Following the conclusion of their national championships on Wednesday (5), Russia has selected a team of 71 athletes for the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015.Of their six individual champions from two years ago, long jumper Aleksandr Menkov is the only Russian who will defend his title in the Chinese capital.But the team also features three reigning Olympic champions: high jumpers Ivan Ukhov and Anna Chicherova and 400m hurdler Natalya Antyukh.Other top names on the team include European 100m hurdles champion Sergey Shubenkov and world indoor triple jump champions Lyukman Adams and Ekaterina Koneva.<h3>Russian team for Beijing</h3>MEN 400m: Pavel Ivashko 800m: Konstantin Tolokonnikov Marathon: Aleksey Reunkov 3000m steeplechase: Nikolay Chavkin, Ilgizar Safiulin 110m hurdles: Sergey Shubenkov 400m hurdles: Timofey Chalyy, Denis Kudryavtsev, Ivan Shablyuyev High jump: Daniil Tsyplakov, Ivan Ukhov Pole vault: Ivan Gertleyn, Georgiy Gorokhov, Aleksandr Gripich Long jump: Aleksandr Menkov, Sergey Polyanskiy Triple jump: Lyukman Adams, Dmitriy Sorokin Shot put: Maksim Sidorov, Aleksandr Lesnoy Hammer: Sergey Litvinov Javelin: Dmitri Tarabin, Valeriy Iordan Decathlon: Ilya Shkurenev 50km race walk: Aleksandr Yargunkin 4x400m: Pavel Ivashko, Pavel Trenikhin, Artyom Denmukhametov, Denis Alekseyev, Vladimir Krasnov, Denis KudryavtsevWOMEN 400m: Yekaterina Renzhina, Kseniya Ryzhova, Kseniya Zadorina 800m: Anastasiya Bazdyreva, Yevgeniya Subbotina 1500m: Ekaterina Sharmina, Anna Shchagina, Tatyana Tomashova 5000m: Gulshat Fazlitdinova, Elena Korobkina Marathon: Maria Konovalova, Alina Prokopeva 3000m steeplechase: Natalya Aristarkhova, Ekaterina Doseykina, Lyudmila Lebedeva 100m hurdles: Ekaterina Galitskaya, Nina Morozova 400m hurdles: Natalya Antyukh, Darya Korableva, Vera Rudakova High jump: Anna Chicherova, Maria Kuchina Pole vault: Anzhelika Sidorova Long jump: Darya Klishina, Yuliya Pidluzhnaya, Elena Sokolova Triple jump: Ekaterina Koneva Discus: Yuliya Maltseva, Elena Panova, Ekaterina Strokova Javelin: Maria Abakumova, Vira Rebryk Heptathlon: Lyubov Tkatch 4x100m: Elizaveta Demirova, Anna Egorova, Anna Kukushkina, Marina Panteleyeva, Kseniya Ryzhova, Ekaterina Smirnova, Viktoriya Yarushkina 4x400m: Kseniya Aksyonova, Nadezhda Kotlyarova, Alena Mamina, Mariya Mikhailyuk, Ekaterina Renzhina, Ksenia Zadorina

Following the conclusion of their national championships on Wednesday (5), Russia has selected a team of 71 athletes for the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015.

Russia to send team of 71 to IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015

As expected, host nation Russia leads the team standings at the end of the first day of action at the European Team Championships in Cheboksary with world champion Aleksandr Menkov being one of five Russian winners on Saturday (20).Roared on by the enthusiastic home crowd in 31C heat, Menkov took an early lead in the long jump with 8.14m in the first round. He bettered that mark two rounds later with 8.26m, aided by a perfect 2.0m/s following breeze.Just the top four athletes in any field event in this competition are given a fourth and final attempt and France&rsquo;s fourth-placed Kafetien Gomis seized the opportunity. The 35-year-old flew out to a personal best of 8.26m to move up to second place on countback behind Menkov, who didn&rsquo;t improve with his final jump.&ldquo;Of course the result is not so good, but the weather was too hot,&rdquo; said Menkov. &ldquo;I am really glad with the win but not with the result.&rdquo;Russian athletes won two of the other three jumps events on Saturday. World indoor champion Ekaterina Koneva dominated the triple jump, winning with a wind-assisted 14.98m, while European indoor champion Daniil Tsyplakov equalled his outdoor personal best of 2.33m to win the high jump.German pole vaulter Silke Spiegelburg prevented an all-Russian sweep of the jumps. The 2013 European Team Championships winner was level with Anzhelika Sidorova before the bar moved to 4.70m, but the Russian cleared that height on her first attempt. After one failure, Spiegelburg moved to 4.75m and got over it on her second try to equal the competition record.Sidorova tried going higher but was unsuccessful at 4.80m, while Spiegelburg ended with three unsuccessful tries at 4.85m.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m so happy right now,&rdquo; said Spiegelburg, who missed the indoor season through injury. &ldquo;One month ago, I didn&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;d be able to jump 4.75m, but now I hope to improve with each competition.&rdquo;Spiegelburg&rsquo;s team-mate David Storl was an easy winner of the men&rsquo;s shot. The two-time world champion opened with 21.12m and improved to 21.20m in the final round to beat two-time Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski, who threw a season&rsquo;s bet of 20.23m.Germany also scored maximum points in the javelin, won by world champion Christina Obergfoll with 61.69m, and the steeplechase, won by Gesa-Felicitas Krause in 9:46.49, more than 13 seconds ahead of her nearest challenger.Along with Storl and Obergfoll, Pawel Fajdek was another world champion thrower to win. The Pole sent his hammer out to 81.64m, the best mark in this competition since 1987 when the event was known as the European Cup.France had a good first day with four victories on the track and one on the field.Christophe Lemaitre came through strong at the end of the 100m to pass world indoor champion Richard Kilty, winning in 10.26 into a -1.7m/s headwind. Mourad Amdouni won a tactical 5000m in 14:04.63, while Renelle Lamote held off a fast-finishing Joanna Jozwik to win the 800m in 2:00.18. European 4x400m champion Floria Guei won over one lap of the track in 51.55. World silver medallist Melina Robert-Michon won her third successive discus title with 62.24m.British athletes won three of the individual sprint events. 2007 world youth champion Asha Philip battled a -1.7m/s headwind to win the 100m in 11.27. European champion Eilidh Child clocked a European-leading 54.46 to win the 400m hurdles, while Jarryd Dunn was a surprise winner of the 400m, holding on to his early lead to clock a big PB of 45.09.The British men won the 4x100m in 38.21, while Ukraine dominated the women&rsquo;s event to win in 42.50. Both winning times were the fastest at this competition since it changed its name in 2009 to the European Team Championships.Aside from Sofia Ennaoui's 9:20.39 victory in the 3000m, the two other individual track events of the day were won by Russians. European bronze medallist Denis Kudryavtsev smashed his PB to win the 400m hurdles in 48.66 and Valentin Smirnov won a close and tactical 1500m in 3:52.03.It meant the hosts ended the day at the top of the team standings with 187 points. France is currently second with 175.5 with Germany close behind on 172.Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

As expected, host nation Russia leads the team standings at the end of the first day of action at the European Team Championships in Cheboksary with world champion Aleksandr Menkov being one of five Russian winners on Saturday (20).

Russia leads after first day of European Team Championships in Cheboksary

Five men who have won gold medals at the Olympics or IAAF World Championships will line up in the long jump at the ExxonMobil Bislett Games in Oslo on 11 June, the sixth leg of the 2015 IAAF Diamond League.Olympic champion Greg Rutherford will be competing in the Norwegian capital for just the second time, four years after his first appearance. He is coming off the back of one of his best years to date in which he not only won the European and Commonwealth titles but also set a British record of 8.51m.Christian Taylor&rsquo;s Olympic title may be in the triple jump, but he is also an accomplished long jumper and finished third in this event in last year&rsquo;s Diamond Race. The US all-rounder has started 2015 in incredible form, leaping a triple jump PB of 18.04m in Doha and jumping a season&rsquo;s best of 8.18m in the long jump, just one centimetre away from his PB.After missing most of 2014 through injury, world champion Aleksandr Menkov is back in top form. The Russian won at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Shanghai with a leap of 8.27m, his best jump since winning the world title in 2013.African record-holder Godfrey Mokoena won the long jump Diamond Race last year. The 2008 world indoor champion won in Oslo in 2011, the last time the men&rsquo;s long jump was held at the Bislett Games. He competed in the triple jump in Oslo last year before going on to win at the African Championships and Commonwealth Games.Ignisious Gaisah won the world indoor title in 2006, two years before Mokoena&rsquo;s triumph, but the 31-year-old Dutchman is still one of the best jumpers in the world and in 2013 he took the silver medal at the World Championships.World bronze medallist Luis Rivera of Mexico will also be in Oslo, meaning the Bislett Games will feature the three podium finishers from the 2013 World Championships.Others in the field include European indoor champion Michel Torneus, African champion Zarck Visser and European silver medallist Louis Tsatoumas.Organisers for the IAAF2015 IAAF Diamond League calendar Doha, QAT &ndash; 15 May Shanghai, CHN &ndash; 17 May Eugene, USA &ndash; 30 May Rome, ITA &ndash; 4 June Birmingham, GBR &ndash; 7 June Oslo, NOR &ndash; 11 June New York, USA &ndash; 13 June Paris, FRA &ndash; 4 July Lausanne, SUI &ndash; 9 July Monaco, MON &ndash; 17 July London, GBR &ndash; 24-25 July Stockholm, SWE &ndash; 30 July Zurich, SUI &ndash; 3 September Brussels, BEL &ndash; 11 September

Five men who have won gold medals at the Olympics or IAAF World Championships will line up in the long jump at the ExxonMobil Bislett Games in Oslo on 11 June, the sixth leg of the 2015 IAAF Diamond League.

Global champions clash in the long jump in Oslo – IAAF Diamond League

World record holder Anita Wlodarczyk will make her 2015 debut at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in the famous Bird&rsquo;s Nest stadium in the Chinese capital of Beijing on Wednesday (20).Wlodarczyk will clash with China&rsquo;s Zhang Wenxiu, one of her strongest rivals for the gold medal at the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 to be contested in the same stadium later this year. Zhang is also making her season&rsquo;s debut.The hammer will be the second leg of the women&rsquo;s IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge. The women&rsquo;s first competition was in Kawasaki, Japan, just over a week ago on 10 May. The first three from that competition &ndash; Slovakia&rsquo;s Martina Hrasnova, China&rsquo;s Wang Zheng and Canada&rsquo;s Sultana Frizell &nbsp;&ndash; are also in the field for Wednesday night.Wlodarczyk won last year&rsquo;s Hammer Challenge, crowning her efforts with a world record of 79.58m in Berlin.The top two represent something of a contrast. Wlodarczyk was the 2009 world champion and the reigning world and Olympic silver medallist. She has also won the past two European titles.Zhang has also been a model of consistency but has never been able to break through for a big gold medal. She has an Olympic bronze medal from Beijing in 2008, and two World Championships bronzes.She has finished no worse than fifth at seven Olympics or World Championships since Helsinki in 2005.<h3>Could Beijing be the Gong show?</h3> The women&rsquo;s shot put also boasts a strong line-up &ndash; and a potential Chinese winner &ndash; with Gong Lijiao and Christina Schwanitz set to reprise their battle from Shanghai on Sunday in the IAAF Diamond League. Gong came out on top there, reaching a world-leading 20.23m to beat Schwanitz&rsquo;s 19.94m.The men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles is another event which should see a virtual repeat of the Shanghai meeting.World champion David Oliver narrowly beat Orlando Ortega there, 13.17 to 13.19. Both men are lining up again, along with four more of the field from last Sunday: Ronnie Ash, Xie Wenjun, Andre Riley and Ryan Wilson.Xie, in particular, will no doubt keen to atone for his mediocre IAAF Diamond League performance after winning in Beijing last year.<h3>Wang looking for repeat win</h3> Wang Jianan caused something of a sensation last year when, still three months short of this 18th birthday, he won the long jump ahead of his better-known compatriots Li Jinzhe and Huang Changzhou.Wang, who turns 19 during the World Championships this coming August, will obviously be out to win again this year, and an 8.25m Asian junior record for third in Shanghai suggests he is not without a chance of a repeat victory.However, it will be tougher this time. For a start, the two ahead of him on Sunday, world champion Aleksandr Menkov and world leader Jeff Henderson, are on the entry list again, while Li will also be looking to bounce back from his Shanghai performance. Li jumped 8.21m but may feel a bigger distance got away as he also had two big jumps which were fouls.<h3>Ahye and Campbell-Brown in women&rsquo;s sprints</h3> The women&rsquo;s sprints look strong, though the talent is split across the 100m and 200m.Michelle Lee Ahye has gone under 11 seconds already this year and was third in Shanghai behind Blessing Okagbare and Tori Bowie. With neither of the first two coming on to Beijing and Veronica Campbell-Brown opting for the 200m, she looks to have the race here at her mercy.Perhaps with good conditions, which are the norm in the Bird's Nest, Ahye will again be under 11 again.Campbell-Brown goes up against Caribbean opposition from her Jamaican compatriots Schillonie Calvert and Aleen Bailey as well as Porscha Lucas and Kaylin Whitney from the USA.The women&rsquo;s 1500m in Doha last Friday was the quickest outdoors in the world so far this year. Thus, Ukraine&rsquo;s Anna Mishchenko is the fourth-fastest in the world for 2015 at 4:01.95. Two others who competed in Beijing &ndash; Luiza Gega and Malika Akkaoui &ndash; are also in Wednesday&rsquo;s field, along with Ekaterina Kupina, Marina Pospelova, Rababe Arafi, Susan Kuijken and Nikki Hamblin.Paul Kipsiele Koech gave gallant chase to Jairus Birech in the 3000m steeplechase in Shanghai on Sunday and is back for another race over the barriers in Beijing.South Africa&rsquo;s Wenda Nel, who held the world lead at 54.90 before last weekend, is the fastest on current times in the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, with Bahrain&rsquo;s Kemi Adekoya and USA&rsquo;s Tiffany Williams also running.Justin Gatlin was due to chase his third third successive 100m win at this meeting but, after arriving in Beijing, was a late withdrawal as a precaution after suffering from cramping in a hamstring after his win in Doha on Friday.Len Johnson for the IAAF

World record holder Anita Wlodarczyk will make her 2015 debut at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in the famous Bird’s Nest stadium in the Chinese capital of Beijing on Wednesday (20).

Clash of the women’s hammer titans in Beijing

Both the women&rsquo;s 100m and the men&rsquo;s long jump were billed as loaded events in the lead-up to the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Shanghai on Sunday (17).Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, no less, said that the 100m line-up &ldquo;compares to the final you&rsquo;re likely to get in (Beijing) 2015.&rdquo;Li Jinzhe, one of China&rsquo;s great hopes for Beijing and Rio 2016, echoed such thoughts about the long jump.&ldquo;You can regard this as a final of a World Championships,&rdquo; he said.In that case, Blessing Okagbare and Aleksandr Menkov can regard themselves as putative world champions, having taken the wins on the night.Okagbare did it easily, beating last year&rsquo;s world leader Tori Bowie by almost a metre, 10.98 to 11.07. Fraser-Pryce trailed home in fifth place.In a result worth of any final, Menkov took a much closer long jump competition in which the first four men were within six centimetres, the first three within two.Menkov&rsquo;s winning distance was 8.27m, his best jump since winning the world title in 2013. World leader Jeff Henderson jumped 8.26m and 18-year-old Wang Jianan was third with an Asian junior record of 8.25m. World indoor silver medallist Li finished &lsquo;all the way back&rsquo; in fourth place with 8.21m.&ldquo;My race was pretty good,&rdquo; Okagbare said. &ldquo;It is not easy to compete with the best of the world &ndash; but I won. I focused on my start. Normally I don&rsquo;t have the best start, but now I was leading from the beginning.&rdquo;Fraser-Pryce was not overly concerned with her 11.25 opener.&ldquo;It was one of those races,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I have time to get it right.&rdquo;Asked if she wold now have her work cut out in defending her title in Beijing later in the year, Fraser-Pryce said: &ldquo;I always have my work cut out. No one hands anything to you.&rdquo;Henderson led the men&rsquo;s long jump from the first round to the fifth, his 8.26m coming on his first attempt. Menkov worked his way into contention, his winning jump coming in the fifth round. Both Chinese jumpers had their best efforts in the fourth round in a competition that swung any number of ways.Olympic champion Greg Rutherford finished seventh with 8.05m on his first-round attempt, his lowest placing in a final since July 2012. The remainder of his series was four fouls and a run-through 6.52m.Caterine Ibarguen led the women&rsquo;s triple jump from start to finish, showing remarkable consistency early in unpredictable wind conditions &ndash; 14.68m, 14.70m, 14.68m and 14.71m on her first four jumps, before nearing her world lead with 14.85m in the fifth round.Olga Saladukha closed with a 14.62m to take second place and Olga Rypakova produced a 14.38m for third.Lu Huihui made it two home wins on the night, taking the women&rsquo;s javelin with a meeting record of 64.08m. Sunette Viljoen beat Kim Mickle for second place on second-best throw after both had a best effort of 63.60m.Returning world champion Christina Obergfoll, having her first competition since the birth last year of her first child, was sixth with a best distance of 62.08m.Another world champion, Eunice Sum of Kenya, won the 800m in 2:00.28, some four metres clear of Malika Akkaoui and Janeth Jepkosgei.The cool conditions may have impacted on times in the men&rsquo;s 400m but there was no denying the class of Kirani James. The Olympic champion won easily in 44.66 from Tony McQuay (45.54) and world champion LaShawn Merritt (45.58).Piotr Malachowski, having his first competition of the year, took a long time to shake off the cobwebs in the discus. But he finally got it together on his sixth and final throw, producing a 64.65m effort which took him past Polish team-mate Robert Urbanek who had led since the second round with 64.47m.&ldquo;I am very happy with my first competition,&rdquo; said Malachowski. &ldquo;But 64 metres is very bad for me. I will need to throw farther this year.&rdquo;Len Johnson for the IAAF

Both the women’s 100m and the men’s long jump were billed as loaded events in the lead-up to the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Shanghai on Sunday (17).

Okagbare and Menkov top loaded fields in Shanghai – IAAF Diamond League

A total of 19 global champions will compete in Lausanne’s Pontaise Stadium on 3 July at the 39th edition of Athletissima, one of two IAAF Diamond League meetings in Switzerland.Olympic long jump champion and world leader Greg Rutherford will need to bring his A-game in order to win against the top three finishers from last year’s IAAF World Championships, Aleksandr Menkov, Ignisious Gaisah and Luis Rivera.The women’s javelin will feature the three best performers of the year: two-time Olympic champion Barbora Spotakova, world leader Linda Stahl and world silver medallist Kim Mickle.Elsewhere in the field events, world-leading discus thrower Piotr Malachowski and world triple jump champion Caterine Ibarguen will be the favourites in their respective disciplines.They will all join the star athletes who have been previously announced, including high jumpers Bohdan Bondarenko, Mutaz Essa Barshim, Ivan Ukhov and Derek Drouin, pole vault world record-holder Renaud Lavillenie, and shot put legend Valerie Adams.There are several fantastic head-to-head clashes on the track, too. A fast time is expected in the 400m as Kirani James and LaShawn Merritt will face each other for the third time this year. In their most recent race, both clocked sub-44-second times as James finished just a few thousandths of a second ahead of Merritt.In the 200m, Yohan Blake will be up against fellow Jamaican Nickel Ashmeade and Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre, while in the 100m Justin Gatlin, undefeated this year so far, will try to retain his invincibility against Tyson Gay and Jimmy Vicaut.Olympic champion Taoufik Makhloufi faces Rome IAAF Diamond League winner Silas Kiplagat in the 1500m, and in the 3000m steeplechase 2008 Olympic champion Brimin Kipruto will fight for the victory against long-time rival Paul Kipsiele Koech.The men’s hurdles races will be just as exciting and they both feature the two fastest performers in the world this year. World leader Pascal Martinot-Lagarde will take on Olympic bronze medallist Hansle Parchment in the 110m hurdles, and two-time world silver medallist Javier Culson will be up against world and Olympic silver medallist Michael Tinsley in the 400m hurdles.World indoor champion and world indoor record-holder Genzebe Dibaba will be in action over 3000m. Kenya’s world 800m champion Eunice Sum will aim to extend her winning streak in her specialist event, while Veronica Campbell-Brown will be out to win the 100m for the first time in Lausanne.With European Championships selection on the line, the main Athletissima programme has never featured as many Swiss athletes as this year. They will be led by 400m hurdler Kariem Hussein, world indoor 800m finalist Selina Buchel and 100m national record-holder Mujinga Kambundji.Organisers for the IAAF2014 IAAF Diamond League calendarDoha, QAT – 9 May Shanghai, CHN – 18 May Eugene, USA – 31 May Rome, ITA – 5 Jun Oslo, NOR – 11 Jun New York, USA – 14 Jun Lausanne, SUI – 3 Jul Paris, FRA – 5 Jul Glasgow, GBR – 11-12 Jul Monaco, MON – 18 Jul Stockholm, SWE – 21 Aug Birmingham, GBR – 24 Aug Zurich, SUI – 28 Aug Brussels, BEL – 5 Sep

A total of 19 global champions will compete in Lausanne’s Pontaise Stadium on 3 July at the 39th edition of Athletissima, one of two IAAF Diamond League meetings in Switzerland.

More global stars added to Lausanne’s competitive line-up – IAAF Diamond League

Next up to take our work, rest and play questions is world long jump champion Aleksandr Menkov.The Russian will get his IAAF Diamond League campaign underway at the next meeting in the series in Lausanne on 3 July.<hr />ALEKSANDR AT WORK What is your favourite training session?AM: I don't know, what is an unloved training session? I know I have to work hard to achieve results. Who is your favourite training partner?AM: At the moment I have no partner. Previously, it was my brother, Vladimir (a 2.18m high jumper and 7.74m long jumper). We often trained together. Where is your favourite training venue?AM: I like to train in Sochi, but the best place is Krasnoyarsk. I like to be at home near family. What is the worst thing about being an athlete?AM: Having to leave my family for a long time.<hr />ALEKSANDR AT REST What is your favourite music to chill to?AM: I love Russian folk songs. Describe your perfect day without training.AM: I would be pleased to play a game of billiards. What is your favourite stress reliever?AM: I try not to think about the thing that is stressing me. If I forget that there is some sort of problem, it helps me. If you could pick one other athlete in the world with whom to relax, who would it be?AM: I can't say with whom and where. I would like to be with my family on a warm island. Where is your favourite place to relax?AM: My home town of Minusinsk. What TV shows do you like to relax to?AM: I love to just watch something easy that does not induce deep thoughts.<hr />ALEKSANDR AT PLAY When and why did your passion for Russian Billiards start?AM: It was during a training camp at Sochi when I was introduced to the sport. I immediately liked it and started to play more. For those who don&rsquo;t know, what is Russian billiards?AM: It's the same as an American pool, just that the pockets are narrower and the balls are larger. Do you have a Russian billiards table at home and how often do you play?AM: No, to have a table at home would be a dream. I don't play often, usually only during a training camp. What is the best aspect to your Russian billiards game?AM: I've never seen myself, so I don't even know. Which track and field athlete, other than you, would make the best Russian billiards player?AM: I play with Aleksandr Petrov, he is long jumper too (he has a PB of 8.20m and represented Russia at the 2012 Olympics). I often play with him and we are quite evenly matched. Steve Landells for the IAAF

Next up to take our work, rest and play questions is world long jump champion Aleksandr Menkov.

Work, rest and play – Aleksandr Menkov

The qualifying distance was set at 8.05m and the first man to nail it was not one of the fancied pre-championship medal contenders but a man who instantly catapulted himself into local athletics folklore: Adrian Strzalkowski. Strzalkowski had not ventured beyond eight metres before but with his first-round effort, the 23-year-old Pole uncorked a stunning 8.18m.<o:p></o:p>It drew a huge roar from the home crowd in the Ergo Arena, and understandably so. It represented a national indoor record as well as a 22cm improvement for Strzalkowski, the 2013 Francophone Games champion.<o:p></o:p>Not until the third and final round did a second automatic qualifier emerge. Christian Reif, the 2010 European champion from Germany, uncorked an 8.13m, just two centimetres short of his indoor personal best.<o:p></o:p>With that, the floodgates opened somewhat. Greece’s Louis Tsatoumas jumped 8.10m then China’s Li Jinzhe and Sweden’s Michel Torneus leapt 8.08m.<o:p></o:p>The other three men in Saturday’s will include Russia’s world champion Aleksandr Menkov, who settled for an opening round of 8.04m and then declined to take another attempt,<o:p></o:p>Menkov heads the 2014 world indoor lists with 8.30m. Brazil’s defending champion Mauro Da Silva and Mexico’s world bronze medallist Luis Rivera complete the finalists.USA's Tyron Stewart and Zimbabwe's US-based Ngonidzashe Makusha have both jumped well beyond eight metres this year but that sort of form deserted them in Sopot and they failed to make the final.Simon Turnbull for the IAAF<o:p></o:p>

The qualifying distance was set at 8.05m and the first man to nail it was not one of the fancied pre-championship medal contenders but a man who instantly catapulted himself into local athletics folklore: Adrian Strzalkowski.

Report: men's long jump qualifying – Sopot 2014

With just two days to go to the start of the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships in the Polish city of Sopot which will be held between 7-9 March, the IAAF website editorial team have put the spotlight on some of the top athletes in action this weekend in the men's events&nbsp;at the ERGO Arena. <o:p></o:p>Please note that this preview is based on entry information received by the IAAF but before the official start lists have been decided.<o:p></o:p>60m<o:p></o:p>In the absence of the injured James Dasaolu and Jimmy Vicaut, the emerging young US sprinter Marvin Bracy heads to Sopot bearing the mantle of favourite. The 20-year-old won the US title at high altitude in Albuquerque in 6.48 and boasts a 6.50 best at sea level, courtesy of his Millrose Games victory.<o:p></o:p>Other likely contenders include Trell Kimmons, who finished just 0.01 down on Bracy in the US Championships final, St Kitts and Nevis’ Jason Rogers, Qatar’s Femi Ogunode, Jamaican Nesta Carter and Great Britain’s Dwain Chambers, the latter pair respectively second and third in Istanbul two years ago.<o:p></o:p>400m<o:p></o:p>Lalonde Gordon, the Olympic bronze medallist from Trinidad and Tobago, is by far the fastest man among the entrants having run 45.17 this winter.<o:p></o:p>Dominican Republic’s Olympic silver medallist Luguelin Santos and Costa Rica’s 2012 World Indoor Championships winner Nery Brenes are also in the field but next quickest on season’s bests are the one-two from the US Championships, Kyle Clemons and David Verburg.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p>Czech Republic’s reigning European champion, indoors and outdoors, Pavel Maslek and Great Britain’s Nigel Levine should also feature.<o:p></o:p>800m<o:p></o:p>A re-run of last year’s 2013 IAAF World Championships is a possibility, with four of the top five finishers from the Moscow final having been entered. <o:p></o:p>On that occasion, the USA’s Nick Symmonds got closest to Mohammed Aman, the prodigious Ethiopian who will be defending the crown he won as a junior in Istanbul in 2012. <o:p></o:p>Aman will start as clear favourite in Sopot after running an African record of 1:44.52 in Birmingham. The in-form South African Andre Olivier, the Polish pair of two-time European indoor champion Adam Kszczot and Marcin Lewandowski, Spain’s Kevin Lopez and Britain’s Andrew Osagie have all also been running well and so it will be a battle just to make the final.<o:p></o:p>1500m<o:p></o:p>This promises to be one of the most open of the men’s events. All three medal winners from Istanbul two years ago are back again: Morocco’s Abdalaati Iguider, Turkey’s Ilham Tanui Ozbilen and Ethiopia’s Mekonnen Gebremedhin.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p>The field also includes Djibouti's world 800m bronze medallist Ayanleh Souleiman who, despite his Moscow accolade, prefers the longer distance. <o:p></o:p>Others likely to be in the mix are Mohamed Moustaoui, the Moroccan who heads the 2014 world list with a hand-timed 3:35.0, the Kenyan pair of Bethwell Birgin and Silas Kiplagat and USA's Will Leer, the bearded winner of last month’s Wanamaker Mile in a world-leading 3:52.47 for the imperial distance.<o:p></o:p>3000m<o:p></o:p>A place in the record books beckons Bernard Lagat. A fourth gold medal in the event would put the Peter Pan of the track one victory ahead of Haile Gebrselassie in the all-time annals of the World Indoor Championships.<o:p></o:p>The trouble for the 39-year-old US champion is that he faces a formidable rival who just happens to be his junior by 20 years. Hagos Gebrhiwet, the world 5000m silver medallist, has been untouchable on the boards this winter. Fellow Ethiopian Dejen Gebremeskel and USA’s Galen Rupp also have major championship medal pedigree and so there should be an enthralling battle for the medals.<o:p></o:p>60m hurdles<o:p></o:p>With a trio of sub-7.50 times to his name in 2014, and a best of 7.45, Pascal Martinot-Lagarde starts as favourite. The young Frenchman sneaked on to the podium alongside Aries Merritt and Liu Xiang in Istanbul two years ago and promises to become his country’s first fully-fledged golden boy in the event, although Stephane Caristan prevailed in Paris in 1985 in the forerunner of the World Indoor Championships, the World Indoor Games.<o:p></o:p>Martinot-Lagarde’s team-mate Garfield Darien is the second quickest on the 2014 season’s list of the men who will be in Sopot, boasting a 2014 best of 7.53 but European outdoor champion Sergey Shubenkov is likely to be a big threat. US champion Omo Osaghae will be at his first major international championship and will be looking to make a big impression as well.<o:p></o:p>High jump<o:p></o:p>Ivan Ukhov has been a man on a mission in the wake of his failure to make the podium on home ground at the World Championships in Moscow last August. <o:p></o:p>The Olympic champion heads to Sopot unbeaten this winter and on the back of a European record-equalling 2.42m clearance in Prague last week and his sights are on Javier Sotomayor’s global indoor mark of 2.43m as well as the gold medal.<o:p></o:p>Fellow 2012 Olympic medallist Mutaz Essa Barshim, from Qatar, has been in fine form recently and won the Asian indoor title with 2.36m while USA’s 2012 Olympic silver medallist Erik Kynard has won five of his six outings this winter and set a personal best of 2.34m when winning in Birmingham. Italy’s Marco Fassinotti has also been showing potential podium form with an Italian record of 2.34m last month.<o:p></o:p>Pole vault<o:p></o:p>An ill-timed injury after his world indoor record of 6.16m in Donetsk means that France’s Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie is not able to defend his title won in Istanbul. Raphael Holzdeppe and Bjorn Otto, the Germans who joined the French star on the podium at the World Championships last year as well as at the Olympic Games and European Championships in 2012, will also be missing from Sopot.<o:p></o:p>So who can grasp the hand of opportunity? Malte Mohr is the most likely candidate. The German cleared 5.84m to win his national title in Leipzig just over a week ago and then improved to an indoor PB of 5.90m in Berlin on Saturday. Home hope Pawel Wojciechowski, the 2011 world outdoor champion, is finally regaining form following injury. Look out also for Luke Cutts, the new British record-holder with a mark of 5.83m, and Brazil’s rapidly improving 2012 world junior champion Thiago Braz.<o:p></o:p>Long jump<o:p></o:p>A winner at the Russian Winter meeting with 8.30m and in Birmingham with 8.14m, 2013 world champion Aleksandr Menkov heads to Sopot as the man to beat. <o:p></o:p>The Russian faces the two men who finished behind him in the medal frame in Moscow last August, the Netherlands’ Ignisious Gaisah and Mexico’s Luis Rivera, as well as the two men directly behind him on the 2014 world list, Greece’s Louis Tsatoumas and US champion Tyron Stewart.<o:p></o:p>China’s Jinzhe Li – guided by Mike Powell’s old coach, Randy Huntington – could be a threat, while Panama's 2008 Olympic champion Irving Saladino and Brazil’s 2012 world indoor champion Mauro Vinicius da Silva are also in the field.<o:p></o:p>Triple jump<o:p></o:p>Pedro Pablo Pichardo heads the world lists indoors and outdoors, having followed his outdoor effort of 17.76m in Havana early last month with 17.32m on his indoor debut in Prague last week.<o:p></o:p>The 20-year-old took the silver medal behind Teddy Tamgho in Moscow last summer and starts as the strong favourite.<o:p></o:p>Fellow Cuban Ernesto Reve jumped 17.05m in Prague and looks a likely medal contender, together with Romania’s Marian Oprea, US champion Chris Carter and Russia’s Lyukman Adams.<o:p></o:p>Shot<o:p></o:p>Defending champion Ryan Whiting uncorked a stunning 22.23m to win the US title and will have high hopes of matching the gold he won in Istanbul two years ago. His US team-mate Kurt Roberts, with 21.50m, and Germany’s two-time world outdoor champion David Storl are next on the 2014 world list.<o:p></o:p>However, home advantage could help Tomasz Majewski. The two-time Olympic champion has already been in winning form in the ERGO Arena, having thrown a season’s best of 20.70m to win the Polish title.<o:p></o:p>Heptathlon<o:p></o:p>There is only one favourite in the heptathlon. Ashton Eaton’s last three outings in this event have ended in a world record and although there might not be a fourth straight superlative, it is difficult to believe that someone could beat him.<o:p></o:p>The 26-year-old comes to Sopot as the reigning Olympic, world and world indoor champion in combined events competitions and the world indoor-record holder with 6645 from Istanbul two years ago.<o:p></o:p>Other medal contenders should be the Netherlands’ 2014 world indoor leader and reigning European indoor champion Eelco Sintnicolaas and 2011 European indoor champion Andrei Krauchanka from Belarus.<o:p></o:p>Canada’s Damian Warner will be starting his first career heptathlon and is surely looking for a top-three finish as well. The world decathlon bronze medallist has already set a 7.69 personal best in the 60m hurdles this season.<o:p></o:p>4x400m relay<o:p></o:p>Two months before the inaugural IAAF World Relays go to Nassau, The Bahamas will be looking to strike global gold in Sopot.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p>They have three members of the quartet that upset the USA to win the London 2012 Olympic Games gold – Chris Brown, Michael Mathieu and Ramon Miller – in their squad.The USA, Trinidad and Tobago, Russia, Great Britain and Jamaica are the other likely contenders in the race for the medals.<o:p></o:p>Simon Turnbull for the IAAF (with Mirko Jalava providing the heptathlon preview)<o:p></o:p>

With just two days to go to the start of the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships in the Polish city of Sopot, which will be held between 7-9 March, the IAAF website editorial team have put the spotlight on some of the highlights expected this weekend in the men's events.

Men's events preview – IAAF World Indoor Championships Sopot 2014

There is just one week to go before the starting gun is fired on the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships, which will be held in the Polish city of Sopot between 7-9 March.<o:p></o:p>With no global outdoor championship this year, this is the most important event on the 2014 athletics calendar.<o:p></o:p>Already this winter there have been some spectacular indoor performances to get the appetite whetted for the three days of action that are on the menu.<o:p></o:p>Ethiopian middle distance runner Genzebe Dibaba and French pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie have set world indoor records*. <o:p></o:p>Earlier this week, Russia’s London 2012 Olympic Games high jump champion Ivan Ukhov continued his 2014 unbeaten winning streak and leapt 2.42m to equal the second best indoor mark ever.<o:p></o:p>Dibaba and Ukhov will both be in action in Sopot’s ERGO Arena and only an ill-timed heel injury has prevented Lavillenie from defending the global title he won two years ago in Istanbul.<o:p></o:p>There will be 26 sets of medals on offer in Sopot and the list of individual gold medallists at the 2013 IAAF World Championships outdoors last summer who will be bidding to add honours under cover to their list of accolades includes (in alphabetical order): Valerie Adams, Mohammed Aman, Abeba Aregawi, Ashton Eaton, Hanna Melnychenko, Aleksandr Menkov, Christine Ohuruogu and David Storl.<o:p></o:p>Almost 600 athletes will be in Sopot and the current list of nations that will be represented number 143, which makes the forthcoming Championships one of the largest in the 29-year history of the event, which stretches back to 1985 when what was then called the World Indoor Games had what now seems a modest 319 athletes from 69 nations competing. <o:p></o:p>Complete entry lists and full details of entries will be available next week on the IAAF website&nbsp;ahead of the Championships.<o:p></o:p>The IAAF World Indoor Championships are the first of the five 2014 IAAF World Athletics Series events, and this year also sees the inaugural edition of the IAAF World Relays.<o:p></o:p>IAAF<o:p></o:p>* subject to ratification<o:p></o:p>

There is just one week to go before the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships, which will be held in the Polish city of Sopot between 7-9 March.

One week to go before the gun goes for Sopot 

Olympic high jump champion Ivan Ukhov is part of a 37-strong Russian team heading to Sopot next month for the IAAF World Indoor Championships on 7-9 March.After taking world indoor bronze in Istanbul two years ago, Ukhov will be looking to regain the title he won in 2010. He has been in outstanding form this year, leaping a world-leading 2.41m in Chelyabinsk last month, followed three weeks later with a 2.40m victory in Arnstadt.But European indoor champion Aleksey Dmitrik, who also cleared 2.40m in Arnstadt, did not gain selection after finishing fourth at the Russian Indoor Championships. Instead, the second place on the team went to the up-and-coming Daniil Tsyplakov, who set a PB of 2.34m to qualify for the team.World champion Aleksandr Menkov is named in the long jump, while world-leading jumpers Maria Kuchina, Svetlana Biryukova and Yekaterina Koneva lead the way in the high jump, long jump and triple jump respectively.Medal hopes in the track events are carried by world-leading 400m runner Kseniya Ryzhova and European sprint hurdles champion Sergey Shubenkov.ARAF and Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF<hr />Russian team for SopotMEN 400m: Lev Mosin 800m: Stepan Poistogov 60m hurdles: Konstantin Shabanov, Sergey Shubenkov High jump: Daniil Tsyplakov, Ivan Ukhov Long jump: Aleksandr Menkov Shot: Aleksandr Lesnoy, Maksim Sidorov 4x400m: Aleksandr Khyutte, Vladimir Krasnov, Denis Kudryavtsev, Lev Mosin, Konstantin Petryashov, Roman SemakinWOMEN 400m: Kseniya Ryzhova 800m: Yekaterina Kupina, Anna Shchagina 1500m: Svetlana Karamasheva 3000m: Natalya Aristarkhova, Yelena Korobkina 60m hurdles: Yekaterina Galitskaya, Yuliya Kondakova High jump: Irina Gordeyeva, Maria Kuchina Pole vault: Anastasiya Savchenko, Anzhelika Sidorova Long jump: Svetlana Biryukova, Darya Klishina Triple jump: Yekaterina Koneva, Veronika Mosina Shot: Yevgeniya Kolodko, Irina Tarasova 4x400m: Irina Davydova, Alena Tamkova, Yuliya Terekhova, Olga Tovarnova, Kseniya Ryzhova, Tatiana Veshkurova

Olympic high jump champion Ivan Ukhov is part of a 37-strong Russian team heading to Sopot next month for the IAAF World Indoor Championships on 7-9 March.

Ukhov leads Russian team for Sopot – IAAF World Indoor Championships

Genzebe Dibaba will go for her third world record in a 14 days when she runs over two miles at the Sainsbury&rsquo;s Indoor Grand Prix, the final IAAF Indoor Permit meeting this winter, in Birmingham on Saturday (15).The Ethiopian, who has smashed the 1500m and 3000m world records in the past two weeks, is one of a host of global medallists on the bill at the National Indoor Arena, the venue for the 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships.Having taken more than three seconds from the 1500m record in Karlsruhe and then six off the 3000m mark in Stockholm last week, Dibaba is now targeting Meseret Defar&rsquo;s figures of 9:06.26, set five years ago in Prague by her compatriot and two-time Olympic 5000m champion.Dibaba, the world indoor 1500m champion, will have her fellow Ethiopians Hiwot Ayalew and Sentayehu Ejigu for company as she looks to end a six-year wait for a world record at the NIA and become the most prolific indoor record breaker in her family.Dibaba has never run over two miles, indoors or outdoors, but the family record is held by her older sister Tirunesh, who ran 9:12.23 on the NIA track four years ago for the third fastest performance ever behind two outings by Defar. Ahoure looks to upstage Fraser-Pryce againWorld champions Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, David Oliver, Mohamed Aman and 
Aleksandr Menkov are just a few, but perhaps the most prominent, of the 
other stars on show.Like Dibaba, Murielle Ahoure may have world record figures on her mind too, but the US-based Ivory Coast sprinter will be up against two-time Olympic 100m champion Fraser-Pryce as they go head-to-head in the women&rsquo;s 60m.Ahoure got the better of her Jamaican rival in Birmingham last year when she clocked 6.99 to become the seventh quickest of all time. Irina Privalova set the world record of 6.92 back in 1993, but Ahoure has been in good form again this season, running 7.03 in Houston on 1 February to lead the world list.Fraser-Pryce made her indoor debut at this meeting a year ago and has set her sights on a World Indoor Championships gold medal in the Polish city of Sopot next month. She ran 7.11 outdoors at a specially arranged race in Kingston last month and will be looking for an improvement here.British champion Asha Philip could also be a threat as she targets the national record of 7.08. Philip was just 0.01 outside that in Sheffield last weekend, which puts her second on the world list.There&rsquo;s another tasty clash in the men&rsquo;s 60m hurdles where world champion Oliver makes his season debut against his fellow US hurdler Aries Merritt, the Olympic champion and world record-holder at the 110m hurdles outdoors.The talented French pair of Pascal Martinot Lagarde and Garfield Darien will provide an extra edge. They currently rank first and third in the world this year.Britain&rsquo;s dead-heating national champions Andrew Pozzi and Wiliam Sharman provide the domestic interest along with 2011 world bronze medallist Andy Turner, who is making a long-awaited return from injury.Dasaolu looking for a fast dashAnother British champion, James Dasaolu, will hope to cement his growing reputation in the men&rsquo;s 60m. Having picked up a European indoor silver last year, Dasaolu lies second in the world this year after clocking 6.50 twice. He&rsquo;ll also face a brace of Frenchmen in Christophe Lemaitre, the 2011 world 200m bronze medallist, and Jimmy Vicaut, the man who beat him to the European title in Gothenburg last year. St Kitts' 2003 world 100m champion Kim Collins, USA&rsquo;s 2010 world indoor silver medallist Mike Rodgers and Jamaica&rsquo;s Nesta Carter should also be in the mix.Dibaba won&rsquo;t be the only in-form Ethiopian on display as world leader Aman heads an 800m field that also includes Poland&rsquo;s two-time European indoor champion Adam Kszczot and Britain&rsquo;s Andrew Osagie, the world indoor bronze medallist.The Ethiopian duo Hagos Gebrhiwet and Dejen Gebremeskel are set for a re-run of their duel last weekend in Boston over the 3000m, an event which also features Ethiopia&rsquo;s Yenew Alamirew and Kenya&rsquo;s Augustine Choge, while Ethiopia&rsquo;s Mekonnen Gebremedhin takes on Kenyan trio of Silas Kiplagat, Nixon Chepseba and Bethwell Birgen in the 1500m.The men&rsquo;s long jump could be the pick of the field event action with Menkov looking to continue his dominance of the event against the two men who finished immediately behind him at the 2013 World Championships: the Netherlands&rsquo; Ignisious Gaisah and Mexico&rsquo;s Luis Rivera. Menkov leads the world this year with 8.30m from the recent Russian Winter meeting in Moscow and will be looking for another solid performance in Britain&rsquo;s second city as he gears up for a bid to add world indoor gold to his outdoor title.China&rsquo;s Li Jinzhe and Australia&rsquo;s 2010 world indoor champion Fabrice Lapierre are also in the line-up, while Britain&rsquo;s Olympic champion Greg Rutherford will make his only indoor appearance of the season after having pulled out of the Glasgow International with injury last month.Holly Bleasdale will be keen to regain the lead in the pole vault rankings after she held top spot for less than a day last weekend. The in-form Briton will face Cuba&rsquo;s Olympic silver medallist, Yarisley Silva, and the new Slovenian record-holder, Tina Sutej.Dominican Republic&rsquo;s Olympic silver medallist Luguel&iacute;n Santos takes on Chris Brown of The Bahamas over two laps after lowering his 400m national record to 45.89 in Stockholm last week.Hellen Obiri will be favourite in the women&rsquo;s 1500m, while the 800m is set to be a battle between Ukraine&rsquo;s Nataliya Lupu and Great Britain&rsquo;s 2010 world indoor silver medallist Jenny Meadows.Germany&rsquo;s world leader Nadine Hildebrand races Great Britain&rsquo;s world indoor silver medallist Tiffany Porter and USA&rsquo;s Kellie Wells in the women&rsquo;s 60m hurdles.&nbsp; Matthew Brown for the IAAF

Genzebe Dibaba will go for her third world record in a 14 days when she runs over two miles at the Sainsbury’s Indoor Grand Prix, the final IAAF Indoor Permit meeting this winter, in Birmingham on Saturday (15).