateshead, running in heavy rain and into a -3.1m/s headwind.
Nigeria&rsquo;s world and Olympic medallist Blessing Okagbare, who has a season&rsquo;s best of 10.90, and two-time world 200m champion Dafne Schippers are also in the line-up.
World 4x400m champion Fred Kerley has so far this year produced his most impressive performances at 100m, clocking 9.91 and 9.96 in recent weeks. In Hengelo, however, he&rsquo;ll step back up to his specialist 400m discipline and will aim to improve on the 44.60 season&rsquo;s best he recorded in Doha last week. 
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Fred Kerley nabs his first career Diamond League victory in Rome</div>
&nbsp;
All four hurdles races in Hengelo promise plenty of excitement.
Olympic champion Omar McLeod, racing in Europe for the first time since September 2019, leads the 110m hurdles field. The Jamaican, who has a season&rsquo;s best of 13.11, will take on European indoor champion Wilhem Belocian, who will be making his 2021 outdoor debut, and USA&rsquo;s Devon Allen.
World bronze medallist Abderrahman Samba takes on Olympic bronze medallist Yasmani Copello in the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, while European indoor champion Femke Bol contests the women&rsquo;s event in what will be her first outdoor race over barriers this year.
World leader Jasmine Camacho-Quinn leads the entries in the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles and will be keen to make up for her recent appearance in Jacksonville where she was disqualified for a false start.
The women&rsquo;s discus will be a clash of three global champions as Olympic champion Sandra Perkovic faces world champion Yaime Perez and 2015 world champion Denia Caballero. 
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Sandra Perkovic, winner of the discus at the Hanzekovic Memorial in Zagreb</div>
&nbsp;
The three women were all in action in Doha last week with Perez coming out on top in a close contest. The Cuban threw 63.75m while Perkovic managed 63.60m and Caballero recorded 63.00m. Perkovic went on to win in Montreuil with a season&rsquo;s best of 66.11m, but the Croatian still trails Perez (68.99m) on this year&rsquo;s world list.
All three medallists from this year&rsquo;s European Indoor Championships &ndash; Maksim Nedasekau, Gianmarco Tamberi and Thomas Carmoy &ndash; will renew their high jump rivalry in Hengelo. Olympic champion Derek Drouin and Oceania record-holder Brandon Starc add further depth to the field.
Elsewhere, African champion Ruswahl Samaai features in the men&rsquo;s long jump, Botswana&rsquo;s Isaac Makwala leads the men&rsquo;s 200m entries and Belgian record-holder Cynthia Bolingo starts as favourite in the women&rsquo;s 400m.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

Five world champions, four Olympic gold medallists and two world record-holders are set to compete at the FBK Games – a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting – in Hengelo on Sunday (6).

Global champions and world record-holders ready to clash in Hengelo

After last year&rsquo;s cancellation because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Gran Premio Cantones de La Coruna &shy;&ndash; the Spanish leg of this year&rsquo;s World Athletics Challenge - Race Walking &ndash; returns on Saturday (5) to confirm that the event is arguably one of the key 20km competitions of the season.
<h3>Podebrady podium will clash again</h3>
In the absence of the always powerful Asian armada, the top Europeans will kick off as the main favourites in the guise of Sweden&rsquo;s Perseus Karlstrom and the Spanish tandem of the European champion Alvaro Martin and silver medallist Diego Garcia. Authorised neutral athlete Vasiliy Mizinov was initially announced but due to visa problems the current world 20km silver medallist won&rsquo;t be competing.
As for the reigning world bronze medallist Karsltrom, the 31-year-old is fresh from a commanding win in 1:18:54 at the European Race Walking Team Championships in Podebrady 20 days ago. The Swede is enjoying a very solid season as he also won in Murcia in March &ndash; on the occasion of the Spanish Championships &ndash; in a season&rsquo;s best of 1:18:45, while his PB remains the 1:18:07 he set in La Coruna in 2019 when he placed fourth.
The local duo of Martin and Garcia should also be a factor on Saturday. The latter prevailed over Martin in Murcia &ndash; 1:19:40 and 1:19:54 their respective times &ndash; to take the Spanish title but the European champion bounced back in Podebrady when he defeated Garcia to finish second (PB of 1:19:14) and third (1:19:19) respectively.
Of this leading triumvirate, all among the top 10 in the world rankings, only Martin has previously won the event. He did so in 2017, when Karlstrom was runner-up, while Garcia also finished second in 2018.
Other notable entrants are Germany&rsquo;s world fourth-placer Christopher Linke, holder of a 1:18:42 PB, and Spain&rsquo;s Luis Alberto Amezcua, who recently clocked 1:19:54 in Murcia to claim national bronze. Watch out too for his fellow Spaniard Marc Tur, a convincing victor in Podebrady at the 50km event in a massive career best of 3:47.40, while a large Mexican squad will also be on show headed by Isaac Palma (1:20:54) and Carlos Sanchez (1:20:39).
<h3>Morejon to maintain momentum</h3>
The women&rsquo;s event will be held two hours before the men&rsquo;s competition gets under way.
Ecuador&rsquo;s Glenda Morejon should arguably be tipped as the marquee athlete; the still 21-year-old made a major breakthrough in La Coruna in 2019 when she won in style thanks to a 1:25:29 performance to set a still-standing world U20 record. The big question mark for Saturday is whether she will have recovered from the effort she made last Saturday at the South American Championships in Guayaquil where Morejon won gold in the 20,000m track event in 1:29:24, head and shoulders clear of Brazil&rsquo;s Erica Sena, runner-up in 1:30:51. The 36-year-old Brazilian will also be in contention in La Coruna. A creditable fourth at the 2017 World Athletics Championships in London, she took the top spot La Coruna in 2017.
The Spanish charge will be led by Laura Garcia-Caro and Raquel Gonzalez. The former is fresh from a third place in Podebrady in a PB of 1:28:07, while Gonzalez also performed well in the Czech city as she claimed fourth with a 1:28:37 clocking, just one second off her 2014 career best. They both will be aiming for a podium place alongside the reigning European 50km bronze medallist Julia Takacs, holder of a 1:27:58 career best and twice second here back in 2013 and 2018.
Colombia&rsquo;s Sandra Lorena Arenas should also be in the hunt for victory. The 2012 world U20 bronze medallist finished fifth at the Doha World Championships and boasts a PB of 1:28:03. Since Doha, Arenas has only competed once, taking a comfortable 10km win timed at 44:40 in Olomouc.
The course records belong to Japan&rsquo;s Toshikazu Yamanishi, owner of an impressive clocking of 1:17:41 in 2019, and Liu Hong with a stunning performance of 1:24:38 six years ago, a world record then and still the third quickest ever athlete.
Venue of the 2006 World Cup, the list of past winners includes Olympic champions such as Italy&rsquo;s Maurizio Damilano, Mexico&rsquo;s Ernesto Canto, Poland&rsquo;s Robert Korzeniowski and Ecuador&rsquo;s Jefferson Perez in the men&rsquo;s event plus China&rsquo;s Liu Hong among women.
More than 160 race walkers will take part in the event, Mexico being the largest squad with 38 athletes.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe awarded a World Athletics Heritage Plaque to the organisers of the event in March 2019 to recognise the event&rsquo;s rich 34-year history.
Weather forecasters are predicting a sunny day with a light breeze and temperatures in the 16-18C range at race time.
Emeterio Valiente for World Athletics

After last year’s cancellation because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Gran Premio Cantones de La Coruna ¬– the Spanish leg of this year’s World Athletics Challenge - Race Walking – returns on Saturday (5) to confirm that the event is arguably one of the key 20km competitions of the season.

Race Walking Challenge gets under way in La Coruna

Canada&rsquo;s multiple global medallist Damian Warner will aim to become the Hypo Meeting&rsquo;s first six-time winner when he competes at the World Athletics Challenge &ndash; Combined Events meeting in G&ouml;tzis, Austria, on 29-30 May.
But with the decathlon field also featuring the likes of Germany&rsquo;s world champion Niklas Kaul and world silver medallist Maicel Uibo of Estonia, Warner will have to work hard to make history, having joined Roman Sebrle and Carolina Kluft in winning five times following his 2019 victory.
The Canadian set his national record of 8795 points when winning the 2018 edition of the G&ouml;tzis event, having first triumphed in 2013 before his four consecutive wins between 2016 and 2019. During that time he also claimed world silver in 2015 and bronze in 2013 and 2019, as well as Olympic bronze in 2016 and world indoor heptathlon silver in 2018.
Kaul, meanwhile, set a PB of 8691 points to win the world title in 2019 and this will be his first decathlon since that performance in Doha. He returns to the Hypo Meeting for the third time, following a sixth-place finish in 2018 and a fourth-place finish in 2019.
Uibo, who scored a PB of 8604 in Doha, joins his fellow 2019 world medallists and will be looking to build on his runner-up finish in 2018 and third place in 2019.
Germany&rsquo;s 2015 winner Kai Kazmirek, who claimed world bronze in 2017, also returns, as do Canada&rsquo;s world fifth-placer Pierce LePage, who makes his second Hypo Meeting appearance, and Belgium&rsquo;s 2016 European champion Thomas van der Plaetsen.
Sweden&rsquo;s Fredrik Samuelsson, <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/news/feature/fredrik-samuelsson-yellow-wall-gotzis-decathlon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who wants to give his home-based 'Yellow Wall' a show to enjoy</a>, will be competing at the event for the fifth time.
<h3>Rodriguez and Vetter look to make their mark</h3>
The USA&rsquo;s Erica Bougard and Kendell Williams are among the leading names in the heptathlon field as they too return to multi events action for the first time since their respective fourth and fifth-place finishes at the World Athletics Championships in Doha.
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Bougard set her PB of 6725 points when finishing third at the 2018 edition of the Hypo Meeting, while Williams has a best of 6610 from 2019 and recently joined the seven-metre club in the long jump, soaring out to a lifetime best of exactly 7.00m in Georgia in April. She also backed that up with marks of 6.94m and 6.77m.
Among those looking to achieve the Olympic qualifying mark of 6420 points will be Cuba&rsquo;s 2018 world indoor pentathlon bronze medallist Yorgelis Rodriguez, who set the national record with her 6742 score when finishing second in G&ouml;tzis in 2018.
Another is Dutch record-holder with 6636 points Anouk Vetter, the 2017 world bronze medallist and 2016 European champion who recently explained how her indoor performances had <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/news/feature/vetter-heptathlon-comeback" target="_blank" rel="noopener">left her feeling &ldquo;back in the game&rdquo;</a> after setbacks including injury.
They will be joined in G&ouml;tzis by athletes including Hungary&rsquo;s Xenia Krizsan, who finished third at the last edition of the meeting in 2019, plus Burkina Faso&rsquo;s Marthe Koala and Nadine Broersen of the Netherlands.
Germany&rsquo;s Carolin Sch&auml;fer had been set to make her eighth Hypo Meeting appearance but announced on social media that "unexpected side effects" from her vaccination had affected her training.
The World Athletics Heritage Plaque which was <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/heritage/plaque/list/hypo-meeting-gotzis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">awarded to the Hypo Meeting in 2019</a>&nbsp;will be unveiled by&nbsp;European Athletics Council Member Erich Teigamagi on the first day of the event.
World Athletics

Canada’s multiple global medallist Damian Warner will aim to become the Hypo Meeting’s first six-time winner when he competes at the World Athletics Challenge – Combined Events meeting in Götzis, Austria, on 29-30 May.

Warner targets win No.6 in Götzis

Thirty-one athletes who earned medals at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 &ndash; including 11 champions &ndash; will return to the Qatari capital on Friday (28) for the second Wanda Diamond League meeting of 2021.
Every scoring discipline on the programme includes at least one world medallist, while three of the disciplines &ndash; the women&rsquo;s triple jump, pole vault and discus &ndash; boast the full complement of podium finishers from the 2019 World Championships.
All eyes will be on the triple jump after world champion Yulimar Rojas bounded out to a world-leading 15.43m at the World Athletics Continental Tour meeting in Andujar last week. Her leap is the same distance as her world indoor record and just seven centimetres &ndash; which, if you&rsquo;re reading this on a smartphone, is roughly the width of your device &ndash; away from the long-standing world record.
The last time Rojas was in Doha, she won the world title with 15.37m. The Venezuelan will be reunited with the top five finishers from that occasion, including Olympic champion Caterine Ibarguen, world silver medallist Shanieka Ricketts, Commonwealth champion Kimberly Williams, and 2011 world champion Olga Saladukha. USA&rsquo;s Keturah Orji and Dominica&rsquo;s Thea LaFond, both of whom have set national records this year, are also in the line-up.
The women&rsquo;s pole vault is of a similarly high standard and is essentially a replay of the 2019 World Championships, featuring the top eight finishers from that competition.
World champion Anzhelika Sidorova returns to Diamond League action for the first time in almost two years. She vaulted 4.90m during the indoor season but hasn&rsquo;t competed since then.
World indoor champion Sandi Morris and 2019 Diamond League winner Katerina Stefanidi &ndash; both with season&rsquo;s bests of 4.80m &ndash; are also slated to compete, but Katie Nageotte may start as the slight favourite. The US vaulter recently cleared a world-leading PB of 4.93m, moving her up one place to equal fifth on the world all-time list.
All three world medallists in the women&rsquo;s discus &ndash; Yaime Perez, Denia Caballero and Sandra Perkovic &ndash; will be in action on Friday. The presence of USA&rsquo;s Valarie Allman means the line-up contains three women with 70-metre-plus PBs.
<h3>Fraser-Pryce aiming for sub-11 territory</h3>
On her 100m season debut at the Wanda Diamond League opener in Gateshead, world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was hampered by the harsh wet and windy conditions, clocking 11.51. 
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 Conditions in Doha will be be far more conducive to fast times, so the Jamaican star is more likely to be closer to the Qatari all-comers&rsquo; mark of 10.71 she set when winning the 2019 world title than her performance in Gateshead last week.
World bronze medallist Marie Josee Ta Lou, Nigeria&rsquo;s Blessing Okagbare, World Indoor Tour winner Javianne Oliver, European indoor champion Ajla del Ponte and USA&rsquo;s Hannah Cunliffe add further depth and quality to the field.
The men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles has been one of the hottest disciplines on the Wanda Diamond League circuit in recent years, and it makes its 2021 debut in Doha with world silver medallist Rai Benjamin lining up against world bronze medallist Abderrahman Samba &ndash; half the members of the event&rsquo;s sub-47-second club.
Benjamin looked extremely comfortable when racing to a world-leading 47.13 at the Continental Tour Gold meeting at Mt SAC earlier this month. Samba hasn&rsquo;t contested a hurdles race since the 2019 World Championships final, but a 45.43 clocking on the flat in South Africa two months ago shows the Qatari hurdler is in good form.
Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands and Alison Dos Santos of Brazil, who recorded national records of 47.50 and 47.68 respectively when finishing behind Benjamin at Mt SAC, are also in the line-up. 
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 Two of the greatest all-round sprinters in history will clash at their specialist distance when Michael Norman takes on Fred Kerley over 400m.
Norman, the world leader in 2019 and 2018, is undefeated at 400m this year. World bronze medallist Kerley, meanwhile, has impressed at a range of distances, clocking a 100m PB of 9.91 and an indoor 400m best of 45.03.
The US duo&rsquo;s head-to-head record currently stands at 3-3. Norman won two of their three clashes in 2019, but Kerley took the US title ahead of Norman that year with both men dipping inside 44 seconds.
It may not be just a two-man contest, either. 2011 world and 2012 Olympic champion Kirani James, fresh from impressive runs in Phoenix and Ostrava over the past five weeks, will make his first Wanda Diamond League appearance since 2018. World silver medallist Anthony Zambrano, meanwhile, will make his Wanda Diamond League debut.
Kenny Bednarek&rsquo;s streak of sub-20-second 200m performances came to an end in Gateshead. The US sprinter had posted times of 19.65 (wind-assisted), 19.94 and 19.93 in his first three races of the year, but in the harsh conditions at last weekend&rsquo;s Wanda Diamond League opener Bednarek managed 20.33 (-3.0m/s). Nevertheless, the manner of his victory there &ndash; finishing almost half a second ahead of a world-class field &ndash; was a clear statement of the 22-year-old&rsquo;s form.
In Doha Bednarek will take on the likes of 2017 world champion Ramil Guliyev, world and Olympic medallist Andre De Grasse, 2014 European champion Adam Gemili and USA&rsquo;s Justin Gatlin.
<h3>Obiri and Cheruiyot target triumphant return</h3>
Kenyan distance duo Timothy Cheruiyot and Hellen Obiri struck gold in Doha two years ago and will be aiming to come out on top again this weekend.
Obiri will contest the 3000m, the event she won at last year&rsquo;s Doha Diamond League meeting, and she&rsquo;ll be up against world 5000m silver medallist Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi and 2017 world cross-country bronze medallist Lilian Rengeruk. All three Kenyan women have set their 3000m PBs in Doha.
While Cheruiyot has dominated the 1500m on the Wanda Diamond League circuit in recent years, he has yet to win at the Doha meeting. He hopes to rectify that on Friday, though, when he takes on the lines of Australian record-holder Stewart McSweyn, world indoor champion Samuel Tefera, Ugandan record-holder Ronald Musagala and world indoor 3000m bronze medallist Bethwell Birgen. 
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 The women&rsquo;s steeplechase features four of the top five finishers from the World Championships, led by Emma Coburn and Kenya&rsquo;s Hyvin Kiyeng, the 2017 and 2015 world champions respectively.
World bronze medallist Gesa Felicitas Krause, Asian champion Winfred Yavi, Ugandan record-holder Peruth Chemutai and sub-nine-minute performer Norah Jeruto are also in the line-up.
World silver medallist Amel Tuka and world bronze medallist Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich will square off in the men&rsquo;s 800m. Britain&rsquo;s Daniel Rowden, who made a break-through last year with some notable international victories, will make his 2021 debut.
Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon steps down in distance to contest the 800m in Doha, where she&rsquo;ll face European indoor champion Keely Hodgkinson, Uganda&rsquo;s Winnie Nanyondo and Jamaican record-holder Natoya Goule.
<h3>Barshim and Drouin resume duel</h3>
For the first time in almost four years, world champion Mutaz Barshim will compete against Olympic champion Derek Drouin in the high jump.
The duo racked up a stack of medals and Diamond League wins between 2012 and 2017, both joining the exclusive 2.40m club in the process, but their careers were hampered by injuries in recent years. 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/LargeL/c9a28459-dba9-46a5-a9b0-9393cbbfae62.jpg?cachebuster=b2d11707-6532-4190-b87c-20774f86546d" alt="" width="600" height="400" />
 Barshim returned in 2019, winning the world title in sensational style on home soil, while Drouin has been out of action since 2017 and is only just returning to top-flight competition, having cleared 2.24m at a low-key meeting last week.
World bronze medallist Ilya Ivanyuk, who cleared a world-leading 2.37m last weekend, also competes, as does European indoor champion Maksim Nedasekau and 2018 Diamond League winner Brandon Starc.
In the men&rsquo;s shot put, meanwhile, two-time world indoor champion Tom Walsh takes on Serbian record-holder Armin Sinancevic, Croatia&rsquo;s Filip Mihaljevic and Poland&rsquo;s Konrad Bukowiecki.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

Thirty-two athletes who earned medals at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 – including 12 champions – will return to the Qatari capital on Friday (28) for the second Wanda Diamond League meeting of 2021.

Rojas ready to fly again in Doha

It just so happens that the last piece of international track and field action at the International Stadium in Gateshead was a 1.98m clearance that secured a personal best and a victory in the final event to be decided at the 2013 European Team Championships for the emerging young high jumper Mariya Kuchina.
Eight years on from that breakthrough senior performance &ndash; which came indoors after thunder, lightning and flash flooding rendered the outdoor field section too dangerous &ndash; the global queen of the high jump, now three-time world outdoor champion Mariya Lasitskene, takes part in the first event on the programme of the 2021 Wanda Diamond League opener at Gateshead on Sunday (23).
An uncertain mixed picture of sunshine and showers is forecast for the Muller Grand Prix Gateshead but the famous arena in the north-east of England will be flooded with stellar talent, with a cast featuring 10 reigning world or Olympic champions and a combined cache of more than 100 global medals.
Top billing, undoubtedly, has to go to the not so much loaded as overflowing women&rsquo;s 100m. Sha&rsquo;Carri Richardson, the trailblazing 21-year-old US sprint phenomenon who scorched to a 10.72 clocking in Florida in April, tests her rapidly rising pedigree against all three medal winners from the 2019 World Championships final in Doha. 
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Sha'Carri Richardson wins the 100m at the USATF Golden Games at Mt SAC</div>
&nbsp;
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the Jamaican Peter Pan Pocket Rocket of the women&rsquo;s sprint game, was within 0.01 of her lifetime best with a 10.71 clocking that secured her fourth world 100m title in the Qatari capital. Silver medal winning Briton Dina Asher-Smith, who went on to take 200m gold, and bronze medallist Ivorian Marie-Josee Ta Lou are also on the start list for the heats, although Jamaica&rsquo;s Olympic 100m and 200m champion Elaine Thompson-Herah has withdrawn because of injury.
Two weeks on from her heat and final sub-10.80 clockings in the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Walnut, and on the back of her winning European circuit debut over 200m in Ostrava on Wednesday, Richardson has the chance that was denied her in 2019 when she failed to qualify for the US team for Doha. Since her eighth-placed finish at the US Championships final in Des Moines, the world U20 record-holder has won 10 successive 100m races (heats and finals).
Fraser-Pryce, now 34, is on a winning streak of seven 100m races, dating back to the Diamond League final in Brussels which preceded the 2019 World Athletics Championships, when she finished runner-up to Asher-Smith. Both Fraser-Pryce and Asher-Smith have yet to race over 100m in 2021, but have posted 200m times of 22.60 and 22.56 respectively.
Something will have to give.
Richardson proclaimed after her 10.74 and 10.77 clockings on the Mt SAC track in Walnut: &ldquo;Every time I step on the track I want to make history.&rdquo; She might need to run the fastest women&rsquo;s 100m in Gateshead history to maintain her winning run. Weather permitting, the 10.93 stadium record could well be eclipsed.
For Richardson, a comfortable 200m winner in 22.35 in Ostrava, it will be a first Diamond League test outside the United States. In 2019 she finished fourth in the 100m at the Prefontaine Classic in Stanford, clocking 11.15 in a race won by Ta Lou in 11.02, with Fraser-Pryce a distant eighth in 11.39. She also placed third in a high school girls&rsquo; 200m that preceded the Diamond League programme in Eugene in 2017.
At 21, Mondo Duplantis already seems like a Diamond League veteran, with eight meet victories to his name. The Swede extended his unbeaten record to a 23rd competition with his 5.90m clearance in Ostrava, confessing to feeling rusty in his season&rsquo;s opener.
The 6.18m world record-holder will be seeking to return to six-metre-plus form in Gateshead, where he will again be up against Sam Kendricks, the US rival who inflicted his last defeat, in the 2019 world final. Bronze medal winning Pole Piotr Lisek completes a rematch of the podium trio from Doha.
Lasitskene is another star performer on a long-term winning streak. The 28-year-old is unbeaten in 14 competitions dating back to September 2019 and her third-placed finish in the Europe v USA match in Minsk. 
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Mariya Lasitskene tops 2.04m in London</div>
&nbsp;
In her first outdoor test of 2021, however, she faces Yaroslava Mahuchikh, the 19-year-old Ukrainian who cleared a world U20 record of 2.04m in losing to her on countback in the epic 2019 world final. The fourth and fifth placers from Doha are also in the field: Mahuchikh&rsquo;s compatriot Yulia Levchenko and Kamila Licwinko of Poland.
European record-holder Jakob Ingebritsen faces the rising Australian duo Ollie Hoare and Stewart McSweyn in a 1500m race that also includes Adam Ali Musab, the Qatari who ran a world-leading 3:32.41 in Doha back in February.
Fresh from a 19.93 (-0.6m/s) victory in Ostrava, Kenny Bednarek lines up against four of the first six finishers from the world 200m final two years ago. Canada&rsquo;s Andre de Grasse (third in Ostrava) and Ecuador&rsquo;s Alex Quinonez picked up silver and bronze behind Bednarek&rsquo;s US rival Noah Lyles in Doha, while Briton Adam Gemili and Canada&rsquo;s Aaron Brown placed fourth and sixth.
The 3000m steeplechase features the three fastest men on the 2020 world list. Soufiane El Bakkali, the Moroccan who took bronze and silver in the last two world finals, Kenyan Leonard Bett and France&rsquo;s Djilali Bedrani will all be making their 2021 debuts over the barriers.
Nicholas Kimeli, one of the fastest men in the world last year over 5000m and 10,000m, will take on fellow Kenyans Jacob Krop and Michael Kibet in the 5000m. If the race is tactical, watch out too for in-form Spaniard Mohamed Katir. Australia&rsquo;s David McNeil, Spain&rsquo;s Adel Mechaal and Britain&rsquo;s Andy Butchart should also be in contention.
Four weeks on from her solo 4:01.54 victory at the USATF Grand Prix in Eugene, European champion Laura Muir returns to British soil for her second 1500m of the season. The world indoor silver medallist ended her US training and racing spell looking sharp, with a 1:58.71 victory over 800m at the Track Meet in Irvine last weekend. 
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Laura Muir takes another 1500m win in London</div>
&nbsp;
Fellow Briton Katie Snowden advanced her PB to 4:02.98 with a win in the 1500m in the same Californian event and will be seeking to back up that breakthrough win in a face that also features sub-four performers in 2014 world indoor silver medallist Axumawit Embaye of Ethiopia and Rababe Arafi of Morocco. Uganda&rsquo;s 800m specialist Winnie Nanyondo and, at the other end of the spectrum, Britain&rsquo;s European 5000m silver medallist Eilish McColgan are also in the field.
In the field, in addition to Lasitskene, there will be two other world champions seeking to crank their Olympic season into gear.
Tajay Gayle, the Jamaican long jumper who stunned the world with his 8.69m gold medal leap in Doha, already has a 8.27m mark to his name this year. Grenadine javelin man Anderson Peters will be looking to build on the 83.39m he threw for second place behind Johannes Vetter&rsquo;s monster 94.20m in Ostrava. 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott, third in the Czech Republic with 82.75m, is also in the field. 
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Tajay Gayle in action at the Diamond League meeting in London</div>
&nbsp;
Gayle&rsquo;s Jamaican teammate Kimberly Williams will be looking to reproduce her winning form from Mt SAC earlier this month where she won with 14.62m. But US record-holder Keturah Orji, who finished second on that occasion, will be out for revenge.
Danniel Thomas-Dodd, who took 2019 world silver, meets 2015 world champion Christina Schwanitz of Germany in the shot, while fellow Jamaicans Shericka Jackson and Stephenie Ann McPherson square up over 400m.
The 100m hurdles promises to be a domestic sisterly affair, with Cindy Sember lining up against Tiffany Porter, whose British record she missed by a mere 0.02 with a 12.53 clocking at Mt SAC.
Simon Turnbull for World Athletics

The Muller Grand Prix Gateshead will be flooded with stellar talent, with a cast featuring 10 reigning world or Olympic champions and a combined cache of more than 100 global medals.

World stars raring to go as Wanda Diamond League action returns to Gateshead

A lot has happened during the four years since Wayde van Niekerk last competed at the adidas Boost Boston Games. One world title and a few years of injury later, the Olympic 400m champion returns to the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold street meeting on Sunday (23) ready and raring to go.
The South African sprinter won over 200m at the 2017 edition of this meeting, clocking 19.84 on the straight track. Having recovered from a persistent injury sustained while playing rugby back in 2018, Van Niekerk has returned to winning ways this year and heads to Boston with a season&rsquo;s best of 20.38, set when winning the South African 200m title last month.
Victory won&rsquo;t come easy, though, as he&rsquo;ll be joined in Boston by European 100m champion Zharnel Hughes. The Briton has the fastest 200m season&rsquo;s best of the field, having clocked 20.14 and a wind-assisted 19.93 last month.
As with the men&rsquo;s race, the women&rsquo;s 200m in Boston also features the reigning Olympic 400m champion. Shaunae Miller-Uibo of The Bahamas will look to extend her unbeaten run at this meeting, having won over 150m in 2018 and 2019, and at 200m in 2017 &ndash; clocking 21.76, a world best for the 200m straight.
USA&rsquo;s Wadeline Jonathas, who finished fourth over 400m at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, could be Miller-Uibo&rsquo;s toughest opponent.
<h3>High-quality hurdles</h3>
World record-holder Kendra Harrison makes her Boston Games debut in the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles. The world indoor champion has been in impressive form this year, clocking a wind-assisted 12.38 and two wind-legal 12.48 performances.
In what appears to be the highest-quality line-up of the meet, Harrison will take on Sharika Nelvis, winner in Boston in 2018 and 2019, world indoor silver medallist Christina Clemons, 2015 world champion Danielle Williams of Jamaica and African champion Tobi Amusan of Nigeria.
The men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles, meanwhile, brings together the world indoor record-holder and the outdoor world record-holder in the form of Grant Holloway and Aries Merritt.
Since breaking the world indoor record with 7.29 in February, Holloway has continued his unbeaten run outdoors, winning all three of his competitions so far, topped by his world-leading 13.07 in Gainesville. Merritt, whose last full season was back in 2018, will be looking to improve on his season&rsquo;s best of 13.90.
Shamier Little heads to Boston in the hope of achieving a third victory in the 200m hurdles. The 2015 world 400m hurdles silver medallist has been in sensational form this year, recording PBs for 400m indoors and out, 200m indoors and 800m outdoors, all of which suggests she&rsquo;ll improve on her 25.88 PB for the rarely run 200m hurdles.
But Ebony Morrison, who beat Little in Boston in 2018 with a meeting record of 25.80, also returns. Olympic bronze medallist Ashley Spencer, also proficient at a range of events, is also in the line-up.
The men&rsquo;s race is similarly tough to call. Brazil&rsquo;s Alison Dos Santos is fresh from a 400m hurdles best of 47.68, but his strength lies in the latter stages of the 400m distance. TJ Holmes, who finished ahead of Dos Santos at the 2019 World Championships, should certainly be in contention, as should Amere Lattin, who has the best form over the shorter hurdles events.
<h3>Lyles leads 100m line-up</h3>
World 200m champion Noah Lyles will step down in distance to the 100m where he&rsquo;ll take on younger brother Josephus Lyles and 2017 world 200m finalist Isiah Young, who has already broken 10 seconds for 100m this year.
World indoor champion Murielle Ahoure makes her 2021 outdoor debut in the women&rsquo;s 100m in Boston, and it won&rsquo;t be an easy one. The Ivorian sprinter takes on two-time world 200m champion Dafne Schippers and 2018 US champion Aleia Hobbs.
In the men&rsquo;s 150m, 2011 world 100m champion Yohan Blake lines up against 2017 world 200m bronze medallist Jereem Richards and USA&rsquo;s Kyree King, who last month set a 100m PB of 9.97.
World 200m silver medallist Brittany Brown takes on US compatriot Lynna Irby in the women&rsquo;s 150m.
Having set PBs at 400m, 1000m and 1500m so far this year, Bryce Hoppel has every right to feel confident ahead of the 600m in Boston. But Kenya&rsquo;s Michael Saruni, who formerly held the world indoor best for the 600m distance, is also in the field, as are Canada&rsquo;s Marco Arop and Britain&rsquo;s Jamie Webb.
US 800m record-holder Ajee Wilson contests the women&rsquo;s 600m, lining up alongside Jamaican record-holder Natoya Goule.
World 1500m bronze medallist Marcin Lewandowski will defend his title in the road mile, taking on a field that includes Olympic 800m bronze medallist Clayton Murphy and USA&rsquo;s Robby Andrews. Pan-American 1500m champion Nikki Hiltz leads the women&rsquo;s line-up.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

A lot has happened during the four years since Wayde van Niekerk last competed at the adidas Boost Boston Games.

Global champions take to the streets in Boston

Six world record-holders will headline a stunning cast of athletic talent for the 60th edition of the Golden Spike in Ostrava, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, on Wednesday (19).
In their respective outdoor events, Joshua Cheptegei, Mondo Duplantis, Genzebe Dibaba, Barbora Spotakova and Anita Wlodarczyk have all gone where no other athlete in history has, while with his indoor world record of 18.07m earlier this year, Hugues Fabrice Zango showed he has the potential to one day surpass Jonathan Edwards&rsquo; triple jump world record of 18.29m.
With 1500 fans allowed in the stadium, every set of eyes will be trained on Cheptegei when he takes to the track for the men&rsquo;s 3000m, the final event on the programme. Edged by Duplantis for Male World Athlete of the Year in 2020, the Ugandan 24-year-old has been untouchable on the track since 2019, setting world records at 5000m and 10,000m.
Cheptegei&rsquo;s current best for 3000m is 7:33.26, but the enlisting of Australia&rsquo;s Stewart McSweyn &ndash; a 7:28 man &ndash; as pacemaker suggests the Ugandan is ready to take a massive chunk off that. If conditions are favourable, he looks primed to challenge Daniel Komen&rsquo;s 3000m world record of 7:20.67, which has stood for 25 years. The world 10,000m champion sharpened his speed last month with a 3:37.36 1500m PB at altitude in Kampala. Olympic 5000m silver medallist Paul Chelimo is likely to be his closest pursuer.
Elsewhere in the distance events, world half marathon champion Jacob Kiplimo will open his season over 10,000m where it seems the 20-year-old Ugandan&rsquo;s personal best of 27:26.68 is due for serious revision. In the men&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase, 2019 Diamond League champion Getnet Wale of Ethiopia will be looking to improve on his best of 8:05.21, having clocked a blazing 7:24.98 for 3000m indoors back in February. 
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 Poland&rsquo;s world bronze medallist Marcin Lewandowski takes on Ugandan record-holder Ronald Musagala in the men's 1500m. European Indoor 800m champion Patryk Dobek will race the two-lap distance in Ostrava, and the Pole remains undecided between the 800m and the 400m hurdles for the Tokyo Olympics. He should get a good indicator of his medal chances at the longer distance on Wednesday as he takes on seasoned veterans Adam Kszczot and Amel Tuka.
Genzebe Dibaba is the star attraction in the women&rsquo;s 1500m, her first outing at the distance in which she holds the world record since August 2019. The Ethiopian made an eye-catching half marathon debut last December when clocking 1:05:18 in Valencia, but she failed to finish on her only outing since, an indoor 3000m in February. Uganda&rsquo;s Winnie Nanyondo should be her biggest rival. In the women&rsquo;s 800m, European indoor champion Keely Hodgkinson should be tough to beat. 
<h3>Duplantis vs Kendricks, Taylor vs Zango</h3>
The field events in Ostrava are loaded with quality, and all eyes will be on the pole vault runway as Mondo Duplantis looks to go above and beyond the six-metre barrier once again. His best so far this year is the 6.10m he cleared indoors in Belgrade, and two-time world champion Sam Kendricks should once again put it up to his good friend and rival. 
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 Two titans will square off in the men&rsquo;s triple jump, with two-time Olympic champion Christian Taylor looking to stamp his supremacy once again after a modest start to his season. Taylor, who often competes off a shortened approach during his first few competitions of the year, had a best of 16.52m on his most recent outing in Eugene but the four-time world champion knows how to get it right when it counts. In Ostrava, he&rsquo;ll have to be on song to defeat Hugues Fabrice Zango, who soared to an indoor world record of 18.07m in Aubiere, France, back in January and who opened his outdoor season with 17.40m earlier this month.
Poland&rsquo;s Anita Wlodarczyk will be looking to establish her credentials for a third straight Olympic title when she takes to the circle in the women&rsquo;s hammer, the 35-year-old&rsquo;s best this year the 73.87m effort she unleashed in Antalya, Turkey, earlier this month. Alexandra Tavernier should provide stiff opposition, having thrown a French record of 75.38m earlier this year. 
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 Johannes Vetter will be hoping to rekindle some 90-plus-metre magic in the men&rsquo;s javelin, the German record holder holding a best so far this year of 91.50m.
The Czech fans will be keen to see how two-time Olympic champion Barbora Spotakova fares in the women&rsquo;s javelin. The 39-year-old had a best of 65.19m in 2020 and will be looking to improve on the sole mark she recorded at the European Throwing Cup in Split, Croatia, in recent weeks of 58.24m. Spotakova&rsquo;s world record of 72.28m may well be under threat in Ostrava from Maria Andrejczyk, the Pole who opened her season with a stunning effort of 71.40m at the same event in Split.
European indoor champion Tomas Stanek will be looking to win one for the host nation in the men&rsquo;s shot put, where he takes Poland&rsquo;s Michal Haratyk and Konrad Bukowiecki, while Radek Juska, an 8.31m athlete, will be hoping to do likewise in the men&rsquo;s long jump. 
<h3>Richardson takes on Schippers and Okagbare</h3>
In the sprints, the women&rsquo;s 200m will take top billing, with fans eager to see what Sha&rsquo;Carri Richardson can produce after her red-hot form in recent weeks. The 21-year-old US sprinter clocked wind-legal 100m times of 10.72, 10.74 and 10.77 already this season and she seems primed to dip below 22 seconds over 200m for the first time. Also in the field is two-time world champion Dafne Schippers and Nigeria&rsquo;s Blessing Okagbare. 
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 Olympic 100m bronze medallist Andre De Grasse will face 2004 Olympic champion Justin Gatlin in the men&rsquo;s 100m and while both have edged below 10 seconds this year, they will have it all to do to beat 400m specialist Fred Kerley, who clocked 9.91 (2.0m/s) in Miami last month.
Kerley is also slated for the 200m, which takes place 80 minutes after the 100m. In the latter, Kenny Bednarek should prove tough to beat, having run 19.94 behind Noah Lyles at the USATF Golden Games recently.
In the men&rsquo;s 400m, 2012 Olympic champion Kirani James will be looking to return to his best as the clock counts down towards the Tokyo Games. The Grenadian opened his season with a 44.88-second clocking in Phoenix, USA, last month, though Vernon Norwood is the quickest in the field this year with his 44.64.
Olympic bronze medallist Yasmani Copello headlines the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, while Denmark&rsquo;s Sara Slott Petersen is the quickest on paper in the women&rsquo;s event.
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

Six world record-holders will headline a stunning cast of athletic talent for the 60th edition of the Golden Spike in Ostrava, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, on Wednesday (19).

Global champions and world record-holders ready to clash in Ostrava

Noah Lyles makes his 200m season opener, Rai Benjamin and Shamier Little return to 400m hurdles action and Sha&rsquo;Carri Richardson looks to continue her fine 100m form at the USATF Golden Games, part of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series, on Sunday (9).
The meeting features great depth across the board, with Allyson Felix, Michael Norman, Katerina Stefanidi, Keni Harrison, Bryce Hoppel and Laura Muir also among the entries. The inclusion of NFL star DK Metcalf in the 100m line-up adds another dimension to the competition at Mt SAC in Walnut, California.
After racing over 100m in Florida and Eugene last month with a best of 10.08, world 200m champion Lyles returns to his specialty event this weekend and he will be joined by Kenny Bednarek, who ranked second behind Lyles &ndash; 19.80 to 19.76 &ndash; last year, plus teenager Erriyon Knighton, who ran a wind-assisted 9.99 (2.7m/s) for 100m last weekend.
With the&nbsp;track set to be reversed for the sprints to take advantage of a tailwind, some fast times can be expected.
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The women&rsquo;s event will see multiple global gold medallist Felix race the distance outdoors for the first time since 2017.
World U20 record-holder Richardson moved to sixth on the world 100m all-time list with her 10.72 in Florida on April 11 and after a 22.11 200m six days later she again contests the shorter sprint and lines up alongside English Gardner, Javianne Oliver, Morolake Akinosun,&nbsp;Briana Williams and Olympic and world gold medallist Veronica Campbell Brown.
World silver medallist Benjamin hasn&rsquo;t raced over the barriers since 2019, during a season which saw him clock 46.98 to become the equal third-fastest 400m hurdler in history, and he makes a comeback this weekend after opening with a 44.97 400m flat behind Norman&rsquo;s 44.67 in Eugene two weeks ago. In Walnut, Commonwealth champion Kyron McMaster and Brazil&rsquo;s Alison dos Santos &ndash; fresh from World Athletics Relays action &ndash; join Benjamin in the 400m hurdles, while Michael Cherry will race against Norman in the 400m.
After becoming only the second woman to ever break 53 seconds for the 400m hurdles and 50 seconds for 400m flat with a&nbsp;49.91 PB at the&nbsp;Miramar Invitational last month, 2015 world silver medallist Little also makes a highly-anticipated hurdles return. She will line up alongside Olympic bronze medallist&nbsp;Ashley Spencer and Panama&rsquo;s Gianna Woodruff, who won at the Drake Relays with a world-leading national record of 55.02.
Joining world record-holder Harrison in the 100m hurdles are world 400m hurdles silver medallist Sydney McLaughlin, who clocked a 12.86 PB in Eugene, and Tobi Amusan, who like Harrison has run 12.48 so far this season.
<h3>Metcalf tests his speed</h3>
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Metcalf has turned heads with his speed on the American football field but will now put that to the test as he takes to the track to race against the likes of Mike Rodgers and Kyree King, who has run 9.97 this season.
The 800m sees Olympic bronze medallist Clayton Murphy, world fourth-placer Bryce Hoppel, 2016 world indoor medallist Erik Sowinski and former NCAA winners Josh Kerr and Michael Saruni in the men&rsquo;s event. Adelle Tracey won in Eugene last month ahead of her fellow Briton Jemma Reekie and world silver medallist Raevyn Rogers and they all race again at the Golden Games, this time joined by Reekie&rsquo;s training partner Laura Muir, the double world indoor medallist.
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Canada&rsquo;s Gabriela DeBues-Stafford is a former training partner of Muir and Reekie and she races the 1500m along with Elle Purrier, Eilish McColgan, Nikki Hiltz and Aisha Praught-Leer, while the men&rsquo;s event includes Oceania indoor 1500m record-holder Oliver Hoare, Justyn Knight, Moh Ahmed and Johnny Gregorek.
Olympic runner-up Evan Jager competes in a 3000m steeplechase for the first time since 2018 and his fellow world medallist Courtney Frerichs goes in the women&rsquo;s event.
Multiple Olympic and world triple jump medallist Will Claye is another set to make his return to competition in Walnut, while the women&rsquo;s competition features world leader Keturah Orji, who jumped 14.92m last month, plus Thea LaFond, Tori Franklin, Keturah Orji and Kimberly Williams.
<h3>Stefanidi continues her comeback</h3>
After struggling with a foot injury last year, Olympic pole vault champion Stefanidi is working to rediscover her top form and will look to build on her 4.61m from last weekend in Chula Vista as she goes up against Katie Nageotte and Alysha Newman. KC Lightfoot continues his outdoor season in the men&rsquo;s event after clearing 6 metres indoors and opening with 5.80m in March.
World silver medallist Danniel Thomas-Dodd threw 19.17m in Florida last month and is joined in the shot put by Chase Ealey, Maggie Ewen and Raven Saunders, with&nbsp;Darrell Hill contesting the men's competition.
The women&rsquo;s 5000m, which like the steeplechase events forms part of the evening&rsquo;s Distance Open, includes Molly Huddle and Britain&rsquo;s European medallist Steph Twell.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

Noah Lyles makes his 200m season opener, Rai Benjamin and Shamier Little return to 400m hurdles action and Sha’Carri Richardson looks to continue her fine 100m form at the USATF Golden Games, part of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series, on Sunday (9).