DPA
Frankfurt/Munich
Tokyo hosts the world athletics championships for the second time from Saturday onwards, and the sport returns to the Japanese capital under better conditions than at the 2021 Olympics.
The first worlds in Tokyo were held in 1991 and are best remembered for the epic long jump battle between Americans Mike Powell and Carl Lewis during which Powell bettered the long standing world record to 8.95 metres.
Thirty years later saw the Olympics, delayed and behind closed doors due to the coronavirus infection.
But that didn’t stop the athletes from setting three world records: Karsten Warholm and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in the 400m hurdles, and Yulimar Rojas in the triple jump.
Since then, there have been the 2022 and 2023 worlds, plus the Paris 2024 Games.
The programme
There are 49 gold medals on offer for some 2,200 athletes from around 200 countries who compete over nine days September 13 to 21: 24 each for men and women, plus a mixed 4x400m relay on the opening day. Both blue riband 100m finals are the next day, and the championships conclude with the 4x100m finals. Race walkers will contest 20km and 35km for the last time, with the distances changed to half marathon and marathon in the future.
Who is there?
Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles will renew his rivalry with Jamaican season leader Kishane Thompson, while the women’s dash features eternal Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, a triple Olympic and 10-time world champion who is now 38.
Norway have a famous duo in Warholm and middle distance ace Jakob Ingebrigtsen, while Dutch Femke Bol could get a second 400m hurdles gold in the absence of McLaughlin-Levrone who is listed for the 400m.
Kenyan running great Faith Kipyegon and high jump world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine are also present, just as Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis, who is in a league of his own in the pole vault where his latest world record stands at 6.29m.
The German team hopes that twice world champion Malaika Mihambo will win again in the stadium where she soared to Olympic gold in 2021.
Javelin thrower Julian Weber, decathletes Leo Neugebauer and Niklas Kaul, Olympic shot put champion Yemisi Ogunleye and the women’s 4x100m relay could also medal.
The prize money
Governing body World Athletics is dishing out around $8.5 million. A gold medallist in an individual event gets $70,000, a silver medallist $35,000 and a bronze medallist $22,000. Winning relay teams share $80,000. There is also a bonus of $100,000 for a world record.
What is new?
Effective since September 1, athletes can only compete in the female category if they have undergone a one-time SRY gene test. The cheek swab or blood test is to determine biological sex of athletes as the criteria for participation. World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said recentyly that the vast majority of athletes has undergone the test which was necessary to create a level playing field.The athletics world championships start on Saturday in Tokyo, with Noah Lyles, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Mondo Duplantis just three of the many starts present for the big nine-day event.
AloJapan.com