Just 11 days after taking the running total of world record performances in this trailblazing Wanda Diamond League season up to a magnificent seven with their momentous marks in Silesia, Mondo Duplantis and Jakob Ingebrigtsen will be back in action in Zurich&rsquo;s stellar Weltklasse meeting on Thursday (5).
The last leg of the Diamond League campaign before the grand final in Brussels on 13-14 September has attracted 14 gold medal winners from last month&rsquo;s Paris Olympics &ndash; including four athletes who have got in on the world record fest since Duplantis kicked off the season with a new men&rsquo;s pole vault height of 6.24m in Xiamen on 20 April.
Duplantis, whose 6.26m clearance in Silesia on 25 August represented his third world record of the year, on the back of his 6.25m vault in Paris last month, will be joined by Ingebrigtsen, Beatrice Chebet and Yaroslava Mahuchikh on a night when the Weltklasse promises to live up to its traditional billing as &ldquo;the Olympics in one day&rdquo;.
The Letzigrund Stadion has not witnessed a world record since Yelena Isinbayeva&rsquo;s 5.06m pole vault back in 2009, and perhaps the 100m head-to-head that Duplantis has chosen to undertake with 400m hurdles world record-holder Karsten Warholm on the hallowed Zurich track on Wednesday evening (4) might sharpen the Swede&rsquo;s speed for a further attempt on the men&rsquo;s vault record on Thursday.
The sprint challenge &ndash; <a href="https://worldathletics.org/news/news/duplantis-warholm-sprint-showdown-zurich-live-stream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to be streamed on Inside Track</a> &ndash; was laid down when the pair were training in the Stade Louis II the day before the 2023 Diamond League meeting in Monaco. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not saying I&rsquo;m going to kick your ass, but I&rsquo;ll give you a run for your money,&rdquo; Duplantis told his Norwegian friend.
Duplantis&rsquo; best 100m time, a windy 10.57, dates back to high school days in 2018. Warholm clocked 10.49 in 2017, the year he won the first of his three world 400m hurdles titles.
<div><a href="https://worldathletics.org/news/news/duplantis-warholm-sprint-showdown-zurich-live-stream" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/66d5c8fc9e5d112aa43da492.jpg" alt="Warholm vs Duplantis 100m livestream" /></a></div>
A Duplantis defeat in any discipline would represent a track and field novelty. The 24-year-old has won 17 successive pole vault competitions since finishing fourth in that Monaco Diamond League meeting in July last year.&nbsp;
Chris Nilsen, the US vaulter who hit the unexpected jackpot that night in Monte Carlo, is joined in the Weltklasse field by compatriot Sam Kendricks and the emerging Greek Emmanouil Karalis, who earned Olympic silver and bronze respectively behind Duplantis in Paris.
As for Ingebrigtsen, having destroyed Daniel Komen&rsquo;s 3000m world record with a jaw-dropping 7:17.55 in Silesia, a 1500m race for the ages awaits.
The world and Olympic 5000m champion takes on the three men who swept past him to claim Olympic 1500m gold, silver and bronze in Paris: the inspired Cole Hocker of the US, Britain&rsquo;s Josh Kerr and Yared Nuguse, also of the US.&nbsp;
The line up also includes Briton Elliot Giles, fresh from a 3:51.3 road mile world record ahead of Nuguse in Dusseldorf on Sunday (1).
Kerr outkicked Ingebrigtsen to land the world title in Budapest last year and did the same to win the Bowerman Mile in the Eugene Diamond League meeting in May but the 24-year-old Norwegian has not lost a 1500m race on the Diamond League circuit since he finished runner-up to Kenya&rsquo;s Timothy Cheruiyot in Zurich three years ago.
He finished comfortably clear of Hocker at the distance in his first post-Olympic outing in Lausanne on 22 August and completed his preparations for Paris with a European record 3:26.73 in Monaco, 0.73 shy of Hicham El Guerrouj&rsquo;s 1998 world record.
Just for the record, there has only been one global mark for the men&rsquo;s 1500m made in Zurich: in 1979, when the long-time Weltklasse promoter Res Brugger famously barred Steve Ovett from facing Sebastian Coe because he didn&rsquo;t want the rivalry to interfere with the latter&rsquo;s shot at a third world record in 41 days, which Coe duly achieved in 3:32.1.
Chebet &ndash; who bagged two Olympic golds in five days in Paris, her 5000m and 10,000m successes the only individual double in the French capital &ndash; may well be motivated to chase a second global mark in four months in the women&rsquo;s 5000m in Zurich.
In the Eugene Diamond League 10,000m in May, the 24-year-old Kenyan clocked 28:54.14, becoming the first woman to crack 29 minutes for 10,000m, a feat first achieved on the men&rsquo;s side by Emil Zatopek in 1954.
She stands third on the all-time list at 5000m with the 14:05.92 she clocked in the wake of Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay&rsquo;s world record 14:00.21 at the Diamond League Final in Oregon a year ago.
However, only two other women on the Zurich start list have broken 14:20.&nbsp;
World 10,000m bronze medallist Ejgayehu Taye, who finished sixth in the Olympic 5000m final, has a best of 4:12.98. Fellow Ethiopian Tsigie Gebreselama, second to Chebet in the 2023 World Cross Country Championships, has run 14:18.76.
Mahuchikh remains unbeaten in the 2024 outdoor season, two months on from her 2.10m high jump world record in the Paris Diamond League meeting at Stade Charlety.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/668aaf135e7b38f835e73def.JPG" alt="Yaroslava Mahuchikh in the high jump in Paris" />
Yaroslava Mahuchikh in the high jump in Paris (&copy; Christel Saneh)
</div>
The 22-year-old faces the three women who joined her on the Ukrainian-Australian Olympic podium in Stade de France: silver medallist Nicola Olyslagers and joint bronze medallists Eleanor Patterson and Iryna Gerashchenko.
The women&rsquo;s pole vault in Zurich&rsquo;s Hauptbanhof, Main Train Station, on Wednesday (4), pits Australia&rsquo;s Olympic golden girl Nina Kennedy against fellow medal winners Katie Moon of the US and Canada&rsquo;s Alysha Newman &ndash; plus Switzerland&rsquo;s European champion Angelica Moser, who was fourth in Paris.
Another Swiss star who just missed the podium in the French capital, Simon Ehammer, takes on Olympic men&rsquo;s long jump medallists Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece, Jamaican Wayne Pinnock and Italian teenager Mattia Furlani, as well as Norway&rsquo;s surprise Olympic decathlon champion Markus Rooth, who will be making his Diamond League debut.
Three other events also feature a full set of Olympic medal winners.&nbsp;&nbsp;
In the men&rsquo;s shot, Ryan Crouser rejoins battle with US teammate Joe Kovacs and Rajindra Campbell of Jamaica, while in the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles Masai Russell of USA faces France&rsquo;s Cyrena Samba-Mayela and Puerto Rico&rsquo;s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn. In the men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles Grant Holloway takes on US colleague Daniel Roberts and Rasheed Broadbell of Jamaica.
St Lucian sprint sensation Julien Alfred tackles her first race since storming to 100m gold and 200m silver in Paris, lining up at the shorter distance against Sha&rsquo;Carri Richardson, who took 100m silver behind her and 4x100m relay gold.&nbsp;
The field also includes Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita, members of Britain&rsquo;s silver medal-winning 4x100m quartet, and Switzerland&rsquo;s European 200m champion Mujinga Kambundji.
The men&rsquo;s 200m features the Olympic one and two &ndash; Botswana&rsquo;s Letsile Tebogo and Kenny Bednarek of the US &ndash; plus Fred Kerley, the US sprinter who finished third over 100m.
Fresh from her 600m world best of 1:21.63 in Berlin on Sunday (1), world champion Mary Moraa of Kenya takes on Tsige Duguma, the Ethiopian who claimed Olympic 800m silver one place ahead of her, and Britain&rsquo;s 1500m bronze medallist Georgia Bell.
In the men&rsquo;s javelin, Grenada&rsquo;s two-time world champion Anderson Peters, a bronze medallist in Paris, will be challenging for a second Diamond League win of the season against Germany&rsquo;s 2022 European champion Julian Weber and Kenya&rsquo;s 2015 world champion Julius Yego.
Olympic silver medallist Anna Cockrell of the US lines up in the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, while the men&rsquo;s event features the silver and bronze medal winners from Paris. Warholm, fresh from his 100m showdown with Duplantis, takes on Brazil&rsquo;s 2022 world champion Alison dos Santos.
Simon Turnbull for World Athletics

The last leg of the Diamond League campaign before the grand final in Brussels on 13-14 September has attracted 14 gold medal winners from last month’s Paris Olympics

Olympic medallists and world record-holders ready to light up Zurich

Four months after the first season launched, season two of <a href="https://worldathletics.org/videos/sprint" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SPRINT</a> &ndash; the Netflix sports docuseries starring the fastest athletes on the planet &ndash; will launch on 13 November.
The second instalment of SPRINT is centred around the recent Paris 2024 Olympic Games and features an even wider array of the world&rsquo;s leading sprinters, following their journey throughout the 2024 season.
Olympic 100m champions Noah Lyles and Julien Alfred are featured, as are 200m gold medallists Gabby Thomas and Letsile Tebogo. Marcell Jacobs, Fred Kerley and Shericka Jacksons &ndash; all of whom starred in season one &ndash; will feature in the second season, alongside Kishane Thompson, Melissa Jefferson, Twanisha Terry, Kenny Bednarek and Oblique Seville.
Created by the team behind Drive to Survive, the latest edition of the docuseries shows what it takes to dig deep, pull out your personal best on a global stage, and then get back into training to continue dominating on the track.
Season 2 of SPRINT is executive produced by Paul Martin, James Gay-Rees, and Warren Smith at Box to Box Films.
In its first week of being released, the first season of SPRINT ranked sixth on the list of the most-watched shows on Netflix worldwide.

Season two of SPRINT – the Netflix sports docuseries starring the fastest athletes on the planet – will launch on 13 November

Second season of SPRINT ready to race back on to screens in November

Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis and Norwegian 400m hurdler Karsten Warholm will clash over 100m in Zurich on Wednesday 4 September, and fans can watch the mouth-watering action for free on <a href="https://worldathletics.org/videos" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Athletics Inside Track</a>.
The sprint battle marks the culmination of a long-standing back-and-forth between the two athletics icons, which has been simmering for more than a year.
Warholm is the world 400m hurdles record holder, 2021 Olympic gold medallist and three-time world champion, while Duplantis is the double Olympic champion and has broken the world pole vault record a staggering 10 times.
The two titans will run for glory in front of a sold-out arena, Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich, the evening before the Wanda Diamond League meeting. This is a sporting event that will go down in the history books, thanks to the arranging partners Weltklasse Zurich, Puma and Red Bull.
To access the stream on Wednesday, which starts at 9:30pm CEST, ensure you&rsquo;re <a href="https://worldathletics.org/videos" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed up to Inside Track</a>.

Fans can watch the mouth-watering action on World Athletics Inside Track

Duplantis-Warholm sprint showdown to be streamed on Inside Track

For many Peruvian athletes, the opportunity to compete in international competitions is rare. Hosting the World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24 was not only a golden opportunity but also a profoundly emotional experience, as athletes competed in front of their fans, family members and friends.
Among the <a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-u20-championships/lima24/country/peru" target="_blank" rel="noopener">30 Peruvian athletes</a> who took part was 16-year-old Ximena Vasquez, who set a national U20 record in the 400m hurdles.
&ldquo;Competing here? I&rsquo;m obviously nervous &ndash; of course I will be &ndash; but I&rsquo;m immensely proud that this competition is being held in Peru,&rdquo; said Vasquez.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not just important for us, but also for the next generation.&rdquo;
Russell Cjuro, who ran in the 3000m steeplechase heats, added: &ldquo;The crowd comes to cheer you on, raising the stakes for us. It&rsquo;s not just about competing; it&rsquo;s a thrilling experience, full of emotions that strengthen us.&rdquo;
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/66d4f3f3e213962b985edbb1.JPG" alt="Russell Cjuro contests the steeplechase at the WU20 Lima 24" />
Russell Cjuro contests the steeplechase at the WU20 Lima 24 (&copy; Oscar Munoz Badilla)
</div>
Another delighted Peruvian was Jeffrey Cajo, who finished seventh in heat three of the 400m.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Competing at home is probably the most beautiful experience I&rsquo;ll have in my entire career,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The love and support from all the Peruvians here, day after day, is incredible. We&rsquo;re all fighting together.&rdquo;
In the stands was Cajo&rsquo;s father.&nbsp;
&ldquo;He was the only one who could make it here, but my family in Pisco has been supporting me every day,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;The event is wonderful, but it&rsquo;s even more special because it&rsquo;s happening at home.&rdquo;
For another proud father, the excitement was twofold. Javier Chirinos, President of the local organising committee, couldn&rsquo;t contain his emotions as he watched his 16-year-old daughter, Cayetana, compete in the 100m and 4x100m relay.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s part of the learning process &ndash; not just for her as an athlete, but for me as a father,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The nerves in the stands are far greater than those involved in organising the event. Everything went smoothly, and we look forward to hosting more events like this in Peru.&rdquo;
Jose Rivasplata of the Media Development Programme for World Athletics

World Athletics U20 Championships

Peru hosting the World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24 was not only a golden opportunity but also a profoundly emotional experience for the nation's athletes

Peruvian athletes relish WU20 Lima 24 experience

Germany&rsquo;s Felix Wolter and Poland&rsquo;s Adrianna Sulek-Schubert lived up to expectations as the pre-event favourites for the Wiesław Czapiewski Memorial as they claimed victories at the World Athletics Combined Events Tour Gold meeting in the Polish town of Naklo nad Notecia on Sunday (1).
Wolter scored a meeting record of 8068 after being pushed all the way by Japan&rsquo;s Yuma Maruyama and Estonia&rsquo;s Risto Lillemets, both of whom also scored in excess of 8000 points.
Sulek-Schubert, meanwhile, retained her title from 2022 with 6007 to win comfortably from Ukraine&rsquo;s Yuliya Loban.
Wolter led from the outset, clocking 10.63 in the 100m and leaping 7.64m in the long jump, the best marks of the day for those disciplines. His opponents made a dent on his lead in the shot put as the German managed 13.49m while Zsombor Galpal topped the event with 15.09m.
A 1.94m leap in the high jump kept Wolter in the lead ahead of Czechia&rsquo;s Vilem Strasky and Maruyama, then he ended the first day with a 48.39 victory in the 400m to increase his lead to 120 points.
Wolter started the second day with a 14.52 run in the 110m hurdles, an event in which Lorenzo Naidon (14.12) and Maruyama (14.20) produced the fastest times.
Lithuania&rsquo;s Edgaras Benkunskas, the strongest thrower in the field, topped the discus with a PB of 49.89m, while Wolter managed 44.06m. Lillemets then climbed up the leader board into fifth after clearing 5.00m in the pole vault with Wolter &ndash; still the overall leader &ndash; vaulting 4.70m and Maruyama managing 4.80m.
Benkunskas, Lillemets and Maruyama all threw beyond 60 metres in the javelin to make a small dent on Wolter&rsquo;s lead. But his 56.43m throw kept him in pole position going into the 1500m.
Naidon was the fastest in the final discipline (4:31.99) and he was closely followed by Lillemets (4:32.24) and Maruyama (4:36.59) but Wolter did enough to hold on to his lead (4:43.61), ending with a score of 8068.
Maruyama scored 8021 for second place, just ahead of Lillemets (8012).
Like Wolter, Sulek-Schubert led the heptathlon from start to finish.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/66d593e3c135065377afe554.JPG" alt="Adrianna Sulek-Schubert at the Czapiewski Memorial" />
Adrianna Sulek-Schubert at the Czapiewski Memorial (&copy; Organisers)
</div>
The European indoor silver medallist opened with a 13.44 victory in the 100m hurdles and then cleared 1.77m, the best of the day, in the high jump.
Yuliya Loban produced the best throw in the shot put, 14.86m, but Sulek-Schubert&rsquo;s 13.75m kept the Pole in the lead. Sulek-Schubert then increased her leading margin to 166 points at the end of the first day thanks to a 24.28 victory in the 200m.
Sulek-Schubert and Loban produced the exact same mark in the long jump, 5.79m, then the Ukrainian out-threw Sulek-Schubert in the javelin by almost five metres, 42.22m to 37.81m, but it wasn&rsquo;t enough to displace the leader.
A 2:16.95 run in the 800m sealed the victory for Sulek-Schubert, giving her a winning score of 6007. Loban was second with 5861.

Germany’s Felix Wolter and Poland’s Adrianna Sulek-Schubert lived up to expectations as the pre-event favourites for the Wiesław Czapiewski Memorial

Wolter and Sulek-Schubert win in Naklo nad Notecia

World champion Mary Moraa fought for every hundredth of a second on the home straight of the 600m at the ISTAF &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting &ndash; in Berlin on Sunday (1) and was rewarded with a world best of 1:21.63.
Running in front of 40,500 spectators, the Olympic bronze medallist from Kenya took 0.14 off the previous world best, finishing 1.35 seconds ahead of Shafiqua Maloney.
&ldquo;I am feeling so well and happy,&rdquo; said Moraa. &ldquo;To achieve this record on my first attempt is just overwhelming. I am so satisfied about the way I ran today.&rdquo;
Germany&rsquo;s 2022 European champion Julian Weber gave himself a belated birthday present, winning the javelin with a season&rsquo;s best of 88.64m just three days after turning 30.
&ldquo;It was wonderful, just as I imagined it would be,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There were so many fans here in the stadium. It was so much fun. The people were so into it. The great series is awesome.&rdquo;
USA&rsquo;s Sam Kendricks won the men&rsquo;s pole vault with 6.01m, the first six-metre vault at ISTAF in 25 years. Dutch vaulter Menno Vloon was also left in the competition at that height but was unsuccessful, ending with a best of 5.92m.
Olympic silver medallist Leo Neugebauer won a three-discipline combined events contest, clocking 10.77 in the 100m, throwing 53.13m in the discus and ending with a 4:38.10 run in the 1500m. The final discipline was held using the Gundersen method with athletes starting based on their points tally ahead of that event, meaning the first athlete to finish the 1500m was the overall winner.
World and Olympic champion Grant Holloway notched up another win in the 110m hurdles, clocking 13.14 to finish 0.07 ahead of Japan&rsquo;s Rachid Muratake.
European champion Jessica Schilder achieved a decisive win over Olympic champion Yemisi Ogunleye in the women&rsquo;s shot put, throwing 19.70m to the German&rsquo;s 18.65m.
German champions Gina Luckenkemper and Emil Nana Kwame Agyekum set lifetime best performances to win their respective disciplines.
Luckenkemper made the most of a strong start in the 100m to win in a PB of 10.93 (1.0m/s) ahead of USA&rsquo;s Jenna Prandini (11.09). Kwame Agyekum, meanwhile, produced the run of his life in the 400m hurdles to win comfortably in 48.21 from 2022 world bronze medallist Trevor Bassitt.

World champion Mary Moraa fought for every hundredth of a second on the home straight of the 600m in Berlin and was rewarded with a world best of 1:21.63

Moraa clocks world 600m best in Berlin

A range of new competition formats were put to the test at the Track Lab &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting &ndash; in the Swiss city of Fribourg on Sunday (1).
The Track Lab Fribourg featured a variety of athletics disciplines. Some, such as the mile steeplechase, were completely new. Others had minor adjustments made, such as in the sprints where the allowed reaction time was reduced to 0.000 instead of 0.10. While a few &ndash; like the 800m &ndash; were unchanged.
The field events, meanwhile, were trialling more significant changes. The pole vault was held as a mixed competition where the absolute effective height over the bar was measured. The long jump had a 40-centimetre long take-off zone, from which the full distance jumped was measured. And in the javelin, an athlete's throw was only measured and recorded if it was an improvement on their previous best.
All of these new formats were being tested for the first time and form part of a consultation process for the future of the sport to see if such changes can enhance the enjoyment and excitement of a competition. Further testing and consultation with various stakeholders will be undertaken in the aftermath of this event. Anything that doesn't pass extensive consultation will not be implemented.
Aside from the tweaks to the disciplines, there was also a team element to the competition.
Fans at home were able to benefit too, as the live stream tested out filming angles shot by drones that had never been used for live coverage before.
European pole vault champion Angelica Moser, competing on home soil, received a great welcome from the Swiss crowd. She cleared a best of 4.47m to finish second overall in her event, and the leading woman, behind compatriot Fabio Kissling.
Ethiopia&rsquo;s Abrham Sime was a convincing winner of the mile steeplechase, clocking 4:14.36 to finish comfortably ahead of Nicolas-Marie Daru of France.
World bronze medallist Alina Rotaru-Kottmann of Romania produced the best long jump of the day, leaping 6.64m to finish five centimetres ahead of Slovenia&rsquo;s Neja Filipic. With athletes taking off from a 40-centimetre take-off zone, all 18 jumps in the competition were valid and measured.
Two-time world champion Anderson Peters won a javelin contest in which throws were only measured and recorded if they were an improvement on a previous throw. The Grenadian opened with 74.52m, then extended his lead with 78.78m in round two before finishing with 81.18m in the third and final round.
He was part of the triumphant &lsquo;Team Black&rsquo; that won the overall team contest. Dutch sprint hurdler Nadine Visser was another winner on that team, taking the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles in 12.67 from Australia&rsquo;s Liz Clay (12.82).
Elsewhere, Switzerland&rsquo;s Audrey Werro won the women&rsquo;s 800m in 1:58.79 to win by more than a second, while Dylan Borlee took the men&rsquo;s 400m in 45.87 in a race in which Brazilian 400m hurdles Alison dos Santos placed third (46.07).

A range of new competition formats were put to the test at the Fribourg Track Lab

New competition formats trialled in Fribourg

Britain&rsquo;s Elliot Giles won the men&rsquo;s race at the New Balance KO Meile in Dusseldorf on Sunday (1), smashing the world record with 3:51.3*.
The Olympic 800m semifinalist held off a strong challenge from USA&rsquo;s Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Yared Nuguse, who finished second in 3:51.9.
Both men were well inside the ratified world record of 3:56.13 set by Hobbs Kessler at the 2023 World Road Running Championships in Riga. They also bettered the mark of 3:54.6 &ndash; which is pending ratification &ndash; recorded earlier this year by Emmanuel Wanyonyi.
Vincent Keter was third in 3:54.9.
 *Subject to the usual ratification procedure

Britain’s Elliot Giles won the men’s race at the New Balance KO Meile in Dusseldorf on Sunday (1), smashing the world record with 3:51.3*.

Giles breaks world road mile record in Dusseldorf

One day after winning the Vertical Nasego, Kenya&rsquo;s Patrick Kipngeno completed the double by winning the Trofeo Nasego, the longer race in the Valsir Mountain Running World Cup fixture in Casto, on Sunday (1). Compatriot Joyce Muthoni Njeru was a dominant winner of the women&rsquo;s race, finishing almost two minutes clear.
Most of the runners from yesterday&rsquo;s race doubled up with runners this time taking on a 21.5km course, with several fast, runnable sections and one notable climb.
The men&rsquo;s race got off to a swift start through the streets of Casto, with the Kenyan quintet of Kipngeno, Josphat Kiprotich, Philemon Ombogo Kiriago, Paul Machoka and Michael Selelo Saoli soon separating themselves from the rest of the field.
Kipngeno was first to reach the peak of Rifugio Nasego, by which point he had a lead of about 90 seconds on Kiriago, with Machoka in third. The battle for the places behind them had heated up on the big climb.
Kipngeno held on for an emphatic win in 1:31:26. Kiriago, last year&rsquo;s winner, took second in 1:33:59 and Machoka held on for third in 1:34:38, 16 seconds ahead of Kiprotich.
After an exciting women&rsquo;s Vertical Nasego yesterday, the long race looked wide open. Last year&rsquo;s winner of both races and yesterday&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s champion, Andrea Mayr was on the start. Could she do the double double?
In the women&rsquo;s race, Philaries Jeruto Kisang was the early leader, keen to avenge her defeat to Andrea Mayr in yesterday&rsquo;s race. Mayr, Muthoni Njeru and Gloria Chebet followed the Kenyan during the early stages, but defending champion Mayr moved into the lead on the climb up to Rifugio Nasego.
Muthoni Njeru passed Mayr at about 17km and proceeded to open a gap on the Austrian. She crossed the line in 1:51:33 with Mayr taking second in 1:53:02. Finland&rsquo;s Susanna Saapunki was third in 1:54:00.
Kirsty Reade (WMRA) for World Athletics

Kenya's Patrick Kipngeno and Joyce Muthoni Njeru dominate at the Trofeo Nasego

Kipngeno completes double while Muthoni Njeru triumphs at Trofeo Nasego

Coaches, athletes and experts will join the next Coaching Matters virtual forum on 3 September, when the focus will be on the coach-athlete relationship, from Paris to LA.
This forum will look at what has been learned from the Paris Olympic Games and anticipated performances at the Los Angeles Games, plus the preparation journey to get there.
While this transformational step is part of the cyclical nature of Olympic preparation and performance, it is also the closing of one chapter and the opening of a new one.
The forum aims to answer some of the following questions:
&bull; What does this critical moment mean for the coach-athlete relationship? &bull; Is it something we can prepare for? &bull; Is it part of a continuous monitoring process of the relationship &ndash; a pit stop, or a defining crossroads? &bull; Do coaches and athletes see it differently?&nbsp;
There will be two forums, with a different set of speakers &ndash; one for the Western time zone and one for the Eastern time zone.&nbsp;
Further information on each forum session, the speakers involved and how to join can be found on the forum flyers:
<a href="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/66d43ac17240580d5eb05f68.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eastern forum</a> (5pm AEST / 2pm WIB / 9am CET) <a href="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/66d780082b1ff6e4551f5e34.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Western forum</a> (6pm CET / 9am PST / 5pm BST)
Speakers include Olympic javelin champion Arshad Nadeem, Olympic javelin silver medallist Jo-Ane van Dyk, Olympic heptathlon bronze medallist Noor Vidts, and World Athletics CESC lecturer and research scholar Muhammad Talha Iftikhar.
The forum will look deeply into the Olympic cycle transition process and what coaches and athletes go through &ndash; an important topic not only for coaches who are currently coaching at this level, but for those who have athletes heading in this direction and those who aspire to coach at this level.
The Coaching Matters forum sessions take place on the first Tuesday of March, June, September and December in 2024. Following each session, recordings will be available to watch back via the <a href="https://elearning.worldathletics.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Athletics e-learning platform</a>.

Coaches, athletes and experts will join the next Coaching Matters virtual forum on 3 September, when the focus will be on the coach-athlete relationship, from Paris to LA

Coaching Matters continues with spotlight on Paris to LA

The future of the sport, on and off the field of play, has been shaped during the World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24.
Taking place in the Peruvian capital from 27-31 August, the event featured four championship records and six area U20 records, while there were 10 world U20-leading performances, 71 national records and 288 personal bests.
USA topped the medal table with 16 medals &ndash; eight gold, four silver and four bronze &ndash; two years out from the nation hosting the next edition of the World U20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon, in 2026.
Second on the medal table was Ethiopia, with the nation&rsquo;s athletes achieving two of the championship records: Medina Eisa with 14:39.71 in the women&rsquo;s 5000m and Sembo Almayew with 9:12.71 in the women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase. The other championship records were set by Tunisia&rsquo;s Rayen Cherni with 39:24.85 in the men&rsquo;s 10,000m race walk and Czechia&rsquo;s Tomas Jarvinen with 8425 points in the decathlon.
A total of 20 countries won gold medals and 66 countries finished in the top eight. One country &ndash; Thailand &ndash; won its first ever medal in the history of the championships as Puripol Boonson secured silver in the men&rsquo;s 100m. He then helped his nation&rsquo;s 4x100m team to bronze.
Alongside the five days of global competition, a series of initiatives saw significant development in other areas of athletics.
For the first time at a World Athletics U20 Championships, an Athlete Zone provided athletes and their support networks with a dedicated space to learn and have fun in a safe and supportive environment.
More than 1500 people visited the Athlete Zone during the championships. As well as providing information on topics such as health &amp; science, safeguarding and the Athletics Integrity Unit, the Athlete Zone offered games and competitions, together with insight into areas such as social media and building your own brand, athlete representatives, and athletics rules and regulations.
&ldquo;The World Athletics U20 Championships is a key development opportunity for our young athletes,&rdquo; said Stephanie Eagle, eLearning Senior Manager at World Athletics. &ldquo;Having athletes together for the championships provides a perfect opportunity to support and empower the emerging stars of our sport, both on and off the field. This programme is designed to provide participants with key information to help them prepare for their future, giving them access to expert advice from both World Athletics staff and representatives from the Athletes&rsquo; Commission.&rdquo;
It is not just athletes who have taken advantage of development opportunities in Lima, but also coaches and new members of the media.
The Coaches' Club, organised by World Athletics in cooperation with the Global Athletics Coaching Academy, enables the coaching community to learn in real time from the championship experience.
Since its launch at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade in 2022, the Coaches' Club has been held at the World Athletics Championships and World U20 Championships, returning to the age-group stage in Lima two years on from the sessions held in Cali.
As part of the programme in Lima, an online panel was scheduled for each day from 27 August to 1 September, while an on-site symposium took place on 31 August. More than 700 people registered for the online sessions, while almost 300 requested to join the symposium.
The sessions offered insight into topics such as the athlete and coach relationship, the transition from U20 to senior, and new research findings.
&ldquo;A lot of people miss the fact that roughly 60% of athletes who get a medal at the Olympic Games or World Athletics Championships are between the ages of 24 and 28, and 85% are between 22 and 30. That&rsquo;s what you&rsquo;re aiming for and when you&rsquo;re working with a developing young athlete, of course you want great performances at a World U20 Championships, but this is the start of the journey,&rdquo; said Global Athletics Coaching Academy Chair Frank Dick.
&ldquo;Several of the coaches who came to Cali are here. The next World U20 Championships is in Eugene. I&rsquo;d like to think that these symposia are not just one-off things, we try to connect them so that we can get some sense of ongoing learning and development.&rdquo;
Meanwhile, the Media Development Programme is organised by World Athletics&rsquo; Media Operations department and AIPS to coincide with major events, to encourage athletics journalism in particular areas around the world and bring more young writers into the sport.
In Lima, 12 journalists from Latin America &ndash; based in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela &ndash; came together under the mentorship of Argentinian journalist Martin Mazur, director of the AIPS Sport Media Awards.
During a 10-day programme, the participants joined sessions on topics including writing, storytelling, broadcasting, interviewing, photography, ethics, digital and social media, networking, resources, competition rules and flash quotes.
Their work will be featured on World Athletics, AIPS and member federation channels, as well as on various other English and Spanish speaking platforms.
For one of the stories, two members of the programme were invited to join Athlete Refugee Team activities in Lima, receiving unique access to meet the athletes and learn more about their journey.
&ldquo;On the first day of the programme, we made an oath: It was not important how much we knew about athletics, but how eager we were to tell stories,&rdquo; said Mazur. &ldquo;The participants have learned to think like freelancers, understanding what a story needs to succeed and how to be reliable to athletes, editors and the audience.
&ldquo;Ultimately, they have come to appreciate the beauty of athletics, a sport that &ndash; in record time for a young journalist &ndash; can place you in a one-on-one situation with some of the top athletes in the world, which is something that would not be possible in any other sport.&rdquo;
World Athletics

The future of the sport, on and off the field of play, has been shaped during the World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24

Athletics future shaped at World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24

A thrilling men&rsquo;s 1500m final &ndash; won by Ethiopia&rsquo;s Abdisa Fayisa ahead of Australia&rsquo;s Cameron Myers &ndash; proved the highlight of the men&rsquo;s action on the final day of the&nbsp;World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24&nbsp;on Saturday (31).&nbsp;
Right up to the dying strides, the fate of the gold medal was still unknown, with Myers and Fayisa engaging in a tactical chess game over the first three laps and then going to war, mano a mano, down the home straight. Fayisa proved the stronger and got the gold in 3:40.51 to add to his silver in the 5000m. Myers clocked 3:40.60 in second while Spain&rsquo;s Alex Pintado came through strongly for bronze in 3:41.03.
The early pace was steady, Uganda&rsquo;s Jacob Sande towing the field through 400m in 61.44 before Myers took over, passing 800m in 2:02.60. He had to lift the pace a couple of times in the lap that followed, Kenya&rsquo;s Josphat Kipkirui launching an attack approaching the bell, but the Australian held him off, hitting 1200m in 2:58.54 then shifting through the remaining gears. He burnt off Kipkirui around the last bend but Fayisa was sitting in his slipstream, waiting, and he went for broke as they turned for home, sending this title back to Ethiopia for the first time ever.&nbsp;
In the men&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase, the world was introduced to two teenagers who could well ascend to greatness at senior level, Edmund Serem and Matthew Kosgei. They maintained Kenya&rsquo;s proud tradition in the event by leading the field home, the 17th time in 20 editions the gold has been won by a Kenyan.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We have been training well in our camp so I knew that I was in good shape,&rdquo; said Serem, the Kenyan team captain. &ldquo;But I was not sure if I was going to win.&rdquo;
The pair took command from the outset, towing the field through a swift 2:47.66 first kilometre before cranking up the pace further past halfway. Kosgei led through 2000m in 5:34.97 and by then, they had only Ethiopia&rsquo;s Hailu Ayalew for company. But they shook him off with 500 metres to run and entering the back straight for the final time, Serem made his decisive move, powering clear to win in a world U20 lead of 8:15.28, with Kosgei second in 8:17.46 and Ayalew third in 8:24.08 &ndash; the first eight athletes setting PBs.&nbsp;
In the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, USA&rsquo;s Vance Nilsson produced an upset from the inside lane, powering through over the final two barriers to hit the line in a world U20 lead of 49.26, the first time in 12 years the title has been won by a US athlete.
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Nilsson had only advanced to the final as a time qualifier after finishing third in his semifinal in 49.82. Michal Rada of Czechia finished a close second in a national U20 record of 49.30, with Finland&rsquo;s Antti Sainio taking bronze in 49.61.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I love this sport so much, it is practically my entire life at this point,&rdquo; said Nilsson, who was overjoyed at his victory. &ldquo;If you have something that you are truly passionate about, go for it. Don't just go halfway: go for it 100% and maybe you can get to where I am as well or better.&rdquo;
USA&rsquo;s Bryce Ruland announced himself as a potential star by unleashing a PB of 62.59m to take victory in the men&rsquo;s discus, the 17-year-old&rsquo;s opening throw proving good enough for gold. Shot put champion Jarno van Daalen of the Netherlands set a PB in second of 62.22m, just ahead of Finland&rsquo;s Mico Lampinen. Ukraine&rsquo;s Mykhailo Brudin, who won bronze two years ago and since set a PB of 66.58m, was below his best in fourth with 61.69m.
&ldquo;I went big with my first one and it pretty much won,&rdquo; said Ruland, who said the best memory he&rsquo;ll take from Lima is &ldquo;hanging out with all the throwers. They're a great group of people.&rdquo;
The men&rsquo;s 4x100m saw Jamaica snatch gold with a heroic final leg from Deandre Daley, who overcame a massive deficit to run down Great Britain and Northern Ireland to win in 39.18, the frustration of a fourth-place finish in the 100m quickly dissipating for Daley, who was ably backed up by teammates Jace Witter, Gary Card and Nyrone Wade.&nbsp;
Britain&rsquo;s quartet of Jake Odey-Jordan, Joel Masters, Dean Patterson and Teddy Wilson claimed silver in 39.20, while Thailand &ndash; which had never won a medal before this week at the World U20 Championships &ndash; earned its second in four days, with Puripol Boonson &ndash; the 100m silver medallist &ndash; rocketing home from lane eight to snatch bronze in a national record of 39.39. He was soon joined in the celebrations by teammates Wirayat Daenkhanob, Sarawut Nuansi and Chutithat Pruksorranan. France came home just behind in fourth with 39.43.&nbsp;
USA turned in a dominant performance to claim gold in the concluding men&rsquo;s 4x400m, their quartet of Jayden Davis, Xavier Donaldson, Alexander Rhodes and 400m bronze medallist Sidi Njie clocking 3:03.56 to come home well clear of the South African quartet of Bryan Katoo, Sihle Mahlangu, Njabulo Mbatha and Udeme Okon (3:05.22). Australia&rsquo;s team of Caleb Kilpatrick, Jett Grundy, Jack Deguara and Jordan Gilbert took bronze with 3:05.53. It was the 16th time in 20 editions USA had won this title.
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

A thrilling men’s 1500m final – won by Ethiopia’s Abdisa Fayisa ahead of Australia’s Cameron Myers – proved the highlight of the men’s action on the final day of the World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24

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