As we continue our countdown to the start of the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, we reminisce about five special celebrations from previous editions.
&nbsp;
<h3>Eamonn Coghlan</h3>
Helsinki, 1983
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Eamonn Coghlan on the way to winning the 5000m at the 1983 World Championships</div>
&nbsp;
Has there has been a cheekier victory celebration in the 36-year history of the World Championships than that of men&rsquo;s 5000m winner Eamonn Coghlan clenching both his fists in triumph with 150m to go while placed in second?
In truth, the 30-year-old Irishman&rsquo;s outpouring of emotion was pure relief for an athlete who up until that point had consistently disappointed on the major championship stage.
Coghlan, a master indoor miler, trailed Dmitriy Dmitriyev by nearly 10 metres at the bell but slowly reeled in the Soviet athlete and moments before passing the leader let out his little moment of uncontrolled joy before sprinting away to an emphatic victory.
&nbsp;
<h3>Robert Harting</h3>
Berlin, 2009
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Robert Harting, the 2009 world discus throw champion</div>
&nbsp;
Robert Harting was justifiably elated to secure gold in front of his adoring home fans.
For the entire competition he had trailed Piotr Malachowski, who set a Polish record of 69.15m in round five, only for the muscular German to hurl the discus out to a PB of 69.43m in round six.
Cue one of the most bizarre celebrations seen in World Championships history, which involved Harting pretending to eat a microphone, ripping open his vest and tossing 'Berlino the Bear' on to his back. Utterly captivating.
&nbsp;
<h3>Melaine Walker</h3>
Berlin, 2009
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2009 world 400m hurdles champion Melaine Walker</div>
&nbsp;
Melaine Walker had just clocked the second fastest time in history en route to adding the world 400m hurdles title to her Olympic crown from the previous year, so probably deserved better than having her post-race celebration hijacked by Berlino the Bear.
Given a piggy-back ride by the event mascot, who then proceeded to sprint down the back straight, possibly wasn&rsquo;t the wisest idea as Berlino ran headlong into a hurdles cart, depositing the unfortunate Jamaican on her backside. Walker was thankfully uninjured, although, no doubt, a little embarrassed at the unfortunate post-race mishap.
&nbsp;
<h3>Ezekiel Kemboi</h3>
Daegu, 2011
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Dance machine! Ezekiel Kemboi celebrates his steeplechase victory at the 2011 World Championships</div>
&nbsp;
As much as Ezekiel Kemboi was a supreme steeplechase champion &ndash; he won four consecutive world titles from 2009 and 2015 and two Olympic golds &ndash; the mohawk-wearing Kenyan is as much remembered for his exuberant post-race dances.
We could pick any one of his World Championship triumphs for his celebratory craftmanship but we particularly like his 2011 version when after drifting out to lane seven (yes, lane seven) to cross the line in gold, he then busts a move in honour of the great Usain Bolt to light up the Daegu Stadium.
&nbsp;
<h3>Abel Kirui</h3>
Daegu, 2011
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Abel Kirui celebrates his marathon victory at the 2011 World Championships</div>
&nbsp;
Perhaps what marathon winner Abel Kirui lacked in pure artistic merit for his post-race dance can be best explained by the fact he&rsquo;d just completed a gruelling 42.2km in warm and humid conditions.
The Kenyan had enjoyed a perfect day, retaining his world marathon title, and doing so by a victory margin of almost two-and-a-half minutes.
After he crossed the line, Kirui said he suddenly had the feeling he wanted to dance, although as the ever-smiling athlete admitted: &ldquo;As you can see, I danced more with my arms because my legs were tired.&rdquo;
 Steve Landells for the IAAF

As we continue our countdown to the start of the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, we reminisce about five very special celebrations from previous editions.

Fab five: celebrations at the World Championships

Caster Semenya produced another extraordinary result at the 77th ISTAF in Berlin&rsquo;s Olympic Stadium on Sunday (2), a day when 45,500 spectators turned out to honour retiring discus legend Robert Harting.
A year after breaking the world best for 600m at this IAAF World Challenge meeting, the South African stormed to the fifth fastest 1000m time in history. Running without pacemakers Semenya clocked 2:30.70, a world lead and South African record.
Once the field got going at the second attempt after an initial false start, Semenya stormed ahead to take command. Passing 400m in 59.51, she was on schedule for a sub-2:30 time, which could have threatened the 2:28.98 world record set by Russia's Svetlana Masterkova 22 years ago. Running alone, she slowed over the second lap, passing 800m in 2:01.07 before reaching the finish to clip 0.31 from the national record she set earlier this year.
It was a great race, but I was tiring a little bit because I was leading the entire time," said Semenya, competing three days after taking the IAAF Diamond League 800m title in Zurich. "I am very happy with the time. The crowd was fantastic, the meeting and the stadium are amazing."
Behind her Uganda&rsquo;s Halima Nakaayi and Kenya's Nelly Jepkosgei broke national records as well, taking second and third in 2:34.88 and 2:35.30 respectively.
<h3>Freitas takes inaugural ISTAF mile</h3>
For the first time in the long history of the ISTAF a women&rsquo;s mile race was staged. The inaugural honours went to Marta Pen Freitas who won in 4:22.45, breaking the Portuguese national record. Kate Grace of the US was second in 4:23.23 while Germany's Konstanze Klosterhalfen, who led briefly mid-race, finished third in 4:24.27.
"I am happy with my record," said Freitas, who was sixth in the 1500m at the European Championships. "The European Championships did not go that well for me so it is great to come back and win here today. I just graduated from college and will go back to the US and plan my next steps."
Another strong performance came in the women's 3000m steeplechase, won by Colleen Quigley of the US with a personal best of 9:10.27 from Kenyan Daisy Jepkemei who clocked 9:14.66. Further back, Australia's Genevieve Lacaze was third in 9:23.69 ahead of Marusa Mismas who clocked a 9:28.61 national record for Slovenia.
<h3>Ta Lou tops Ahye</h3>
Ivory Coast&rsquo;s Marie-Josee Ta Lou, the fastest woman in the world this year, won the 100m in 11.08 from Trinidad and Tobago's Michelle-Lee Ahye, who clocked 11.13. Finishing strongly Germany's Gina L&uuml;ckenkemper took third in 11.18. At the end of the programme L&uuml;ckenkemper steered the German 4x100m relay to a win, clocking 42.98 ahead of Great Britain (43.19) and Switzerland (43.35).
Three days after his third place finish in the Diamond League final, Olympic javelin champion Thomas R&ouml;hler bounced back in Berlin, winning with 86.50m. Fellow Germans Julian Weber (85.54m) and Zurich winner Andreas Hofmann (85.09m) finished second and third.
"I had a lot of fun today, especially the lap of honour, which felt like at European Championships," Rohler said. "Our German triple triumph felt amazing. We live as one team and all get along very well. That&rsquo;s an important piece of our success. I won today, that was my goal. The result wasn&rsquo;t too important to me, but 86.50m is very good for the end of season."
In the shot put, Christina Schwanitz managed to win in the Olympic Stadium a month after a narrow defeat to Paulina Guba at the European Championships. The German took the Shot Put with 19.25m from Poland's Guba who reached 18.58m.
In the 1500m Timothy Cheruiyot again confirmed his position as the world's number one metric miler. Three days after his triumph in Zurich he won with a fine 3:32.37 from fellow-Kenyan Ferguson Rotich who was nearly a second back in 3:33.21. Ismael Debjani of Belgium was third in 3:34.40.
Jamaican Tyquendo Tracey won the 100m in 10.05 from Panama&rsquo;s Alonso Edward (10.08) and Isiah Young (USA/10.15). This was also the farewell race of 2003 world champion Kim Collins, who finished eighth in the field of nine in 10.45. He later confirmed: "Yes, this was my last race."
<h3>Harting's last hurrah</h3>
At the end it was all about Robert Harting. After a spectacular introduction of athletes it was Harting&rsquo;s brother Christoph who slightly spoiled the party, winning the competition with 65.67m. His brother took second, throwing 64.95m on his very last attempt. Compatriot Martin Wierig was third with 63.67m. Most of the 45,500 spectators stayed in their seats to the end of the competition to celebrate Robert Harting, giving him a perfect farewell.
"This was an amazing goodbye at ISTAF today," said Harting, who won 2008 Olympic gold, three world titles and pair of European crowns during his exemplary career. "I feel very honoured that so many people showed up. I always tried to be good example and we have grown together over the past years. Yesterday, I left home a little sad because I knew when I came back home I won&rsquo;t be a professional athlete anymore. Right now I am really happy and hope I can take all the positive emotions with me."
"Today I felt really great," he continued. "I was in a good mood and I could not think too much about myself because of the amazing crowd that celebrated such a great party. During my career I was especially grateful for the people who let me be the person I really am. I am really proud that everything worked out pretty well.&ldquo;
Jorg Wenig (organisers) for the IAAF

Caster Semenya produced another extraordinary result at the 77th ISTAF in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium on Sunday (2), a day when 45,500 spectators turned out to honour retiring discus legend Robert Harting.

Semenya clocks 2:30.70 in ISTAF 1000m as Harting takes his final bow

German brothers Robert and Christoph Harting, the 2012 and 2016 Olympic discus champions respectively, will clash with last year&rsquo;s world-leading thrower Daniel Stahl at the Bauhaus-galan, an IAAF Diamond League meeting, in Stockholm on 18 June.
Robert Harting dominated the discus for the first half of this decade, winning three consecutive world titles as well as the 2012 Olympic title and the 2012 and 2014 European titles.
But last year it was younger brother Christoph who took over and won Olympic gold, throwing a lifetime best of 68.37m in the final round.
Christoph Harting&rsquo;s winning mark in Rio was a world-leading throw at the time, but it was bettered by Stahl two weeks later at the Swedish Championships when the 24-year-old threw a lifetime best of 68.72m, moving to second on the Swedish all-time list behind former world record-holder Ricky Bruch.
Last weekend Stahl threw beyond 68 metres at two separate competitions in California, backing it up with an additional four throws between 66 and 67 metres.
&ldquo;It is the second-best distance I have thrown,&rdquo; Stahl said after his recent competitions. &ldquo;It feels reasonably good.&rdquo;
His coach, V&eacute;steinn Hafsteinsson, believes that there is potential for more. &ldquo;Daniel is ready for 70 metres,&rdquo; he said.
Stahl&rsquo;s compatriot Axel H&auml;rstedt, who finished 10th in the Olympic final last year, will also compete at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Stockholm.
Organisers for the IAAF
2017 IAAF Diamond League calendar 5 May &ndash; Doha, QAT 13 May &ndash; Shanghai, CHN 27 May &ndash; Eugene, USA 8 Jun &ndash; Rome, ITA 15 Jun &ndash; Oslo, NOR 18 Jun &ndash; Stockholm, SWE 1 Jul &ndash; Paris, FRA 6 Jul &ndash; Lausanne, SUI 9 Jul &ndash; London, GBR 16 Jul &ndash; Rabat, MAR 21 Jul &ndash; Monaco, MON 20 Aug &ndash; Birmingham, GBR 24 Aug &ndash; Zurich, SUI 1 Sep &ndash; Brussels, BEL

German brothers Robert and Christoph Harting, the 2012 and 2016 Olympic discus champions respectively, will clash with last year’s world-leading thrower Daniel Stahl at the Bauhaus-galan, an IAAF Diamond League meeting, in Stockholm on 18 June.

Harting brothers to face Stahl in Stockholm – IAAF Diamond League

The men&rsquo;s discus at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games promises to be a new episode of a favourite TV show with a familiar cast.
Defending champion Robert Harting of Germany arrives as the third best in the world so far this year, having thrown 68.04m in June.
It&rsquo;s a timely return for Harting, who missed the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015 with a knee injury, but before that had won three consecutive world titles. As one of four men with marks beyond 68 metres this year, Harting can expect to be a medal contender once again in Rio.
Harting is an outspoken performer whose victory celebrations are often unpredictable and ethusiaistic.
When he won the 2009 world crown in Berlin, he famously carried the hapless mascot Berlino around the track by his ankles, the costumed bear dangling over Harting&rsquo;s back. In London, he took a run down the 100m hurdles set up on the homestretch.
While experienced, Harting is far from an inevitable champion, as he ahppily acknowledges.
"In 2012 I was at a totally different, much higher level," he said recently. "I have to accept that. I am no longer the hunted, now I'm the hunter, but I like that."
The world leader is Poland&rsquo;s world champion Piotr Malachowski at 68.15m, and a second mark at 68.10m better than any others on the list.
Malachowski won the world title in Beijing last year in Harting&rsquo;s absence, and established himself as a steady championship performer. The current discus leader of the Diamond Race, even Harting has conceded that he has to be considered the favourite.
And not only is Harting not leading the world list for this year, he&rsquo;s not even leading the list for his own family.
Younger brother Christoph Harting stands second on the year&rsquo;s list with a mark two centimetres farther than Robert&rsquo;s. The younger Harting competed last year in Beijing but will be on his biggest stage yet in Rio.
<h3>Big throws expected</h3>
If London&rsquo;s quality of competition is any guide, the winning mark here will be well in excess of Malachowski&rsquo;s year leader, and there are plenty of others in the field capable of beating that mark.
Iran's Ehsan Hadadi, silver medalist in London, is one, although to date this year he has not been impressive.
The world silver and bronze medallists, Philip Milanov of Belgium and Robert Urbanek of Poland, are looking to follow up on their success in the Chinese capital.
Milanov has been the better of the two so far this year, placing second to Malachowski at the Doha stop of the IAAF Diamond League, while Urbanek lingers much further down on the 2016 list.
Another interesting contender is Jamaica&rsquo;s Frederick Dacres, currently fourth on the world list with 68.02m. Dacres was seventh last year in Beijing and represents a broadening base of events where the tiny island nation is a medal threat.
There are no medals for team finishes, but if you&rsquo;re a contender for the final you&rsquo;re more likely to be wearing the uniform of Germany than any other. After the Harting brothers, Daniel Jasinski will be the third entry from Germany, and at ninth on the world list he&rsquo;s only the fourth-best German discus thrower this year.
Parker Morse for the IAAF

The men’s discus at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games promises to be a new episode of a favourite TV show with a familiar cast.

Preview: men's discus – Rio 2016 Olympic Games

The German Olympic Committee (DOSB) has made its final round of nominations for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, meaning 92 athletes will represent Germany in the athletics programme from 12-21 August.
Six of Germany&rsquo;s eight medallists from the 2012 Olympics feature on the team, including defending discus champion Robert Harting.
World shot put champion Christina Schwanitz, winner of the European title last weekend, is also among Germany&rsquo;s top medal hopes.
<h3>German team for Rio</h3>
MEN 100m: Lucas Jakubczyk, Julian Reus 200m: Aleixo-Platini Menga 1500m: Homiyu Tesfaye 5000m: Florian Orth, Richard Ringer Marathon: Arne Gabius, Hendrik Pfeiffer, Philipp Pflieger 20km race walk: Nils Brembach, Christopher Linke, Hagen Pohle 50km race walk: Carl Dohmann, Hagen Pohle 110m hurdles: Matthias Buhler, Alexander John, Gregor Traber 400m hurdles: Tobias Giehl High jump: Eike Onnen, Mateusz Przybylko Pole vault: Karsten Dilla, Raphael Holzdeppe, Tobias Scherbarth Long jump: Alyn Camara, Fabian Heinle Triple jump: Max Hess Shot put: Tobias Dahm, David Storl Discus: Christoph Harting, Robert Harting, Daniel Jasinski Javelin: Thomas Rohler, Johannes Vetter, Julian Weber Decathlon: Arthur Abele, Rico Freimuth, Kai Kazmirek 4x100m: Robin Erewa, Robert Hering, Lucas Jakubczyk, Sven Knipphals, Alexander Kosenkow, Julian Reus, Roy Schmidt
WOMEN 100m: Rebekka Haase, Tatjana Pinto 200m: Nadine Gonska, Gina L&uuml;ckenkemper, Lisa Mayer 400m: Ruth Sophia Spelmeyer 800m: Christina Hering, Fabienne Kohlmann 1500m: Konstanze Klosterhalfen, Maren Kock, Diana Sujew Marathon: Anna Hahner, Lisa Hahner, Anja Scherl 100m hurdles: Pamela Dutkiewicz, Nadine Hildebrand, Cindy Roleder 400m hurdles: Jackie Baumann 3000m steeplechase: Sanaa Koubaa, Gesa Felicitas Krause, Maya Rehberg High jump: Marie-Laurence Jungfleisch Pole vault: Annika Roloff, Lisa Ryzih, Martina Strutz Long jump: Malaika Mihambo, Sosthene Taroum Moguenara, Alexandra Wester Triple jump: Jenny Elbe, Kristin Gierisch Shot put: Sara Gambetta, Christina Schwanitz, Lena Urbaniak Discus: Shanice Craft, Julia Fischer, Nadine Muller Hammer: Betty Heidler, Kathrin Klaas, Charlene Woitha Javelin: Christin Hussong, Christina Obergfoll, Linda Stahl Heptathlon: Jennifer Oeser, Claudia Rath, Carolin Schafer 4x100m: Alexandra Burghardt, Rebekka Haase, Yasmin Kwadwo, Gina Luckenkemper, Lisa Mayer, Tatjana Pinto 4x400m: Daniela Ferenz, Lara Hoffmann, Laura M&uuml;ller, Friederike Mohlenkamp, Ruth Sophia Spelmeyer

The German Olympic Committee (DOSB) has made its final round of nominations for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, meaning 92 athletes will represent Germany in the athletics programme from 12-21 August.

Harting and Schwanitz headline Germany’s Olympic team for Rio

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 

A further 11 global medallists have confirmed that they will compete at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Birmingham at the Alexander Stadium on Sunday 5 June, the meeting organisers announced on Monday (16).
The men&rsquo;s 200m at the Alexander Stadium looks set to be one of the events of the day as the USA&rsquo;s world indoor 60m champion Trayvon Bromell will be up against Canada&rsquo;s Andre De Grasse.
Bromell and De Grasse, 20 and 21 respectively, have established themselves among the world&rsquo;s best young sprinting talents and will meet over 200m in Birmingham.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really looking forward to testing myself over 200m at the Birmingham Diamond League," said Bromell. "I&rsquo;ve had some close competitions with Andre (De Grasse) at collegiate level and especially in Beijing last summer, and it will be good to compete against him in a 200m.
&ldquo;My indoor season went well and it was a great moment for me winning the world indoor title in Portland in front of an American crowd, but now I&rsquo;m fully focused on the outdoors and Birmingham will be an important meet in my preparations for the Olympics.&rdquo;
&ldquo;The Birmingham Diamond League will be a great meet and I can&rsquo;t wait to go and compete there," said De Grasse. "This is a really important summer for me and hopefully I can run a good 200m in Birmingham to set me in the right direction for the Olympics.&rdquo;
Kendra Harrison, who set a world-leading time of 12.36 last month, will take on a stacked 100m hurdles field which includes her US teammates Kristi Castlin, Dawn Harper Nelson, Brianna Rollins and Nia Ali as well as Great Britain&rsquo;s European champion Tiffany Porter and Australia&rsquo;s Olympic champion Sally Pearson.
Two-time world champion Caterine Ibarguen will headline the women&rsquo;s triple jump event and the Colombian could produce Alexander Stadium's first ever 15-metre jump.
Elsewhere in the field, Germany's Olympic champion Robert Harting will go up against Poland's world champion Piotr Malachowski in the discus.
Marina Arzamasova from Belarus and Germany's Katharina Molitor, the world champions in the 800m and javelin respectively, add further depth to a series of stunning fields in Birmingham.
Organisers for the IAAF
2016 IAAF Diamond League calendar 6 May &ndash; Doha, QAT 14 May &ndash; Shanghai, CHN 22 May &ndash; Rabat, MAR 28 May &ndash; Eugene, USA 2 Jun &ndash; Rome, ITA 5 Jun &ndash; Birmingham, GBR 9 Jun &ndash; Oslo, NOR 16 Jun &ndash; Stockholm, SWE 15 Jul &ndash; Monaco, MON 22-23 Jul &ndash; London, GBR 25 Aug &ndash; Lausanne, SUI 27 Aug &ndash; Paris, FRA 1 Sep &ndash; Zurich, SUI 9 Sep &ndash; Brussels, BEL

A further 11 global medallists have confirmed that they will compete at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Birmingham on Sunday 5 June, the meeting organisers announced on Monday (16).

Bromell, De Grasse and Ibarguen among the latest names for Birmingham – IAAF Diamond League

Statisticians Mirko Jalava and A Lennart Julin look back on the best throwing performances of the year.<h3>Men&rsquo;s shot put </h3> The 25-year-old US shot putter Joe Kovacs became the latest addition to the 22-metre club with a world-leading 22.03m toss to win at the US Championships in July, but the arguable number one athlete in the event this year is someone who is still not yet a member of this club. David Storl, the winner of the past two world titles, had a breathtaking season with 22 wins out of 28 competitions, indoors and out. The 24-year-old German came close to the 22-metre line with a 21.97m personal best at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in London in July and had several important wins during the season.Ryan Whiting, who was impressive during the indoor season, handed Storl one of his losses at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland, back in March. The 28-year-old US athlete won with 22.05m and earlier won the US Indoor Championships with a world-leading indoor mark of 22.23m. Storl, who finished second in Sopot with 21.79m, went on to win his second successive European title in Zurich with 21.41m before adding an impressive 21.55m win at the IAAF Continental Cup at the end of the season.Reese Hoffa won 10 of his 17 meetings and the 37-year-old only once finished outside the top three. Hoffa&rsquo;s best result of 21.88m came at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Zurich. O&rsquo;Dayne Richards made good progress during the season. The 25-year-old Jamaican didn&rsquo;t make the World Indoor final, but after his first ever 21-metre throw in Kingston in May, when he reached 21.11m, he found the big throws at the right times. At the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, his fourth effort of 21.61m was a national record and brought him the title. He went on to finish second at the Continental Cup behind Storl with 21.10m.<h3>Men&rsquo;s discus </h3> Robert Harting might not have ripped his jersey apart following his second successive European title, but otherwise it was business as usual for the German. The 30-year-old soldier suffered his only defeat (in addition to an unusual indoor meeting loss in March) in his second outdoor outing of the season in May in Halle, where Poland&rsquo;s Piotr Malachowski won with a world-leading 69.28m against Harting&rsquo;s 68.28m.After that, the German scored 12 straight wins, including another European title in Zurich to make it 13 wins in 14 meets in 2014 with his season&rsquo;s best of 68.47m coming at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Hengelo in June.Malachowski produced the world-leading mark early in the season but had no answer to Harting during the rest of the summer. The 2010 European champion was left out of the medals this time with a fourth-place finish in Zurich at the European Championships. Gerd Kanter was only ninth on the 2014 world list but, like usual, there were a few athletes ahead of him who were also capable of duplicating their best results on the big occasion. The 35-year-old Estonian got better towards the end of the season and got his best result in his last competition of the year, on home soil in P&auml;rnu, with a 66.28m toss. Kanter also grabbed his third European silver medal in Zurich in addition to his second places in 2006 and 2012.<h3>Men&rsquo;s hammer </h3> There was a surprise early season world leader, and new 80-metre club member, with Egypt&rsquo;s Mostafa Hicham Al-Gamal throwing 81.27m for an African record in Cairo back in March.The 26-year-old had a little trouble getting into the groove in Europe later, but found his rhythm again in August winning the African Championships in Marrakech with 79.09m and later placing second at the IAAF Continental Cup in the same stadium with 78.89m.However, Krisztian Pars was again the top thrower in the world. The 32-year-old Hungarian won his second straight European title with an 82.69m personal best in Zurich in August. Overall, Pars competed 21 times during the season winning 16 competitions including, at various times, four world-leading performances. Pawel Fajdek started the season with plenty of throws at 78-79 metres, but the Pole hit his first world-leading mark with a personal best of 82.37m in Velenje in July. The 25-year-old then finished a close second behind Pars in Zurich with 82.05m before smashing the Polish record with a 83.48m effort in Warsaw in August at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial meeting. The fourth athlete over the 80-metre line in 2014 was three-time Asian Games winner Dilshod Nazarov from Tajikistan with 80.62m in Ostrava in June.<h3>Men&rsquo;s javelin </h3>It was an unusual season in this event with plenty of unexpected things happening. Firstly, the consensus number one thrower of the season only placed seventh in the 2014 world list. Tero Pitkamaki was sixth in his season&rsquo;s opener in Shanghai, but after that the Finn placed in the top three in the rest of his 12 meetings during the season. The 31-year-old threw a 86.63m season&rsquo;s best at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Paris and won a bronze medal at the European Championships.The furthest throw of the season came in the first IAAF Diamond League meeting of the season in Shanghai and in the first round as well. Egypt&rsquo;s Ihab Abdelrahman El Sayed, coached by a Finn, Petteri Piironen, hit the jackpot with his first throw of 89.21m, eclipsing Marius Corbett&rsquo;s African record of 88.75m from 1998. The 25-year-old made a massive improvement of more than five metres to his previous personal best. Abdelrahman&rsquo;s rest of the season did not continue as smoothly, but he did get back to form in July with an 87.10m win against Pitk&auml;m&auml;ki in Paris. After finishing with a silver medal at the African Championships behind Kenya&rsquo;s Julius Yego, he came back to win at the IAAF Continental Cup with 85.44m.Yego also won the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow while Antti Ruuskanen surprised everyone at the European Championships in Zurich. The 30-year-old Finn unleashed an 88.01m personal best for the win and added another victory in Stockholm with 87.24m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting there. Germany&rsquo;s Thomas R&ouml;hler did not succeed at the Europeans, but won at the IAAF Diamond League final in Zurich with an impressive personal best of 87.63m.Czech Republic&rsquo;s world champion V&iacute;tezslav Vesely&rsquo;s season was far from perfect, but he still came up with the silver medal at the European Championships.But there was one more surprise to come late in the season In the South Korean city of Inchon, at the Asian Games, 29-year-old Zhao Qinggang entered the competition with an 81.18m season&rsquo;s best but broke the Chinese record twice with 85.29m and 86.50m before an extraordinary 89.15m Asian record with his last throw, only six centimetres adrift from Abdelrahman El Sayed&rsquo;s world-leading mark.<h3>Women&rsquo;s shot put </h3> Despite returning from a couple of operations in the autumn of 2013 and some new injury problems, this was another great year in the &lsquo;Valerie Adams Era&rsquo; which saw her being crowned as the female World Athlete of the Year.Even though she was not able to uphold her 20-metre-plus streak, which had dated back to August 2010, the affable New Zealander did manage to keep her multiple-year winning streak intact and her victories included wins at the IAAF World Indoor Championships, the Commonwealth Games and in the Diamond Race.Just as clear-cut as number two was Germany&rsquo;s Christina Schwanitz who won all her competitions except the five &ndash; the World Indoor Championships and four IAAF Diamond League meetings&nbsp;&ndash; where she faced Adams. Schwanitz, who won the IAAF Continental Cup when Adams was a last-minute withdrawal due to injury, was also the only one besides Adams to go beyond 20 metres.Eight more putters surpassed 19 metres during 2014 but only three of those could be classified as consistent at that level: USA&rsquo;s Michelle Carter, China&rsquo;s Gong Lijiao and Russia&rsquo;s Yevgeniya Kolodko.Newcomers over 19 metres this year were Hungary&rsquo;s Anita Marton, USA&rsquo;s Felisha Johnson and Belarus&rsquo; Alyona Dubitskaya who all are 24-25 years old and who have been gradually improving over the years.With the exception of super-talents like Adams who reached 19 metres before turning 20, this is an event where you clearly need time to achieve great distances so it is no coincidence that the top three of 2014 this year turned 30 (Adams) or 29 (Schwanitz and Carter).Consequently, we will have to be patient about progress of teenage talents like China&rsquo;s 2011 world youth champion and 2014 world junior champion Guo Tianqian and Turkey&rsquo;s 2013 world youth champion Emel Dereli who both have just started to throw about 18 metres.<h3>Women&rsquo;s discus </h3> Sandra Perkovic has dominated this event for the past three years and in 2014 she was throwing better than ever, finally surpassing the 70-metre barrier; not just once, but three times. Her top mark of 71.08m came at the European Championships and was the longest throw in the world since 1992. Even more impressive was that Perkovic achieved it in Zurich, inside a stadium in a championship setting.Despite her dominance, Perkovic did not manage to stay undefeated again. In 2012, she had one loss to Dani Samuels; in 2013, one to Gia Lewis-Smallwood; and in 2014, one to Lewis-Smallwood at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Glasgow and one to both Lewis-Smallwood and Samuels at the IAAF Continental Cup. The story of Lewis-Smallwood&rsquo;s rise to the world elite is one of the most remarkable. While both Perkovic, European champion at 20, and Samuels, world champion at 21, had early successes, the US thrower is the archetypal late bloomer. She was almost 30 before she reached 60 metres, had to wait two more years to get on the US national team and then another two years before she reached an international championship final.This year at age 34, she set a US record of 69.17m and won at the IAAF Continental Cup.Behind the quite distinct top three, it seems that Germany and Cuba are providing the prospects for the future. Leading that group of throwers born in the 1990s is Germany&rsquo;s 2012 world junior shot put champion Shanice Craft, who demonstrated consistency around 64 metres throughout the whole summer and who performed well in the major events.<h3>Women&rsquo;s hammer </h3> World records are nowadays few and far between in stadium events, so when Anita Wlodarczyk sent her hammer flying out to 79.58m at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Berlin on 31 August, it certainly was one of the highlights of the year.Except for a loss to previous record-holder Betty Heidler in her seasonal opener in Ostrava, Wlodarczyk ruled the event. She won her other six competitions and her shortest mark of the year, 75.21m, was surpassed by only five others. Inevitably, Wlodarczyk won the IAAF Hammer Challenge handily with Heidler in second.Except for Wlodarczyk&rsquo;s exploits, 2014 was a fairly quiet year for the hammer. Russia&rsquo;s Tatyana Lysenko, who took the 2013 world title, ended her season early after just a few meetings where she had been throwing some ten metres below her previous level and later announced she was pregnant.Heidler was the only serious challenger to Wlodarczyk but the German once more was lacking consistency on the big occasion and had to be content with fifth place at the Europeans.One of the most interesting recent trends in the women&rsquo;s hammer world is the ever-stronger presence of the North American throwers. This year, Canada&rsquo;s Sultana Frizell is in fourth place on the world list with her area record of 75.73m and, behind her, there are two US women in the top 10.<h3>Women&rsquo;s javelin </h3> World record-holder Barbora Spotakova stayed away from the event, apart from one end-of-season outing, in 2013 to become a mother but still immediately reclaimed the number one position in the world. The only small blemish in her 2014 record was second place in the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Birmingham where she was surprised by Canada&rsquo;s inspired Liz Gleadle.Otherwise, it was Spotakova all the way from the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Rome, which she won by more than three metres, in early June on to the Europeans in August and then to the IAAF Diamond League final in Brussels, which she also won by more than three metres before finishing off her season with a win at the IAAF Continental Cup in September. However, Spotakova might find it tougher next year when her two previous main rivals &ndash; Russia&rsquo;s Mariya Abakumova and Germany&rsquo;s Christina Obergf&ouml;ll &ndash; are scheduled to return after taking 2014 off to start their own families.Also likely to be reckoned with even more next year are Australia&rsquo;s Kim Mickle and South Africa&rsquo;s Sunette Viljoen, who had the Commonwealth Games and the African Championships as main priorities. Mickle won in Glasgow ahead of Viljoen and the latter then took her continental title in Marrakech. Currently the top echelon in the event consists of throwers close to, or already in, their 30s, so an obvious question is: &ldquo;Are there any new challengers on the horizon?&rdquo;On the brink in 2014 were two 23-year-olds: Serbia&rsquo;s Tatjana Jelaca who was a surprise second at the Europeans, and Ukraine&rsquo;s Hanna Hatsko-Fedusova who raised her best by almost six metres to 67.29m.Mirko Jalava (men&rsquo;s events) and A Lennart Julin (women&rsquo;s events) for the IAAF

Statisticians A Lennart Julin and Mirko Jalava look back on the best throwing performances of the year.

2014 end-of-year reviews – throws

In his past five wins on the IAAF Diamond League circuit, Jairus Birech has looked almost unbeatable. Tonight he was pushed all the way by European record-holder Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad, but the Kenyan pulled out his first sub-eight-minute performance to secure the Diamond Race title. Led through the first 1000m in 2:38.41, Mekhissi-Benabbad was keeping close to the pacemaker before Birech took up the running and went through 2000m in 5:21.31, with the tempo slipping just outside eight-minute pace.Determined to become the 11th member of the sub-eight-minute club, Birech pushed the pace in the closing kilometre, opening up a gap on Mekhissi-Benabbad before the final lap. The 21-year-old Kenyan continued to pull away from his French rival and stopped the clock at 7:58.41, taking him to 10th on the world all-time list.Mekhissi-Benabbad had to be content with a season’s best and European lead of 8:03.23. In third, USA’s Evan Jager set a North American record of 8:04.71.“I felt strong before the race,” said Birech. “My aim was to run under eight minutes and I did it. I have reached all my goals this year: to win the Diamond Race, become African champion and run under eight minutes.”Fellow Kenyan Mercy Cherono did what was required – beating world indoor champion Genzebe Dibaba – to win the Diamond Race in the women’s 3000m.A large group was huddled together for much of the race and it was only on the last lap when the real racing began.European 1500m champion Sifan Hassan led at the bell with 2011 world 1500m champion Jenny Simpson on her shoulder and Cherono down in seventh. With 200 metres to go, Cherono began to make her move and she kicked hard as she entered the home straight.The world 5000m silver medallist did just enough to overtake Hassan, taking the win in 8:28.95. Hassan found some consolation in the fact she set a Dutch record of 8:29.38, becoming just the second woman in history after Maryam Yusuf Jamal to have personal bests below 2:00 for 800m, 4:00 for 1500m, 8:30 for 3000m and 15:00 for 5000m.Dibaba finished third in 8:29.41. In fourth, Simpson set a personal best of 8:29.58, just 0.35 ahead of US compatriot Shannon Rowbury, who also dipped below 8:30.Kiplagat defeated but does enough to win Diamond RaceThe men’s 1500m was one of the tighter Diamond Race competitions coming into Brussels and it did not disappoint.World champion Asbel Kiprop, world leader Silas Kiplagat and world indoor champion Ayanleh Souleiman were all in contention for the Diamond Race victory. Olympic champion Taoufik Makhloufi was also in the race and was always in a good position.Paced through 800m in 1:52.99, Ethiopia’s Aman Wote was in the lead with 300 metres to go. Makhloufi then moved to the front with half a lap remaining, only for Kiplagat to kick hard.The Kenyan came close to catching the Algerian, but Makhloufi held on for the win in 3:31.78, just 0.02 ahead of Kiplagat. The fast-finishing Souleiman was just a further 0.02 behind. Nevertheless, by beating his top two rivals, Kiplagat maintained his lead in the Diamond Race.Felix back on topThe narrowest leading margin of any Diamond Race event heading into Brussels was in the women’s 200m. Olympic champion Allyson Felix and Commonwealth champion Blessing Okagbare were the only two women left in contention with just two points separating them.If anything, European champion Dafne Schippers – who beat both Felix and Okagbare in their last 200m clash – was the marginal pre-race favourite, but there was no stopping Felix tonight. She was already in the lead coming off the bend and she held that position as she strode down the home straight, looking every bit back to her best. Her winning time of 22.02 shaved 0.01 off Schippers’ world-leading mark. It was also Felix’s fastest time since winning Olympic gold in 2012.In second, France’s Myriam Soumare surprised with a personal best of 22.11, finishing 0.19 ahead of Schippers, the woman who defeated her twice at the European Championships. Okagbare was never a factor, finishing sixth in 22.60.Conversely, the men’s long jump was one of the most wide-open events in terms of the Diamond Race. Any one of the 11 men on the start list could have, in theory, taken the overall victory.Ultimately, the winner – the in-form Godfrey Mokoena – wasn’t too big of a surprise. The South African, who this year has won Commonwealth Games and African titles, jumped a season’s best of 8.19m to win.Ignisious Gaisah of the Netherlands was second with 8.06m, finishing ahead of USA’s Christian Taylor on count-back.Harting wins discus but Malachowski takes Diamond RaceTo take the Diamond Race, Germany’s three-time world champion Robert Harting not only had to win the discus, but he had to make sure Polish rival Piotr Malachowski was two places behind.While he succeeded in his first goal, throwing 67.57m, Malachowski was a close second, throwing 67.35m, ensuring he kept his lead in the Diamond Race.Kenya’s world champion Eunice Sum had her lowest finish in an 800m race this year, but it mattered little to a woman who had already done enough earlier in the season to win the Diamond Race.USA’s world bronze medallist Brenda Martinez was the surprise winner, bursting into the lead with 200m to go and holding off a strong challenge from Lynsey Sharp and Sum to win in 1:58.84.Sharp clocked 1:58.94 in second place with Sum in third but given the same time.Williams-Mills and Martinot-Lagarde take Diamond Race victoriesOlympic champion Sanya Richards-Ross notched up her second IAAF Diamond League 400m victory of the season, winning in 49.98, but it wasn’t enough to stop Jamaica’s Novlene Williams-Mills from winning the Diamond Race.Finishing behind Commonwealth champion Stephenie Ann McPherson, who set a season’s best of 50.12, Williams-Mills was third in 50.42, bringing her winning points tally in the Diamond Race to 20.French sprint hurdler Pascal Martinot-Lagarde was another athlete who had an unbeatable lead in the Diamond Race going into Brussels. For the fifth time in the 2014 IAAF Diamond League series, he bagged maximum points in the 110m hurdles, winning in 13.08.Cuba’s Orlando Ortega clocked 13.13 in second place, 0.09 ahead of European champion Sergey Shubenkov. USA’s Olympic champion Aries Merritt, competing on the same track on which he set his 12.80 world record two years ago, finished a distant seventh in 13.37.On the 15th anniversary of Noah Ngeny’s world 1000m record, the Kenyan’s mark went unchallenged in the non-IAAF Diamond League event. After being paced through 800m in 1:48.8, the Polish pair of Adam Kszczot and Marcin Lewandowski led coming into the home straight. World 800m champion Mohammed Aman then made his move and although it was enough to catch Lewandowski, he could not quite reach European 800m champion Kszczot before the line.Kszczot won in a national record of 2:15.72, just 0.03 ahead of the Ethiopian record set by Aman, with Lewandowski was just a further 0.04 behind in third.Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

In his past five wins on the IAAF Diamond League circuit, Jairus Birech has looked almost unbeatable but in Brussels he was pushed all the way by European record-holder Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad. However, the Kenyan pulled out his first run under eight minutes to secure the Diamond Race title. 

Birech breaks the eight-minute barrier in Brussels – IAAF Diamond League

The ISTAF Berlin meeting, part of the 2014 IAAF World Challenge, promised big throws, and it delivered. Unfortunately, for the home crowd, the best throw of the day saw Poland&rsquo;s Anita Wlodarczyk deprive local star Betty Heidler of her hammer world record* with a huge effort of 79.58m on Sunday (31).The European champion, who in 2009 had set a previous world record of 77.96m at the IAAF World Championships which were also held in Berlin&rsquo;s famous Olympic stadium, led from the outset.She opened her series with 75.29m before unleashing her world record throw in the second round, adding 16 centimetres to the mark set by Germany's Betty Heidler in 2011.Wlodarczyk continued to threaten the 80-metre line with her remaining attempts, throwing 78.46m, 79.04m, 78.64m and 77.94m to put together the greatest series of all time.Any one of her attempts would have been enough to win, as Heidler finished second with 75.20m. The contest was also part of the 2014 IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge. &ldquo;It feels great to throw a world record. A hammer thrower getting a standing ovation, that&rsquo;s crazy,&rdquo; laughed Wlodarczyk after deservedly taking the plaudits from the 50,000 crowd. &ldquo;I would have liked to throw 80 metres, I had it targeted today and I had a good feeling beforehand. I know I am capable of it."German throwing supremacy continuesHowever, it was certainly not all doom and gloom for the German throwers, as poster boy Robert Harting put on a stellar performance for his home crowd to take his fifth consecutive ISTAF discus victory.The 29-year-old led the competition from the start and was crowned winner with a 68.21m performance, just 26cm short of his season&rsquo;s best and a distance only he and one other man have beaten this year.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s normally difficult to find form after your season&rsquo;s highlight,&rdquo; said the recently crowned European champion. &ldquo;The atmosphere was superb, so it felt like the easiest competition I&rsquo;ve had all season.&rdquo;Lithuania&rsquo;s Virgilijus Alekna was sent off into retirement as the loudspeakers of Berlin&rsquo;s iconic Olympic stadium played &lsquo;Time to Say Goodbye&rsquo; for the double former world and Olympic champion, who ended his professional career with a 61.84m throw.With the support of the home crowd, it was just as easy for David Storl as it was for Harting to continue his fine form in the men&rsquo;s shot put. With a 21.41m second-round throw, he finished ahead of USA's Ryan Whiting, and only missed out on the meeting record by 21 centimetres. After several injury struggles this season, Storl will now undergo knee surgery on 18 September in order to help him defend his world title next summer. Despite being the odds-on favourite, it was only a close victory for fellow European champion Christina Schwanitz. Everything happened in the sixth and final round of the women&rsquo;s shot as five out of the eight throwers achieved their best results. Schwanitz edged out Yevgenia Kolodko 19.53m to 19.43m, which was a season&rsquo;s best for the Russian.There was also some good jumping as Poland&rsquo;s former world champion and 2014 European silver medallist Pawel Wojciechowski took the men&rsquo;s pole vault victory with a season&rsquo;s best of 5.80m, while the Netherlands&rsquo; world silver medallist Ignisious Gaisah won the long jump with 8.13m.Blanket finishesThe men&rsquo;s 800m was a close affair on the finish line as personal and season&rsquo;s bests tumbled. Poland&rsquo;s Adam Kszczot led the race going into the home straight before Algeria&rsquo;s Olympic 1500m champion Taoufik Makhloufi soared past him. It was, however, Ethiopia's world champion Mohammed Aman who stole victory on the line in 1:43.52, 0.01 ahead of Makhloufi who got a personal best.The women&rsquo;s 100m was equally close as Jamaica&rsquo;s Kerron Stewart and USA&rsquo;s Joanna Atkins could only be separated with the help of the photo finish, with Stewart taking a narrow victory of 11.25 over second-placed Atkins&rsquo; 11.26.In the men&rsquo;s 400m, it was Botswana&rsquo;s Isaac Makwala and Britain&rsquo;s Martyn Rooney who were battling it out right to the end. Makwala beat the European champion by 0.03 to win in 45.11.Tiffany Porter had all the reason to celebrate in the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles. Coming out of the blocks with a strong start, world champion Brianna Rollins caught up with her, but the Briton managed to fight back convincingly to take the victory in 12.64.In the men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles, it was a Cuban one-two, as Orlando Ortega put on a stellar performance of 13.08 to leave the rest of the field more than two tenths behind him. Dayron Robles came second, while meeting and world record-holder Aries Merritt, who has been struggling with injury the past two seasons, came fifth.Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s Richard Thompson pipped Dentarius Locke on the line to take the 100m victory in 10.15.Late season&rsquo;s bests tumble&nbsp; In the men&rsquo;s 5000m, Kenyan pair Augustine Choge and John Kipkoech initially looked good for the first two places as they entered the home straight, only for USA&rsquo;s Bernard Lagat to come along and split them up.All three recorded season&rsquo;s bests with Choge taking the victory in 13:06.12 ahead of Lagat in 13:06.68.Meanwhile, in the men&rsquo;s 1500m there were celebrations for the Ethiopians as Mekonnen Gebremedhin overcame his compatriot Aman Wote, recording a personal best of 3:33.24 with the latter 0.08 further back and Kenya&rsquo;s Vincent Kibet third in a personal best of 3:33.58.Bahrain&rsquo;s Ruth Jebet ran a fine race in the 3000m steeplechase with a convincing victory of 9:26.94. European champion and national hero Antje Moldner-Schmidt finished fifth in 9:34.49, but was happy to have finished the season with her second-fastest time of the year.Michelle Sammet for the IAAF*subject to the usual ratification procedures

The ISTAF Berlin meeting, part of the 2014 IAAF World Challenge, promised big throws, and it delivered. Unfortunately, for the home crowd, the best throw of the day saw Poland’s Anita Wlodarczyk deprive local star Betty Heidler of her hammer world record* with a huge effort of 79.58m on Sunday (31).

Wlodarczyk breaks hammer world record in Berlin

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

Mutaz Essa Barshim won the latest high jump battle with his arch rival Bogdan Bondarenko at the Sainsbury’s Birmingham Grand Prix, an IAAF Diamond League meeting, as both men cleared 2.38m in another high quality contest that caught the imagination of the 13,000 capacity crowd on Sunday (24).Barshim had beaten the Ukrainian in Rome when he leapt 2.41m but Bondarenko came out on top in their stunning competition in New York when both cleared 2.42m and the latter won again in Monaco before going on to claim the European title in Zurich last week.However, the Qatari was the slightly fresher man this time and won on count-back with a clean card from 2.24m to 2.35m while Bondarenko failed his first attempt at 2.28m.Canada’s Derek Drouin and USA’s Erik Kynard both needed three tries to clear 2.32m, and the pair fell away at 2.35m, leaving the two principles to battle it out.And what a battle it was.Barshim was jumping first so after two fails at 2.38m, he was the first to face elimination. He watched the women’s two milers go by, settled himself and arched over the bar. It was a stadium record for the Qatari, but there was little time to celebrate. Bondarenko now had to respond; and respond he did. Taking off further away from the bar, the Ukrainian attacked at speed and swept over.Barshim was first to fail at 2.41m, leaving Bondarenko with one jump to win. He was close, merely brushing the bar with his heels on his third effort, but not close enough and Barshim took his second IAAF Diamond League victory to close the gap in the Diamond Race to four points.“I’m happy I got the win which is all that matters,” said Barshim “It’s the battle they are all talking about: Barshim versus Bondarenko.“I’ve got a lot of competitions coming up so there is a lot to still compete for.”Ibarguen extends winning streakThe high jumpers may have it all to play for in the Diamond Race, but Caterine Ibarguen clinched victory in the triple jump with her fifth IAAF Diamond League win of 2014. The Colombian world champion has dominated the event for the past two years and leads the 2014 world list by almost half a metre with 15.31m. She didn’t need to reach that sort of distance this afternoon, her first-round effort of 14.52m enough to take the four points ahead of Kazakhstan’s Olympic champion Olga Rypakova, who was competing for the first time since September 2012, having given birth last year.All five of Ibarguen’s attempts were beyond 14.30m, while her closest challenger in the Diamond Race, Jamaica’s Kimberley Williams, could only finish fourth with 14.04m, behind another Colombian Yosiris Urrutia.Valerie Adams came to Birmingham knowing she already had the shot put Diamond Race in the bag, but the giant New Zealander had plenty to celebrate nevertheless as she clocked up her 55th consecutive victory in a low-key contest.Adams’s first-round effort of 19.96m was enough to beat Germany’s European champion Christina Schwanitz, although she posted two more efforts over 19.90m. Schwanitz was clear in second with 19.27m. While one win-streak goes on and on, another came to an end in the women’s javelin when Barbora Spotakova lost her first contest of 2014.The great Czech struggled to find her rhythm early on, as she did at the European Championships in Zurich last week, but this time she was unable to reproduce her late-late win and relinquished victory to Elizabeth Gleadle.Both produced their best efforts in the second round, the Canadian throwing 64.49m to Spotakova’s 62.89m, some 10 metres short of the latter’s world record, and Spotakova was just relieved not to lose ground to her main Diamond Race rivals.“The most important thing is the points,” she said. “Elizabeth won today and it was good as she took points away from my rivals.”Slovenia’s Martina Ratej, who is second in the standings, was fourth today behind Germany’s former European champion Linda Stahl.Fabiana Murer was another big name casualty, the Brazilian failing to clear her opening pole vault height of 4.47m. Jenn Suhr struggled too, hampered by a damaged hand, and the Olympic champion went out at 4.57m, leaving two Greeks with the spoils.Ekaterini Stefinidi was the only one over 4.57m and took maximum points from compatriot Nikoleta Kiriakopoulou.Harting gets second win in as many days The men’s discus kept the crowd entertained early on as the lead changed hands numerous times in the opening three rounds until Robert Harting, who had won in Warsaw on Saturday and made a mad dash across half of Europe to be in Birmingham, found his range and whipped one out to 66.27m to lead at half way.With victory in the bag, the German duly hit 67.57m to end the competition. Diamond Race leader Piotr Malachowski was second with 64.98m, the Pole maintaining a six-point lead in the standings with one contest left.There was disappointment for the home crowd when Greg Rutherford could finish no higher than fourth in a close long jump contest, the reigning Olympic, Commonwealth and European champion reaching only 8.04m.Olympic triple jump champion Christian Taylor snatched victory in the sixth round by one centimetre from South Africa’s Zarck Visser with 8.09m, China’s Li Jinzhe was third with 8.06m.Matthew Brown for the IAAF

Mutaz Essa Barshim won the latest high jump battle with his arch rival Bogdan Bondarenko at the Sainsbury’s Birmingham Grand Prix, an IAAF Diamond League meeting, as both men cleared 2.38m in another high quality contest that caught the imagination of the 13,000 capacity crowd on Sunday (24).