Anita Wlodarczyk will start as the overwhelming favourite to add the one title missing from her bulging CV as the Polish colossus looks to further cement her legacy.
The formidable 30-year-old world record-holder, who also owns a pair of world titles and a hat-trick of European crowns, is indisputably the finest female hammer thrower of her generation and, probably, the greatest ever.
For all her outstanding levels of success, she has yet to climb the summit at an Olympic Games after taking silver in London four years ago, but it is difficult to see anyone other than the Pole&nbsp;&ndash; who has racked up 28 straight wins stretching back to June 2014&nbsp;&ndash; from sweeping to gold at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
She comfortably leads the world list with a monster 80.26m effort &ndash; the third longest throw of all time &ndash; and is almost four metres ahead of the chasing pack.
The best of the rest would appear to be former world record-holder Betty Heidler and China&rsquo;s Zhang Wenxiu, the 2008 Olympic bronze medallist.
The experienced Heidler may be a little shy of her absolute best this season but the 32-year-old German still boasts a highly respectable season&rsquo;s best of 75.77m and secured silver behind Wlodarczyk at the European Championships last month.
The 30-year-old Zhang has also grabbed four World Championships medals (one silver, three bronze) during a distinguished career. Although she has opted to only throw domestically so far this year, a season&rsquo;s best of 75.58m marks her out as a serious podium candidate once again.
Zhang&rsquo;s teammate Zheng Wang has been knocking on the door of a medal with fourth and fifth-place finishes at each of the past two World Championships. With an impressive season&rsquo;s best of 74.50m, she too could threaten.
After a breakthrough campaign last year, world bronze medallist Alexandra Tavernier has struggled to repeat her form of 2015. The French champion had three fouls in qualifying at the European Championships last month and her season&rsquo;s best stands at relatively modest 72.16m, but should she rediscover her top form, she could be a contender.&nbsp;
<h3>Skydan aims to make a little history</h3>
European bronze medallist Hanna Skydan has emerged as a rising force this year and should also be taken into consideration. The 24-year-old World University Games champion has set a pair of Azerbaijani records this year, nudging her PB up to 73.87m, and will be looking to become the first Azerbaijani athlete to win an Olympic medal since the break up of the Soviet Union.
Another to watch is 2015 World Championships fourth-place finisher Sophie Hitchon. The fast-spinning Briton is two metres down on her lifetime best this year &ndash; with a longest throw of 71.86m &ndash; but if she can find her groove, the 25-year-old can feature in Rio.
The three-strong US challenge is led by 35-year-old Amber Campbell, who will be making her third Olympic appearance and is clearly in the form of her life after setting a lifetime best of 74.03m to clinch the US title.
She is joined in Rio by US teammate DeAnna Price and Gwen Berry, with both having matching season's best marks of 73.09m.
The hugely experienced German Kathrin Klaas, who finished fifth in London, is some way down from her vintage best but is capable of a prominent showing.
Also present in Rio will be Slovakia&rsquo;s 2009 world bronze medallist Martina Hrasnova (season's best of 72.34m) and Moldova&rsquo;s Zalina Marghieva (74.21m), a fifth-place finisher at last month&rsquo;s European Championships.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Steve Landells for the IAAF&nbsp;

Anita Wlodarczyk will start as the overwhelming favourite to add the one title missing from her bulging CV as the Polish colossus looks to further cement her legacy.

Preview: women's hammer – Rio 2016 Olympic Games

The weather may have been unpredictable, but Germany&rsquo;s leading Olympic medal hopes turned in a consistent series of classy performances at their national championships in Kassel over the weekend (18-19).
It was unsurprisingly that it was the throwing events which served up the best contests inside the Auestadion, with team selectors for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and upcoming European Championships left, in their own words, selectors with a &ldquo;luxury problem&rdquo;.
On Saturday, the men&rsquo;s javelin certainly promised headaches for the selectors, with German throwers occupying three spots in the global top 10, topped by Thomas Rohler&rsquo;s world-leading mark of 89.30m.
With an opening effort of 83.71m, Rohler virtually ensured victory, but behind him the podium spaces were hotly contested.&nbsp;After two rounds, four athletes had gone beyond the 80-metre mark, with Andreas Hofmann leading the pursuit.
However Rohler, the 2014 IAAF Diamond Race winner, didn&rsquo;t leave anything to chance and hurled his implement an impressive 86.81m in the second round, the longest throw of the day.&nbsp;
It proved vital as Julian Weber, who had entered the competition with a personal best of 82.69m, improved to 83.73m to move into second. Andreas Hoffman&rsquo;s best of 81.98m secured him bronze.
&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t easy today, but that is the javelin,&rdquo; said Rohler. &ldquo;I think my experience in competitions helped a lot and I threw every attempt differently. You&rsquo;ve got to dip into various options and discuss things with your coach. Of course 90 metres is my main motivation right now.&rdquo;
<h3>Harting brothers dominate the discus</h3>
On Sunday the 'luxury problem' continued in the men&rsquo;s discus and the women&rsquo;s javelin.
Every German title in the men&rsquo;s discus since 2007 has been won by a Harting &ndash; eight of them by three-time world champion Robert, one by his younger brother Christoph, who led the field based on season&rsquo;s bests.
As the crowds gathered in the stadium corner near&nbsp;the discus cage, the throwers, of which five had already surpassed the Olympic A standard, began their quest for the three available spots on the Olympic team.
Robert Harting, gradually returning from his injury woes of the past 18 months, was out to regain the crown his younger brother had inherited in his absence last year, and the reigning Olmypic champion improved&nbsp;with every round to take the lead.
It wasn&rsquo;t until the final round that brother Christoph, currently ranked second in the world, challenged Robert with a 66.41m throw. However the&nbsp;elder Harting, who was the final thrower in the field, took a deep breath before hurling the discus to 68.04m to take victory, an effort which moved him&nbsp;to number three in the world this year and within two centimetres of his brother&rsquo;s season&rsquo;s best.
<h3>Hussong victorious in world-class field</h3>
The knowledgeable crowd didn&rsquo;t have to wait long for things to heat up again as&nbsp;a world-class women&rsquo;s javelin field took to the runway.
Christin Hussong wasn&rsquo;t disturbed by the changing winds or by her top-notch opponents, which included reigning world champion Katharina Molitor, Christina Obergfoll and Linda Stahl, the London 2012 Olympic Games silver and bronze medallists respectively.
The 22-year-old Hussong lofted&nbsp;the javelin perfectly to set&nbsp;a German under-23 record of 66.41m, which would have been a world lead if Barbora Spotakova hadn&rsquo;t claimed that spot earlier in the day at the Czech championships.
Elsewhere in the throws, the usual suspects delivered in both the men&rsquo;s shot put and women&rsquo;s hammer.
David Storl won his sixth national shot put title with 20.75m, while former hammer throw world record holder Betty Heidler also took the honours with a best of 75.32m. World shot put champion Christina Schwanitz won her fifth title with a season&rsquo;s best of 19.49m.
In the women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase Gesa Felicitas Krause was one of the safe bets of the championship and the world bronze medallist duly obliged,&nbsp;clocking 9:31.00 to win the title in a championship record.
Teenage star&nbsp;Konstanze Klosterhalfen put on an equally impressive performance in the women&rsquo;s 1500m. The 19-year-old had more than a 20-metre advantage as she crossed&nbsp;the line to win her first national title in 4:07.52, the fastest time at the German championships for 20 years.
&ldquo;In Ostrava I ran well with a pacemaker so I wanted to prove I can run well on my own as well. I won&rsquo;t be racing in Amsterdam, but at the world U20s instead; then I&rsquo;ll turn my attention to Rio,&rdquo; she said before setting off on possibly the day&rsquo;s fastest victory lap.
In the men&rsquo;s 1500m, Homiyu Tesfaye was the favourite but with 100 metres to go it was Timo Benitz who surprised him with a lethal kick to take the win in 3:40.28.
Having ticked off the Olympic 800m qualifier from her to-do list in the heats, Fabienne Kohlmann was looking to defend her national title from last year. in Sunday's final. However, Christina Hering took charge after 400m and secured the crown in 2:02.19.
<h3>New generation takes&nbsp;command in sprints</h3>
Germany&rsquo;s women are currently outshining their male counterparts in the sprints, and in Kassel it was rising star Tatjana Pinto who again showed her vast potential, winning the women&rsquo;s 100m title with 11.22 into a 2.0m/s headwind.
However it was the 200m that really provided the fireworks on the track. Only two weeks ago, a German quartet including Pinto had recorded a world-leading 42.00 4x100m, and now the remaining three were lining up against each other in the 200m final.
Lisa Mayer entered the home&nbsp;straight in front, but was clawed back in&nbsp;the final metres by Gina Luckenkemper. Running into a slight 0.5m/s headwind, the 19-year-old took the title in 22.84, just 0.03 ahead of her relay partner, who improved her personal best by 0.17 in second placer.
On the men&rsquo;s side Julian Reus won his fourth 100m title in 10.30 (-2.3m/s), while Robin Erewa struck 200m gold in 20.60.
In the women&rsquo;s pole vault Martina Strutz improved her season&rsquo;s best to 4.70m, while on the men&rsquo;s side a gamble at 4.65m paid off for Tobias Scherbarth as he won with 5.70m.
Michelle Sammet for the IAAF

The weather may have been unpredictable, but Germany’s leading Olympic medal hopes turned in a consistent series of classy performances at their national championships in Kassel over the weekend.

Rohler and Harting lead the way at German Championships 

Former world record-holder Betty Heidler will aim to challenge her own meeting record at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Dakar, part of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge, on Wednesday (25).
The 2007 world champion threw 75.33m at this meeting back in 2011, one week after throwing what was then a world record distance of 79.42m.
The 32-year-old German may not currently be in world record form, but she is showing steady progress after opening her 2016 season with 69.83m and then more recently throwing 72.41m in Ostrava.
Heidler is currently 0.02 points ahead of Zalina Marghieva in the challenge standings and she will face the Moldovan in Dakar.
The 28-year-old has already broken her own national record with 74.21m this year and finished ahead of Heidler at the European Cup Winter Throwing in March.
World University Games champion Hanna Skydan has set an Azerbaijani record of 73.03m this year and could challenge for top honours on Wednesday, as could Heidler&rsquo;s compatriot and long-time domestic rival Kathrin Klaas.
For the first time in the 13-year history of this meeting, there will be a men&rsquo;s hammer competition.
Moldova&rsquo;s Serghei Marghiev tops the entries based on season&rsquo;s bests, but 2013 world bronze medallist Lukas Melich of the Czech Republic added three metres to his season&rsquo;s best in Ostrava on Friday and could continue to improve in Dakar.
<h3>Eaton and Linkiewicz on a roll</h3>
Fresh from a 13.25 personal best in the 110m hurdles in Ostrava, USA&rsquo;s Jarret Eaton will be looking to continue that momentum in Dakar.
His toughest opposition could come from compatriots Jeff Porter and Ronnie Ash, but South Africa&rsquo;s Antonio Alkana and Greek record-holder Konstadinos Douvalidis could also get close to the American trio. David Oliver&rsquo;s meeting record of 13.60 looks highly likely to be improved upon.
Polish 400m hurdler Joanna Linkiewicz surprised a quality field in Ostrava to take victory in a personal best of 55.40. European silver medallist Anna Titimets of Ukraine will be among her opponents, but on the evidence of last Friday&rsquo;s race, it will take a big performance to stop Linkiewicz.
Ethiopia&rsquo;s Haftamnesh Tesfay also enjoyed a breakthrough performance in Ostrava. Although she didn&rsquo;t win, the 2013 African junior champion slashed 15 seconds from her 3000m PB to finish second in 8:40.80.
She will contest the shorter distance&nbsp;in Dakar, where she will face Ethiopian champion Dera Dida and Kenya&rsquo;s Sandra Tuei, winner of the 5000m at the recent African Junior Trials. If the pace is right, Almaz Ayana&rsquo;s meeting record of 8:44.30 could be under threat.
The women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles is another event in which the meeting record could fall. Canada&rsquo;s Olympic finalist Phylicia George has already clocked 12.74 this year &ndash; 0.2 quicker than the Dakar meeting record &ndash; and arrives fresh off of her victory in Hengelo.
She'll have USA&rsquo;s Christina Manning and Colombia&rsquo;s Brigitte Merlano as her main opponents.
Ivorian sprinters Wilfried Koffi, second at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Rabat on Sunday, and Ben Youssef Meite have exchanged national records in the 100m and 200m in recent years.
The pair will contest the longer event in Dakar, but appear to be evenly matched. Koffi has a 100m season&rsquo;s best of 10.01 to Meite&rsquo;s 10.05, but the latter is undefeated this year.
With a best of 3:30.34, Collins Cheboi is the fastest man in the 1500m field, but this will be the Kenyan&rsquo;s first outdoor race of the season. Djibouti&rsquo;s rising talent Abdi Waiss recently clocked a PB of 3:34.55, while Morocco&rsquo;s Youness Essalhi has also shown promising form this year.
USA&rsquo;s Jarvis Gotch looks to be the favourite in the men&rsquo;s long jump. The 24-year-old set a PB of 8.24m in April and then followed it with a wind-assisted 8.35m three weeks later. But Brazil&rsquo;s Mauro da Silva is also in the field and the two-time world indoor champion has shown that he can never be discounted.
In the women&rsquo;s sprints, Zambia's African Games champion Kabange Mupopo will line up against Jamaica&rsquo;s Patricia Hall and Brazil&rsquo;s Geisa Coutinho in the 400m, while South African champion Alyssa Conley will race USA&rsquo;s Alexandria Anderson in the 100m.
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

Former world record-holder Betty Heidler will aim to challenge her own meeting record on Wednesday (25) at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Dakar, part of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge.

Heidler heads high-quality hammer field in Dakar

As has become&nbsp;traditional, the men's and women's hammer events will be held the day before the main meeting at Ostrava Golden Spike meeting, which is part of the IAAF World Challenge and IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge, on 25 May.The organisers announced on Friday (10) an impressive array of top throwing talent including Poland&rsquo;s world record-holder and European champion Anita Wlodarczyk, Germany&rsquo;s former world record-holder Betty Heidler, Slovakia&rsquo;s Martina Hrasnova and Poland&rsquo;s Johanna Fiodorow, the latter duo taking the silver and bronze medals at the European Championships in Zurich last summer.From further afield, Asian Games winner Wang Zheng will also be making a trip to the Czech city. On the men&rsquo;s side, Hungary&rsquo;s Olympic and European champion Krisztian Pars will face his familiar foe, Poland&rsquo;s world champion Pawel Fajdek. Since they first met in 2009, they have competed against each other no fewer than 36 times to date, the score standing 28-8 to Pars although Fajdek memorably beat his rival to the world title in Moscow two years ago.Russia&rsquo;s Sergey Litvinov, Tajikistan&rsquo;s Dilshod Nazarov and Egypt&rsquo;s Mostafa Al-Gamal are also in the men&rsquo;s field. The meeting organisers believe that both the meeting records &ndash; Pars' 82.28m and Heidler's 78.07m, both from 2012 &ndash; could be threatened.Organisers for the IAAF

As has become traditional, the men's and women's hammer events will be held the day before the main meeting at Ostrava Golden Spike meeting, which is part of the IAAF World Challenge and IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge, on 25 May.

European champions Wlodarczyk and Pars lead the hammer fields in Ostrava

The ISTAF Berlin meeting, part of the IAAF World Challenge, will see nine Olympic, 15 world and 15 European champions lining up on the blue track of Berlin&rsquo;s iconic Olympic stadium on Sunday (31).Poster boy and local hero Robert Harting will be looking to maintain his strong form in the discus, which saw him being crowned European champion only two weeks ago.&nbsp; The world and Olympic champion calls the stadium his &ldquo;living room&rdquo; and hasn&rsquo;t been defeated there in four years. Looking to spoil the party will be Poland&rsquo;s former European champion Piotr Malachowski as well as 2008 Olympic champion Gerd Kanter from Estonia, while one of the event&rsquo;s all-time greats, Lithuania&rsquo;s Virgilijus Alekna, will be using the meet to say goodbye to the sport. The 42-year-old double Olympic and double world champion still holds the second furthest throw ever with 73.88m and won the prestigious meet, which celebrates its 73rd edition this year, at three previous editions.Meanwhile, the women&rsquo;s hammer is part of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge and world record-holder Betty Heidler, who is one of six local athletes in the field, will take on third in the all-time lists Anita Wlodarczyk. The Pole took the European title in Zurich in a championship record of 78.76m, the third best throw ever, and could be a threat to the meeting record of 77.40m.Newly crowned Diamond Race winner Reese Hoffa will face a loaded field consisting of Germany&rsquo;s double world champion David Storl, fellow US thrower and world leader Joe Kovacs, Poland&rsquo;s double Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski, Jamaica&rsquo;s Commonwealth Games champion O&rsquo;Dayne Richards and New Zealand&rsquo;s world indoor bronze medallist Tom Walsh. All will be looking to get close to the 21.62m meeting record. In the women&rsquo;s event, European champion Christina Schwanitz is the clear favourite to take the victory.Europe versus the worldOn the track, European 800m champion Adam Kszczot of Poland is looking to challenge Ethiopia&rsquo;s world champion Mohammed Aman.Algeria&rsquo;s Olympic 1500m champion Taoufik Makhloufi and Olympic bronze medallist Timothy Kitum could also challenge.The women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles is promising to be another highlight on the track with a field consisting of world and European champions and medallists including the likes of US pair Brianna Rollins and Nia Ali, Great Britain&rsquo;s Tiffany Porter and local star Cindy Roleder.In the men&rsquo;s event two years ago, it was no one less than Olympic champion Aries Merritt who set a meeting record of 12.97 before clocking a world record of 12.80 a week later at the IAAF Diamond League final in Brussels. On Sunday, Merritt will be going head to head against 2008 Olympic champion Dayron Robles.Moldner-Schmidt to inspire home crowdThe women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase was initially not part of the schedule, but after Antje Moldner-Schmidt&rsquo;s gutsy gold medal run at the European Championships, the event was added to the timetable. Moldner-Schmidt proved an inspiration to many when taking the European title after returning from breast cancer only four years ago.In the men&rsquo;s 100m, Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s Richard Thompson and South Africa&rsquo;s Simon Magakwe who have both recorded times below 10 seconds this season. Also going to the blocks will be Great Britain&rsquo;s world indoor 60m champion Richard Kilty as well as Sven Knipphals, Lucas Jakubczyk and Alexander Kosenkow, three members of Germany&rsquo;s European 4x100m silver medal squad.Another European champion from Zurich gracing the track in Berlin will be Britain&rsquo;s Martyn Rooney, who will face the likes of Kevin Borlee and Isaac Makwala, while Germany&rsquo;s Kamghe Gaba is hoping to take get a boost from the home crowd.The men&rsquo;s pole vault features world indoor champion Konstantinos Filippidis as well as Jan Kudlicka and Pawel Wojciechowksi, two European medallists, while the men&rsquo;s long jump sees 2010 European champion Christian Reif line up against South Africa&rsquo;s Zarck Visser and Godfrey Mokoena.It&rsquo;s not just the athletes who are promising to light up the track with their performances. The organisers&rsquo; new concept &ldquo;ISTAF 3.0&rdquo; is going to be short, sweet and loud, and will feature a tunnel-like entrance similar to that of the IAAF World Relays as well as fireworks, athletes&rsquo; individual music requests and more.Michelle Sammet for the IAAF

The ISTAF Berlin meeting, part of the IAAF World Challenge, will see nine Olympic, 15 world and 15 European champions lining up on the blue track of Berlin’s iconic Olympic stadium on Sunday (31).

Harting, Heidler and Hoffa put the spotlight on the throws in Berlin

Olympic hammer champion Krisztian Pars unleashed a lifetime best throw of 82.49m at the Istvan Gyulai Memorial in Szekesfehervar to win at the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge meeting in front of a home crowd on Tuesday (8).The 32-year-old took an early lead with his opening throw of 79.84m, but then world champion Pawel Fajdek sent his hammer out to 80.73m in the second round to equal the meeting record set by Pars last year.That record only lasted for a matter of seconds though, because with the very next throw of the competition, Pars moved into the lead with 81.65m.Fajdek failed to record any valid throws for the remainder of the competition, but Pars bolstered his series with an 81.35m throw in the penultimate round before producing the performance of his life with the last attempt of the competition, throwing 82.49m.It was the farthest throw in the world for two years and added four centimetres to Pars&rsquo; previous PB, set eight years ago.&ldquo;The circle was very good and I&rsquo;m very happy to set a PB,&rdquo; said Pars. &ldquo;Based on today&rsquo;s competition, I don&rsquo;t think a throw of 83 metres is unthinkable.&rdquo;Asian Games champion Dilshod Nazarov improved with each of his last three throws, ending his series with 80.24m, his second 80-metre throw of the season. Egypt&rsquo;s Mostafa Al-Gamal also saved his best for the final round, throwing 78.07m, his second-best throw after his African record of 81.27m earlier in the season.With his win here, Pars extended his lead in the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge. Nazarov is 3.83 points behind him, with Fajdek currently sitting in third place.Wlodarczyk leaves it lateJust like the men&rsquo;s contest, three of the top four finishers in the women&rsquo;s hammer also produced their best throw in the final round.World record-holder Betty Heidler led after the first round with 69.52m, but by the half-way point of the competition the German had slipped to fifth place.Poland&rsquo;s 2009 world champion Anita Wlodarczyk, meanwhile, went from seventh place to first, throwing 73.62m in round four, but Heidler overtook her a few throws later with 75.34m.Wlodarczyk responded with 74.70m before finally taking the lead in the final round with 75.53m. Heidler ended her series with two fouls, while fellow German Kathrin Klaas made it on to the podium with her sixth-round throw of 74.62m.Martina Hrasnova of the Slovak Republic also produced her best throw in the last round, throwing 72.56m to take fourth place.Heidler could at least take some consolation in the fact that she moved into the overall lead in the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge. She currently has 226.03 points, while Klaas is a few points behind in second place with Hrasnova in third. Wlodarczyk is yet to compete in a third meeting within the series this year.Bondarenko beats UkhovIn their fifth clash of the season, world champion Bogdan Bondarenko defeated Olympic champion Ivan Ukhov in the high jump.Bondarenko opened his campaign with a second-time clearance at 2.26m before taking the lead by sailing over 2.32m on his first try.Ukhov then got over 2.34m on his second attempt while Bondarenko passed. The two global champions re-entered the competition with the bar set at 2.38m. Ukhov failed all three attempts, but Bondarenko succeeded on his third try.After one unsuccessful attempt at 2.43m, Bondarenko called it a night after both he and Ukhov exceeded the previous meeting record of 2.33m.Although the high jump is as competitive as it has ever been, Bondarenko has now won 19 of his past 20 competitions.Former world champion Tianna Bartoletta won a 100m-long jump double. After winning the 100m in 11.35 into a stiff -2.5m/s headwind, she headed over to the long jump runway, which was facing in the opposite direction to the home straight.There she was greeted with some useful tailwinds and she used it to her advantage. She took the lead with 6.89m (1.9m/s) in the third round and then improved two attempts later to 6.94m, both jumps surpassing the previous meeting record.Fellow US jumper Funmi Jimoh was second with 6.76m, 17cm ahead of Germany&rsquo;s Melanie Bauschke.Despite a -1.3m/s headwind, USA&rsquo;s Queen Harrison sped to a 12.73 clocking to win the 100m hurdles. Two-time world indoor champion Lolo Jones was second in 12.88.The women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles was won by Bahrain&rsquo;s Kemi Adekoya in 54.98, 0.18 ahead of Ukraine&rsquo;s Anna Ryzhykova.The men&rsquo;s one-lap race over the barriers was even closer as two world champions clashed. Dai Greene, the 2011 world champion, was making his season&rsquo;s debut after another winter hampered by injury. But he showed that he hadn&rsquo;t lost his strong finish and came through strong to catch reigning world champion Jehue Gordon on the line, both clocking 49.89 with Greene gaining the victory. World bronze medallist Emir Bekric was third in 50.04.In the men&rsquo;s pole vault, 2011 world champion Pawel Wojciechowski was an easy winner, clearing 5.70m to finish 30cm ahead of the rest of the field.Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

Olympic hammer champion Krisztian Pars unleashed a lifetime best throw of 82.49m at the Istvan Gyulai Memorial in Szekesfehervar to win at the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge meeting in front of a home crowd on Tuesday (8).

Pars produces PB on home soil in Szekesfehervar

Olympic champion Krisztian Pars will be the star attraction at the Istvan Gyulai Memorial meeting in Szekesfehervar, just outside Budapest, for the latest stop of the 2014 IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge on Tuesday (8).The Hungarian currently leads the men&rsquo;s standings, with his best three competitions so far this summer totalling 240.75m, an average of more than 80 metres a meeting, and he has a healthy lead of nearly three metres over second-placed Dilshod Nazarov.Nevertheless, he will want to impress at his country&rsquo;s premier athletics meeting and hopefully add to his advantage.Pars won the challenge in 2011 and 2012 but lost out in the race to the US$30,000 first prize last year to 2013 world champion Pawel Fajdek, and he will also be keen to get back to winning ways after also losing to his Polish rival in the Slovenian team of Velenje last Tuesday, bringing to an end a seven-competition winning streak. Both Nazarov, from Tadjikiistan, and 2014 world leader Fajdek are also in the field on Tuesday, along with Egypt&rsquo;s African record holder Mostafa Al Gamal. This quartet, including Pars, are the only men to have thrown farther than 80 metres this year but Russia&rsquo;s Sergey Litvinov, who recently won the European Team Championships, could also impress.The women&rsquo;s hammer in Szekesfehervar sees Germany&rsquo;s Betty Heidler start as favourite.The world record holder, who won the challenge for three consecutive years from 2010 to 2012, has only competed in two challenge meetings this year but could very conceivably take over at the top of 2014 standings with a good performance on Tuesday.Poland&rsquo;s 2013 challenge winner and former world record holder Anita Wlodarczyk looks to be her main rival.Heidler threw a world-leading 78.00m in Ostrava three weeks ago when Wlodarczyk finished second with 76.41m, their only encounter this summer.Apart from the hammer contests, the biggest headlines could be made by the duel in the men&rsquo;s high Jump between Ukraine&rsquo;s newly-minted European record holder and 2013 world champion Bohdan Bondarenko and Russia&rsquo;s Olympic champion Ivan Ukhov.Multi-talented Ashton Eaton will run in the 110m hurdles against former world champion Jason Richardson, world silver medallist Ryan Wilson and Jamaican champion Andrew Riley.The 400m hurdles can boast of another world champion, Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s Jehue Gordon, and his immediate predecessor, Great Britain&rsquo;s Dai Greene, as well as Jamaican champion Roxroy Cato. A classy 3000m has Edwin Soi on the start line.Soi comes direct from Paris after winning the 5000m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in the French capital on Saturday and becoming the first man in 2014 to run faster than 13 minutes for the longer distance. His Kenyan compatriots Thomas Longosiwa and Daniel Kipchirchir Komen will also be in the race, alongside Ethiopia&rsquo;s Edris Muktar and USA&rsquo;s Will Leer.In the women's 400m hurdles, USA&rsquo;s Georganne Molina will come up against Ukrainian pair Hanna Titimets and Anna Ryzhykova as well Bahrain&rsquo;s Kemi Adekoya and the talented US hurdler Cassandra Tate. Phil Minshull for the IAAF

Olympic champion Krisztian Pars will be the star attraction at the Istvan Gyulai Memorial meeting in Szekesfehervar, just outside Budapest, for the latest stop of the 2014 IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge on Tuesday (8).

Pars looking to enhance his lead on home soil

Betty Heidler and Krisztian Pars produced world-leading efforts at Ostrava&rsquo;s Golden Spike, part of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge, with the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s hammer competitions traditionally held the day before the main meeting programme in this eastern Czech city.Heidler, the world and meeting record-holder, reached 78.00m to dominate the women&rsquo;s competition while Pars, the reigning Olympic champion, threw 81.57m to win by nearly a metre.Opening with a modest 72.80m effort, Heidler took command with a 75.97m throw in round two, a lead that proved short-lived courtesy of long-time rival Anita Wlodarczyk.Making her season&rsquo;s debut &ndash; aside from an exhibition event in Wroclaw &ndash; the Pole spun out the cobwebs with a 74.73m throw in the second round, and improved to 76.16m in the third. Putting the pressure on Heidler, Wlodarczyk, the 2009 world champion, padded her lead with a 76.41m toss in round four.Heidler fell short in the fourth round but nailed her mark in the fifth, reaching 78.00m even to wrestle back the lead from Wlodarczyk &ndash; and to supplant China&rsquo;s Wang Zheng (77.68m) as this season&rsquo;s world leader.Heidler&rsquo;s mark was just seven centimetres shy of the meeting record she set in 2012. It was also the third-farthest throw ever by the 30-year-old German, who has held the world record of 79.42m since 21 May 2011. It&rsquo;s rarely-trodden territory, too. Besides Heidler (twice), only three other women have thrown beyond the 78-metre line.Wlodarczyk had nothing left in reserve. Fouling in round five, she ended the competition with a throw shy of 71 metres, handing Heidler her fifth win of the season.&ldquo;I tried to do things right and to show good technique,&rdquo; said Heidler. &ldquo;It worked very well, I am happy for it. Today I just wanted to beat Anita Wlodarczyk, it did not matter how far I threw.&rdquo;German Kathrin Klaas rounded out the podium with a 74.61m best effort from the first round, just ahead of Slovak Martina Hrasnova who reached 74.39m in round three. Both were season&rsquo;s bests; for Hrasnova it was her best throw since 2009.Poland&rsquo;s Joanna Fiodorow was a distant sixth with 71.80m.In the men&rsquo;s competition, Pars led from start, opening with a 78.19m toss before putting the competition out of reach with his 81.57m effort in round two to add 26cm to his own world lead.The Hungarian threw just twice more &ndash; 78.47m in the third round and fouling in the fifth &ndash; before passing his final effort to win in Ostrava for the third straight year, and fourth occasion overall.&ldquo;I am very satisfied with my result,&rdquo; said Pars. &ldquo;I aimed to throw only around 80 metres because I am still fighting a small injury.&rdquo;Behind him, reigning Asian Games champion Dilshod Nazarov impressed as well, hitting 80.62m in the fifth round to tighten the competition, a season&rsquo;s best and the second-best throw ever for the 32-year-old from Tadjikistan.World champion Pawel Fajdek of Poland had just one fair throw, but his 79.65m effort, also a season&rsquo;s best, was enough to land him in the top three.Further back, Marcel Lomnicky of Slovakia was fourth with a 77.91m best. Frenchman Quentin Bigot reached 77.76 to finish sixth. Mostafa Al-Gamel, competing for the first time this year outside of his home country Egypt, finished seventh with 75.66m, almost six metres shy of the African record her set earlier this year.Bob Ramsak (organisers) for the IAAF

Betty Heidler and Krisztian Pars produced world-leading efforts at Ostrava’s Golden Spike, part of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge, with the men’s and women’s hammer competitions traditionally held the day before the main meeting programme in this eastern Czech city.

World leads for Heidler and Pars in Ostrava

Ukraine&rsquo;s Bogdan Bondarenko got the best of Russian rival Ivan Ukhov in the latest duel between the reigning world and Olympic champions in the men&rsquo;s high jump at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Tokyo. He certainly worked hard enough for it at the IAAF World Challenge meeting on Sunday (11).For the first time in his career, Bondarenko needed three attempts to clear three consecutive heights, with the last one at a meeting record of 2.40m to give him the victory.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an amazing feeling,&rdquo; said world champion Bondarenko. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m really happy, because today was a good show, good competition, good weather, good people here.&rdquo;Another highly anticipated duel, in the opening women's event of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge series, never really materialised as Germany&rsquo;s world record-holder Betty Heidler won with a throw of 72.69m, while world and Olympic champion Tatyana Lysenko of Russia looked out of sorts and finished sixth.In other highlights of the final meeting at Tokyo's venerable National Stadium before it is rebuilt for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Jenny Simpson of the USA opened her season by cruising to victory in the women's 1500m in a world-leading 4:03.91, while compatriot and world champion Brianna Rollins won the women's 100m hurdles in a meeting record of 12.62.USA&rsquo;s Justin Gatlin looked impressive in winning the men's 100m in 10.02 while running into a -3.5m/s wind, and world 400m champion Kirani James of Grenada posted a photo-finish victory in a "fun run" in the 200m.Bondarenko made to work for win over UkhovBondarenko, competing in his first meeting of the season, cleared 2.20m on his first attempt, and then needed three attempts at 2.31m, 2.34m and the ultimate winning height of 2.40m. Ukhov, the 2012 Olympic champion who arrived in Tokyo fresh off a victory with a world-leading 2.41m at the Doha IAAF Diamond League meeting, cleared 2.34m on his first attempt, but fell short in three shots at 2.40m. Japan's Naoto Tobe finished third with 2.31m.Bondarenko, behind on misses after making 2.34m, passed at 2.37m, but then Ukhov did too, and another three centimetres were added. &ldquo;This is very natural, I would have done the same,&rdquo; Bondarenko said of Ukhov&rsquo;s gamble. &ldquo;From 30 to 40, it&rsquo;s almost the same.&rdquo;Asked what he was thinking on his third attempt at 2.40m, Bondarenko smiled and replied: "I thought I was very tired and this would be the last attempt." He made a lone, half-hearted attempt at a world record of 2.46m, then ended with a wave and a bow to the crowd of 17,000.Bondarenko gained the meeting record, topping the 2.30m set in 1996 by South Korea's Lee Jin-Taek and equalled by Japan's Naoyuki Daigo in 2007. And for what it's worth, Bondarenko also claimed the stadium record for the venue that hosted the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and 1991 IAAF World Championships, bettering the 2.38m jumped by USA&rsquo;s Charles Austin in winning the world gold.In the women's hammer, Heidler overcame the effects of a long trip to Tokyo to toss 72.69m on her third attempt, which held up against a challenge from USA's Amanda Bingson, who threw 71.71m twice to finish second, and Gwen Berry, who was third at 71.13m.&ldquo;My legs are a little bit tired," said Heidler, who flew from Knoxville to Germany to Tokyo over a three-day period. "I threw nearly the same as last week (72.95m in Knoxville) so it's a good result considering the traveling, but not enough for myself. It's very early in the season; nevertheless, it should be much better in the (upcoming) months.&rdquo;Things can only get better for Lysenko, who fouled on her first three attempts, then could only manage a day's best of 67.35m. She chalked it up to a lack of preparation for her first meeting of the season, and remains confident she will regain her form."I didn't compete in the winter, so I wasn't really ready," she said through an interpreter. "But I found some mistakes, so I will fix them. I think today's performance is very positive for my target which is the European Championships in August."Heidler said that along with the European Championships, she will target more victories in the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge. "It's also very important. It's a lot of money we can earn and good competitions, and mostly inside the stadiums."Simpson, the 2011 world champion and 2013 silver medallist, came up a bit short of the meeting record, but was never challenged in charging to the front early and finishing more than three-and-a-half seconds ahead of compatriot Emma Coburn."The race was great," Simpson said. "It was little bit windy, and a little bit warm for where I live, in Colorado, where it's still snowing. I knew if I was going to go up front and lead, that I was going to have to do a lot of work. I was really happy to be able to go out, and work hard the whole way, run my own race. It's as good an opener as I've ever run."Without a major championship to aim for, Simpson said she will focus on strong performances in the IAAF Diamond League, starting with next week&rsquo;s meeting in Shanghai."This is an important race for two reasons &ndash; first, to open up the season, get a peek at my fitness and some confidence, and then it's really preparing me for Shanghai next week.&rdquo;Rollins breaks Pearson&rsquo;s meeting recordRollins, running her first overseas meeting of 2014, got out fast and despite running into a -1.9m/s wind, still managed to top the previous meeting record of 12.71 set by Australia's Sally Pearson in 2007. Lavonne Idlette of the Dominican Republic was second in 12.91, followed by USA's Kellie Wells in 12.98."I have an inconsistent start sometimes, but today I came out with a great start," said Rollins. "It gave me great momentum to finish the race strong, that's all that really matters."Gatlin also rode an explosive start to win the 100m in 10.02, running into a -3.5m/s wind to follow up his victory last week in Kingston, where he also had to race into a strong wind. USA's Mike Rodgers, last year's winner, finished second in 10.11, while France's Christophe Lemaitre was third in 10.31."Once I got past the 50-metre mark, I just wanted to stay relaxed," said Gatlin after recording the fastest ever 100m performance run into a wind stronger than -2.0m/s. "If the wind was none, you might have been looking at another meet record. It seems the wind has been following me from Jamaica to Tokyo, so hopefully I'll get a positive wind, or no wind at all, and the world will see what I'm really in shape for."The wind made teenager Yoshihide Kiryu's bid to become the first Japanese member of the sub-10-second club a moot issue, and he was never a factor in the race, finishing fifth in 10.46.In the men's 200m, James went into the race looking to have some fun, and ended up with a victory &ndash; although he didn't know it until about 10 minutes after the race.James, who has said the 400m will remain his main event, came off the curve in front, then crossed the line together with hard-charging Michael Mathieu of The Bahamas. The scoreboard showed Mathieu as the winner with both runners clocking 20.63; later, with James in the mixed zone, the results were revised, giving him the victory in that time by .01."First or second doesn't really matter," James said. "As long as I come out here and I finish the race healthy, then I'm happy with that. It's a fun run, it's not to try to run a world lead or rank or anything like that."James will be taking his next race more seriously, as he faces rival LaShawn Merritt at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene in two weeks. "I'm going to go back home and rest up a bit after this race and train," he said.Klishina breaks long jump meeting recordThere was also a meeting record in the women's long jump, as Russian Darya Klishina's leap of 6.88m eclipsed the previous mark of 6.86m set by Japan's Kumiko Ikeda in 2006.In second place, USA&rsquo;s Tianna Bartoletta jumped 6.78m. It was her best jump since winning the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships and her best outdoors since winning the 2005 world title.Later in the day, Bartoletta won the 100m in 11.18. The half-lap sprint went to world junior champion Anthonique Strachan of The Bahamas in 22.82 (-1.8m/s).Three-time world indoor champion Christian Cantwell notched up his third consecutive victory of 2014, winning the shot with 21.33m, just 52cm shy of his own world-leading mark. US team-mate Cory Martin was the only other putter who produced a mark past the 20-metre line, finishing second with 20.73m.For the host nation, there were moments to celebrate.The women's 4x100m relay team, despite missing national sprint champion Chisato Fukushima, earned a spot at the IAAF World Relays by clocking 43.74 to beat the qualifying mark of 43.80.Sho Kawamoto set national and meeting records in the men's 800m, holding off Italy's Giordano Benedetti and USA's Erik Sowinski down the stretch to win in 1:45.75. That shaved .41 off the previous Japanese mark and easily topped the meeting record of 1:46.51 set last year by Kenya's Anthony Chemut, who finished a distant sixth this time.Daichi Sawano was Japan's other winner, clearing 5.61m in the men's pole vault to combine with Seito Yamamoto (5.51m) for a 1-2 finish.Other winners included Britain's Niall Flannery in the 400m hurdles, clocking a PB of 49.48, Uganda's Jacob Araptany in the 3000m steeplechase, winning with 8:20.84, and Haiti's Samyr Laine in the triple jump, leaping 16.45m. The javelin titles went to Taiwan's Huang Shih-Feng and Ukraine&rsquo;s Marharyta Dorozhon with marks of 81.53m and 59.15m respectively.Ken Marantz for the IAAF

Ukraine’s Bogdan Bondarenko got the best of Russian rival Ivan Ukhov in the latest duel between the reigning world and Olympic champions in the men’s high jump at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Tokyo. He certainly worked hard enough for it at the IAAF World Challenge meeting on Sunday (11).

Bondarenko opens season with 2.40m in Tokyo

After they finished second in the 2012 contest, the Polish pair of Pawel Fajdek and Anita Wlodarczyk both moved up a notch to claim the first prize of USD$30,000 in the 2013 IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge.Fajdek had an engaging battle with the 2011 and 2012 winner Krisztian Pars for supremacy but eventually prevailed by a mere five centimetres down the home stretch of the 10 men’s meetings in this year’s challenge, its fourth year in existence since it was inaugurated in 2010.The world champion totalled 244.23m from his best three outings in the challenge to relegate Pars to second place, just as the Pole had done in Moscow when Hungary’s Olympic champion also had to settle for the silver medal in his only defeat of the year.Both Fajdek and Pars exceeded the previous ‘Challenge record’ of 242.35m, which the latter had achieved in 2012. Replicating the World Championships podium, Czech Republic’s Lukas Melich also finished third in the challenge with 239.80m, a distance that would have won two of the three previous years of the challenge. Wlodarczyk had a much more comfortable cushion on top of the women’s standing with an accumulated total of 233.83m from her best three outings across the 10 women’s meetings. She had an advantage of more than six metres over Russia’s second-placed Tatyana Lysenko, who had a total of 227.59m.The difference emphasised Wlodarczyk’s season-long high-level consistency even though Lysenko took the top honours at the World Championships.Like with Fajdek, Wlodarczyk comfortably exceeded the previous ‘Challenge record’ of 230.49m, set by Germany’s World record-holder Betty Heidler last year.Heidler, the winner every year from 2010-2012, was third this time with 226.93m. The 2013 challenge started with three successive men’s competitions during May in Tokyo, Belem (BRA) and Ponce (PUR) and saw three different winners: Melich, Tajikistan’s Dilshod Nazarov and Poland’s former world champion Szymon Ziolkowski. The emphasis then switched to the women, with Lysenko winning at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Beijing with 73.12m while Heidler came out on top at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene with 75.21m, beating both Lysenko and Wlodarczyk.Wlodarczyk gets first winWlodarczyk notched up her first victory in this year’s challenge with a 74.28m effort in Moscow on 11 June, barely two months before the world’s attention would return to the Russian capital.Sweden’s Tracy Andersson then won in Dakar to make it four different winners in as many women’s challenge competitions.The first really big men’s meeting of the year came at the Janusz Kuscinski Memorial meeting in Szczecin, Poland, on 15 June which saw the first throws over 80 metres in this year’s challenge.Pars threw 81.02m, which remained as the world-leading distance until the World Championships, while Melich went over 80 metres for the first time in his life with 80.28m. In third, Fajdek could not have been any closer to the 80-metre line with 79.99m.The women’s competition in Szczecin was equally as exciting with Heidler triumphing with 76.48m from Wlodarczyk, who threw 76.06m.Both Pars and Melich were again over 80 metres in the Czech city of Ostrava with the Hungarian coming out on top with 80.75m to his rival’s 80.16m.The women’s contest at the famous Golden Spike meeting, traditionally held in the afternoon the day before the main competition, saw Heidler assert her early season dominance and again beat Wlodarczyk, albeit once again by a small margin with 75.24m to the Pole’s 74.98m.On home soil in Budapest on 11 July, Pars notched up his third straight challenge win, and he was once again over 80 metres with 80.73m to take a clear lead in the challenge after six men’s meetings.The last challenge event before the IAAF World Championships was in Karlstad, Sweden, on 23 July. In the absence of Pars and Melich, and with Fajdek having three fouls, Slovenia’s 2009 world champion Primoz Kozmus took the honours with 77.69m.At the World Championships, Fajdek rose magnificently to the occasion and improved his personal best to a world-leading 81.97m for an upset victory over Pars, who threw 80.30m. His 1.67m margin of victory was to have a crucial impact on the destination of the challenge. In the women’s competition in Moscow, Heidler crashed out in qualifying which meant she was not going to add to her accumulated total although, to be fair, she was probably more upset at not being able to fight for a medal.Lysenko and Wlodarczyk did however add to their tally with the Russian’s winning distance and national record of 78.80m ultimately helping to her to finish ahead of Heidler in the challenge at the end of the season. Wlodarczyk’s 78.46m for the silver medal was good enough for her to overtake Heidler and move to the top of the challenge standings with three competitions left, which is where she stayed until the end of the season.Fajdek moves into pole positionAt the Memorial Zdenka Hrbacka in the Slovakian town of Dubnica just a few days after the end of the World Championships, a terrific men’s contest saw Pars hurl a 2013 world-leading 82.40m but Fajdek finished second with a personal best of 82.27m, and went to the top of the challenge standings.There was no Lysenko or Heidler in Dubnica so Wlodarczyk made the most of their absence to consolidate her position at the top of the standings with a huge effort of 78.22m to win by more than three metres from the USA’s Jenna McCall, who was second with a personal best of 74.77m. &nbsp;&nbsp;The penultimate women’s challenge event of 2013 was at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in the German capital Berlin and Wlodarczyk as good as sealed first place with her third best result of the season, winning with 77.15m.Lysenko finished second with 74.86m which was just enough to overtake Heidler for second place in the standings as well, the latter finishing third on home soil with 74.62m.The final challenge meeting, both for men and women, was in the Italian town of Rieti on 8 September. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Pars won with 79.80m from an off-form Fajdek, who was second with 76.29m, but the Hungarian was exactly a metre short of the distance he needed to snatch the challenge title from his Polish rival.Wlodarczyk could relax a little in Rieti, confident that her rivals were not going to find more than six metres and put her pole position in the challenge under pressure. She won by more than two metres from Lysenko, 76.57m to 73.90m, for her third consecutive victory in the 2013 challenge. &nbsp;Phil Minshull for the IAAF

After the both finished second in the 2012 contest the Polish pair of Pawel Fajdek and Anita Wlodarczyk both moved up a notch to claim the first prize of USD$30,000 in the 2013 IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge.

2013 IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge review

World record-holder Betty Heidler was the major casualty of
a high-quality qualification session, which brought a premature end to the
competition for several prominent names.Heidler, who came into this competition boasting a perfect
eight out of eight competitive record this season, appeared to lack any zip
from the outset. A modest, for her, opener of 68.83m was as good as it got for
the three-time World Championships medallist.The flame-haired thrower looked downbeat after a second-round
throw of 66.41m and feeling the pressure of potential elimination she could
only summon a foul with her final throw. She placed a miserable 18th in
qualification. Down and out.Among the other high profile non-qualifiers was the 2008
Olympic champion Aksana Miankova of Belarus, who could only muster a best of
66.65m to trail back in 22nd.Just one place ahead of her was the 2009 World bronze
medallist Martina Hrasnova, who will also play no further part in the
competition. The 11-times Slovakian champion has been a little below par this
season, and a best throw of just 68.00m brought an abrupt end to her
competition.So with a number of World and Olympic medallists falling by
the wayside it was reassuring that one World champion – of the 2009 vintage –
did make it. Poland’s Anita Wlodarczyk launched the Hammer out to a massive
76.18m in round one – the longest ever qualification throw at a World
Championships and the fifth-best throw in the world this year.Also advancing automatically from pool B with 73.89m was
Russia’s Oksana Kondrateva, the daughter of men’s World Hammer record-holder
Yuriy Sedykh, and the Asian champion Wang Zheng from China, who set a personal
best of 73.17m.Her compatriot, the two-time World bronze medallist Zhang
Wenxiu, also will take her place in the final as she finished top of the pile
in pool A. The Chinese athlete has not really fired this season but chose the
Luzhniki Stadium to produce a 2013 best of 75.15mThe pre-event favourite and defending champion Tatyana
Lysenko survived a first-round wobble to also comfortably advance. The 2012
Olympic gold medallist smashed the Hammer into the cage with her first effort,
but found her groove with the second attempt throwing an easy-looking 74.60m to
take her place in Friday evening’s final.Her compatriot, the European bronze medallist Anna
Bulgakova, had struggled through the first two rounds but exploded into life
with a final effort of 74.83m.A full complement of four Russian athletes progressed with
Gulfiya Khanafeyeva throwing 72.47m to place seventh best overall in
qualification.Another notable qualifier was three-time former World
champion Yipsi Moreno, who was making a record-breaking seventh World Championships
appearance in the women’s Hammer. The 32-year-old Cuban’s best of 71.69m was
enough to secure her the unprecedented status of making her sixth World
Championships final. Steve Landells for
the IAAF

Report: Women’s Hammer qualifying – Moscow 2013

Expectations will be high of a home victory as the host nation Russia boast three of the top five throwers in the world this year.Leading their challenge is the formidable World and Olympic champion Tatyana Lysenko, who will start as the pre-event favourite. The 29-year-old opened the season modestly but in her final pre-World Championship outing, she rediscovered her best by launching the Hammer out to a world-leading mark of 78.15m at the Russian Championships.As a further demonstration of the quality of the throw, it was the eighth longest in history and sets up Lysenko perfectly for a successful defence of her World title.The powerful Russian team is further strengthened by the twin threat of Anna Bulgakova and Oksana Kondratyeva. Bulgakova, the 2012 European bronze medallist, illustrated her medal-winning capabilities by throwing a lifetime best of 76.17m to finish runner-up behind Lysenko at the Russian Championships in Moscow last month.The more experienced Kondratyeva set a personal best of 77.13m back in late June, a performance which places her second on the 2013 world Lists. Since then she landed a silver medal at the World University Games in Kazan and placed third at the Russian Championships and she could also contend. To further beef up the Russian presence, the 2006 European silver medallist Gulfiya Khanafeyeva has also been selected.The main threat to the home challenge will come from two former World champions in Anita Wlodarczyk and Betty Heidler. Wlodarczyk, from Poland, landed this title in 2009, setting what was then a World record. She also won the Olympic silver medal last year to show she should be a major force.The 27-year-old has slowly improved this season, finishing second at the European Team Championships in Gateshead, but in her most recent competition, the Polish Championships, she registered a season’s best mark of 76.93m.Heidler, the World record-holder, will also be a big threat.&nbsp; The German secured the World title in 2007 and won successive silver medals at the 2009 and 2011 editions, and took the bronze behind Lysenko and Wlodarcyzk in London last summer. She is unbeaten for the 2013 campaign and, with a season’s best mark of 76.48m, expect the flame-haired thrower to be in contention.The USA has never had a higher finish than seventh in this event at a World Championships, but hopes are high the Moscow edition could reap a better result. Amanda Bingson made almost a three-metre advance on her previous best when winning the US Championships and the 23-year-old, who set a national record of 75.73m that day, is another to be watched. Her team-mate Jeneva McCall, who has a best of 74.00m and landed the World University Games title last month, is another with good credentials.Belarus’ Aksana Miankova, the 2008 Olympic champion, is another who could threaten at her best. Meanwhile, China’s two-time former World bronze medallist Zhang Wenxiu should not be underestimated. Her season’s best is 74.18m, although she has only competed three times in 2013. Other competitors in the field include five-time Venezuelan champion Rosa Rodriguez (73.64m), British record-holder and recently crowned European under-23 champion Sophie Hitchon (72.97m), Hungarian record-holder Eva Orban (73.44m), Germanys’ Kathrin Klaas (72.57m), who finished fifth at the 2012 Olympics, and Slovakia’s 2009 World bronze medallist Martina Hrasnova (72.41m).Also entered is Cuba’s three-time former World champion Yipsi Moreno, who took the honours in 2001, 2003 and 2005.Click <a href="http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-championships/14th-iaaf-world-championships-4873/athletes">here</a> for OFFICIAL ENTRIES in the Moscow 2013 Athletes’ section.Steve Landells for the IAAF