Britain's world 1500m champion Jake Wightman is to step up in distance and take on the 2000m when he races at the Birmingham World Indoor Tour Final, part of the 2023&nbsp;World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold&nbsp;series, at the Utilita Arena on 25 February.
Wightman has enjoyed a landmark 2022 track season as he added European 800m silver and Commonwealth 1500m bronze to his ever-growing medal collection, following his triumph in Oregon where he beat Norway's Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen to world gold.
As he sets his targets for 2023, the Birmingham World Indoor Tour Final will see Wightman keen to impress the Utilita Arena&nbsp;crowd as he competes in front of home support for the first time since the Commonwealth Games in August.
The 2000m has an illustrious history at the Birmingham venue as it is where Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele set the world indoor best of&nbsp;4:49.99 back in 2007.
"When I was offered the chance to run indoors over 2000m in Birmingham next February, I couldn&rsquo;t resist," said Wightman. "I love testing myself over-distance and the chance to go for a fast time on that track isn&rsquo;t something you get to do every day.
"The Birmingham crowd have always been amazing for me and the reception I got at the Commonwealth Games this summer after winning the World Championships was pretty memorable. If they can make half that noise for me in February, I&rsquo;ll be well on my way to a fast time."
The Birmingham World Indoor Tour Final is the last of the seven meetings that in 2023 will make up the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold series. The season starts in Karlsruhe, Germany, on 27 January before stops in Boston, Torun, New York, Lievin, Madrid and then Birmingham.
Keely Hodgkinson has already been announced for the&nbsp;Birmingham World Indoor Tour Final, while&nbsp;Katie Nageotte and Sandi Morris have been named for the Millrose Games in New York.
The <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-tour/news/world-indoor-tour-calendar-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scoring disciplines</a> on the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold&nbsp;rotate each year. Each athlete&rsquo;s best three results will count towards their overall point score. The athlete with the most points in each scoring discipline at the end of the tour will be declared the winner and will be awarded a USD$10,000 bonus. They will also be offered a wild card entry for the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24.
For further information on the Birmingham World Indoor Tour Final, visit the <a href="https://www.britishathletics.org.uk/news-and-features/wightman-lines-up-for-the-birmingham-world-indoor-tour-final/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">event website</a>.
Organisers for World Athletics 
<h3>2023 World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold calendar</h3>
27 Jan &ndash; Init Indoor Meeting, Karlsruhe, Germany 4 Feb &ndash; New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, Boston, USA 8 Feb &ndash; ORLEN Copernicus Cup, Torun, Poland 11 Feb &ndash; Millrose Games, New York, USA 14 Feb &ndash; Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais, Lievin, France 22 Feb &ndash; World Indoor Tour Madrid, Madrid, Spain 25 Feb &ndash; Birmingham World Indoor Tour Final, Birmingham, UK&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-tour/calendar-results?season=2022%2F23" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full calendar of all Gold, Silver, Bronze and Challenger World Athletics Indoor Tour meetings</a>

The world 1500m champion is to step up in distance when he races at the Birmingham World Indoor Tour Final

Wightman set for 2000m test in Birmingham

Women&rsquo;s world half marathon record 1:04:02 Ruth Chepngetich (KEN) Istanbul 4 April 2021
Women&rsquo;s world 2000m record 5:21.56 Francine Niyonsaba (BDI) Zagreb 14 September 2021
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World records set earlier this year by Ruth Chepngetich and Francine Niyonsaba have been ratified.
Chepngetich, the world marathon champion, clocked a world record of 1:04:02 when winning at the N Kolay Istanbul Half Marathon, a World Athletics Elite Label road race, on 4 April.
In a high-quality field, Chepngetich and seven other women passed through the first 5km in 15:07, but the lead pack had whittled down to five women by the 10km marker, reached in 30:21. Chepngetich had just Yalemzerf Yehualaw and two-time world 5000m champion Hellen Obiri for company by the time she reached 15km in 45:29. Roughly 10 minutes later, Chepngetich started her long drive for home.
The Kenyan went on to win by 38 seconds, while Yehualaw and Obiri both finished inside 65 minutes. Chepngetich&rsquo;s winning time of 1:04:02 broke the previous record of 1:04:31 that had been set by Ethiopia&rsquo;s Ababel Yeshaneh&nbsp; in Ras Al Khaimah on 21 February 2020.
&ldquo;I am really happy with this amazing result,&rdquo; said Chepngetich. &ldquo;The world record is something I have been dreaming about for some time and I am so happy to do it on the streets of Istanbul.&rdquo;
Chepngetich&rsquo;s record was recently broken by Ethiopia&rsquo;s Letesenbet Gidey, who won in Valencia last weekend with 1:02:52 &ndash; a mark that is pending ratification.
Niyonsaba capped her 2021 track campaign with a 2000m victory and world record at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Zagreb on 14 September.
The distance runner from Burundi followed the pacemakers for the first three laps, passing through 400m in 1:04.50 and 800m in 2:09.22. The half-way point was reached in 2:41.37, putting her inside world record pace.
Niyonsaba went through the bell in 4:20.23, meaning she needed a final lap of about 63 seconds to claim the world record. Ethiopia&rsquo;s Freweyni Hailu tried to move into the lead on the back straight, but Niyonsaba kept her at bay and then kicked for home, eventually crossing the line in 5:21.56. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6140e4e9c73c4fdffe2b591c.JPG" alt="" width="100%" />
 Her winning time took more than two seconds off the previous record that had been set indoors by Ethiopia&rsquo;s Genzebe Dibaba in Sabadell on 7 February 2017.
&ldquo;I did it. It&rsquo;s wonderful and it&rsquo;s fabulous,&rdquo; said Niyonsaba. &ldquo;The pacing was really perfect. I want to thank all the people who came to cheer us.&rdquo;
World Athletics

Chepngetich's 1:04:02 half marathon and Niyonsaba's 5:21.56 2000m world records are now official

Ratified: world records for Chepngetich and Niyonsaba

Qatar&rsquo;s Abderrahman Samba produced a superbly judged performance in the 400m hurdles to highlight the action on the track at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea in Rome, the fourth leg of the 2018 IAAF Diamond League, on Thursday (31).
Samba overtook world champion Karsten Warholm over the final flight of barriers before winning in a Diamond League and Asian record of 47.48. It was also a meeting record.
Warholm&rsquo;s bold effort earned him his first sub-48 race as he took 0.40 off his Norwegian record, clocking 47.82.
In what was his season&rsquo;s debut the Norwegian, running in lane seven, stuck to his classic race model of charging out fast to try and break the field.
As he arrived in the final straight it seemed as if he might have managed it, but the taller figure of Samba &ndash; born in the northwest African state of Mauritania &ndash; came through smoothly in lane four, surpassing the time of 47.57, clocked at the home Diamond League meeting Doha, with which he already topped the 2018 world lists.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a big feeling for me to break not only my personal best, but also the Asian record, the national record and the Diamond League record,&rdquo; Samba said. &ldquo;I now hope every race will be like this.
&ldquo;I say thank you to my rivals for pushing me. I told Karsten thank-you especially. We are now giving the 400m hurdles the attention it deserves.&rdquo;
Warholm, who had concluded his indoor season in February by breaking the world outdoor 300m hurdles best in Tampere, looked understandably shattered at the end following this defeat by a fellow 22-year-old &ndash; but it was another huge stride forwards for him.
<h3>Baker takes 100m showdown</h3>
Home idol Filippo Tortu produced a performance to make a 30,000 Rome crowd proud in the Olympic stadium as he took third place in a 100m race won by Ronnie Baker of the United States in a legal personal best of 9.93 &ndash; the fastest this season outside performances with an excessive following wind.
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Ronnie Baker takes the Rome 100m showdown</div>
&nbsp;
Realistically, the Italian supporters had been hoping their 19-year-old rising star - who had lowered his 100m best to 10.03 the previous week - could beat the 39-year-old national record of 10.01 set in the thin air of Mexico by the sprinter after whom this annual Golden Gala meeting is named, Pietro Mennea.
Tortu&rsquo;s powerful finish, as he passed world silver medallist and 60m world indoor record holder Christian Coleman in the final strides, raised home hopes &ndash; but a sigh went out when the name of France&rsquo;s Jimmy Vicaut came up on the scoreboard with a time of 10.02, with the taller Italian&rsquo;s name soon arriving below with a time of 10.04.
&ldquo;I am really satisfied,&rdquo; said Tortu, who was among a group of athletes who had an audience with Pope Francis in the Vatican on Wednesday. &ldquo;I will only be able to tell you when I can run sub 10 at the moment I achieve it! Meeting the Pope this week was an experience that was more important than any race.&rdquo;
Coleman, fifth in 10.06, appeared to be slowing slightly at the line and grimacing as if all was not well. South Africa&rsquo;s Commonwealth champion Akine Simbine finished one place behind in 10.13.
For Baker, who beat Coleman in last Saturday&rsquo;s race at the Eugene Diamond League meeting in a time of 9.78, with a following wind of 2.4mps, this was another significant marker in the struggle for sprint supremacy in the post-Bolt world.
&ldquo;Today was definitely a confidence booster,&rdquo; said Baker. &ldquo;To have two wins in two races under my belt is great but I know I have to keep working hard.&rdquo;
<h3>Kiyeng takes dramatic steeplechase triumph</h3>
The next race on the track &ndash; the women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase &ndash; was equally stirring as world champion Emma Coburn, who had led narrowly at the bell, stumbled and fell as she took the final water jump flanked by Kenyan rivals Celliphine Chespol and 2015 world champion Hyvin Kiyeng.
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Emma Coburn (c) tumbles over the final water jump in Rome</div>
&nbsp;
Kiyeng proceeded to win in a meeting record and 2018 fastest time of 9:04.96, with the 19-year-old prodigy Chespol, who had had to chart a quick route around her fallen opponent, second in a season&rsquo;s best of 9:05.14.
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Hyvin Kiyeng takes a narrow victory in Rome</div>
&nbsp;
The gutsy American picked herself back up and drove on, but was passed by another Kenyan, Norah Jeruto, who was third in 9:07.17 with a shaken Coburn finishing fourth in 9:08.13 &ndash; both the latter times also being season&rsquo;s bests.
<h3>Another 800m win for quick-kicking Kinyamal</h3>
The men&rsquo;s 800m race was also a compelling one as Kenya&rsquo;s Jonathan Kitilit, a clear leader at 500m as the pacemaker Bram Som moved over after taking the field through 400m in 51.24, pushed on strongly with a strung-out field appearing to struggle in his wake.
However, his compatriot Wyclife Kinyamal was a keen and powerful hunter, and as the race moved into the final ten metres the 20-year-old Commonwealth champion had his prey, moving past to win in 1:44.65, with Kitilit having to settle for third in 144.78 as a third Kenyan, Ferguson Rotich, came through in 1:44.74.
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Another Diamond League victory for Wyclife Kinyamal, this time in Rome</div>
&nbsp;
It was almost an exact replica of the finish that had played out earlier this month in the Shanghai Diamond League, when Kinyamal had come through in the final 20m to win by 0.04sec before declaring memorably: &ldquo;We were fighting for the last 100 metres, but I was stronger and I knew it. I come from the same village as Rudisha, he was always my example. Now I take over.&rdquo;
Kinyamal is certainly ticking all the boxes right now&hellip;
<h3>Cheruiyot&rsquo;s 1500m momentum continues</h3>
The men&rsquo;s 1500m saw Kenya&rsquo;s world silver medallist Timothy Cheruiyot, winner of the Shanghai Diamond League 1500m and the Bowerman Mile at the Eugene Diamond League, maintain bragging rights as he won in 3:31.22, the fastest of the season so far.
The 22-year-old&nbsp;Cheruiyot finished well clear of his training partner Elijah Manangoi, who took gold to his silver in London last summer and finished here in a season&rsquo;s best of 3:33.79.
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Timothy Cheruiyot in Rome, celebrating another metric mile victory</div>
&nbsp;
Ethiopia&rsquo;s world indoor champion Samuel Tefara took third place in 3:34.84.
Kenya&rsquo;s world and Olympic 3000m steeplechase champion Conseslus Kipruto, surprisingly beaten by compatriot Benjamin Kigen at the Eugene Diamond League last Saturday, made sure it didn&rsquo;t happen again in what was a non-Diamond League race, although it was a close run thing.
Kipruto pulled clear on the final lap to win in 8min 04.40sec, the fastest run so far this year, but Kigen maintained his rising reputation as he took second place in 8:10.01 despite a stumble at the last hurdle after which he looked briefly behind him before resuming his forward momentum.
Ethiopia&rsquo;s Chala Beyo was third in a personal best of 8:11.22.
<h3>Kerley takes first Diamond League victory</h3>
Fred Kerley of the United States held on to win the men&rsquo;s 400m in a season&rsquo;s best of 44.33 as he resisted a late charge in his inside lane from Qatar&rsquo;s Adalleleh Haroun, who made up five metres in the final stages but finished a stride behind in a season&rsquo;s best of 44.37,with third place going to Kerley&rsquo;s compatriot Paul Dedewo in a personal best of 44.58.
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Fred Kerley nabs his first career Diamond League victory in Rome</div>
&nbsp;
Sharika Nelvis of the United States, complete with mauve lipstick, earned victory in the women&rsquo;s hurdles in 12.76 ahead of Jamaica&rsquo;s 2015 world champion Danielle Williams, who clocked 12.82, and Tobi Amusan of Nigeria, who recorded 12.86.
Marie-Josee Ta Lou, the world 100 and 200m silver medallist, was a convincing and expected winner in the longer distance as she got out fast and held a clear lead before finishing in a season&rsquo;s best of 22.49.
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Sharika Nelvis en route to her Rome 100m hurdles victory</div>
&nbsp;
The Ivorian sprinter is thus getting into convincing winning mode this season, having defeated the Olympic, world and world indoor champions over 100m at the Eugene Diamond League race last Saturday.
Bulgaria&rsquo;s experienced Ivet Lalova-Collio came through for second place in lane eight, clocking 22.64, as Switzerland&rsquo;s Mujinga Kambundji took third in 22.76.
Georganne Moline of the United States won the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles &ndash; not scoring for the Diamond League on the night &ndash; in a season&rsquo;s best of 53.97 from Jamaica&rsquo;s Janieve Russell, who clocked 54.08, with Moline&rsquo;s compatriot, the Rio 2016 champion Dalilah Muhammad third in 54.65.
Mike Rowbottom for the IAAF

Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba produced a superbly judged performance in the 400m hurdles to highlight the action on the track at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea in Rome, the fourth leg of the 2018 IAAF Diamond League, on Thursday (31).

Samba sizzles 47.48 Asian record in Rome - IAAF Diamond League

The following world records have recently been ratified&hellip;
<h3>World record</h3>
Women's 2000m:&nbsp;5:23.75i Genzebe Dibaba (ETH) Sabadell 7 Feb 2017 Previous: 5:25.36 Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL) Edinburgh 8 Jul 1994
<h3>World U20 indoor record</h3>
Women&rsquo;s 60m hurdles:&nbsp;8.00 Klaudia Siciarz (POL) Torun 18 Feb 2017 Previous: 8.06 Ulrike Denk (GER) Dortmund 19 Feb 1983; Monique Ewanje-Epee (FRA) Madrid 22 Feb 1986

The following world records have recently been ratified…

World records ratified

World 1500m champion Genzebe Dibaba added to her growing list of record-breaking achievements by breaking the world 2000m record* at the Miting Internacional de Catalunya in the Spanish city of Sabadell on Tuesday (7).
The three-time world indoor champion overtook the pacemaker just before the half-way mark, which was reached in 2:42.65, and continued to extend her lead over her younger sister Anna and Morocco&rsquo;s Siham Hilali.
She went on to stop the clock at 5:23.75, taking almost seven seconds off the world indoor best set by Gabriela Szabo in 1998. Although the 2000m isn't an official world record event indoors, Dibaba&rsquo;s performance&nbsp;&ndash; pending ratification&nbsp;&ndash; can be classed as an outright world record as it is faster than Sonia O&rsquo;Sullivan&rsquo;s outdoor mark of 5:25.36.
As well as the outdoor 1500m world record, Dibaba now owns the fastest ever recorded times indoors for the 1500m, mile, 2000m, 3000m, two miles and 5000m.
Elsewhere in Sabadell, European champion Adam Kszczot won the 800m in 1:46.31 with Spanish record-holder Kevin Lopez taking second place in 1:46.58.
European 5000m silver medallist Adel Mechaal was a convincing winner of the 3000m, clocking 7:48.39 to finish more than two seconds ahead of Italy&rsquo;s Marouan Razine.
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF
*Subject to the usual ratification procedures

World 1500m champion Genzebe Dibaba added to her growing list of record-breaking achievements by breaking the world 2000m record* at the Miting Internacional de Catalunya in the Spanish city of Sabadell on Tuesday (7).

Dibaba breaks world 2000m record in Sabadell

Organisers of the AA Drink FBK Games have confirmed that world 200m champion Dafne Schippers and world indoor 1500m champion Sifan Hassan will compete in front of their home crowd at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Hengelo on 22 May.
Last year in Hengelo, Schippers won the 100m with a Dutch record of 10.92, a time she went on to improve twice at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015 en route to taking the silver medal in that event.
Schippers, who last weekend opened her outdoor season with a world-leading clocking of 22.25, will contest the 200m in Hengelo this year.
&ldquo;The race in Hengelo last year gave me confidence for the rest of the season,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;The enthusiastic crowd and the whole atmosphere of this competition are very important to me.&rdquo;
Hassan, meanwhile, will contest the 2000m and will target the world record of 5:23.36, set in 1994 by Sonia O&rsquo;Sullivan.
&ldquo;The enthusiasm and support of the crowd at the AA Drink FBK Games gives you that little bit extra compared to competitions abroad,&rdquo; said the world bronze medallist, who holds the Dutch records for 1500m (3:56.05) and 3000m (8:29.38). &ldquo;It will hopefully help me to achieve the fastest time ever for this distance. It&rsquo;s not an easy record, but I hope to show the crowd something good.&rdquo;
Organisers for the IAAF

Organisers of the AA Drink FBK Games have confirmed that world 200m champion Dafne Schippers and world indoor 1500m champion Sifan Hassan will compete in front of their home crowd at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Hengelo on 22 May.

Home stars Schippers and Hassan to star in Hengelo

Germany&rsquo;s Kai Kazmirek put together a world-leading heptathlon total of 6111 points at the International Combined Events Meeting in the Estonian capital of Tallinn on Sunday (14).Marks of 7.04, 7.47m, 14.53m and 2.08m gave him an overnight-leading score of 3434, 105 more than his compatriot Mathias Brugger.Kazmirek added to his lead at the start of the second day on Sunday when he was the fastest man in the 60m hurdles with 8.02, just 0.02 shy of his personal best, and a 4.85m pole vault gave him a 111-point advantage over Brugger ahead of the last event. A 1000m run in 2:43:47 ensured he won in Tallinn for the second successive year.Brugger won his third individual event, after the shot put and pole vault, when crossing the line in 2:38:06 but still had to settle for second with a personal best of 6060 points.Kazmirek&rsquo;s win in Tallinn should be enough to secure an invitation to contest the heptathlon at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016. In the women&rsquo;s pentathlon in Tallinn, Kazmirek&rsquo;s compatriot Claudia Rath romped to victory by more than 300 points with a personal best of 4688, the second best in the world this year.Rath had marks of 8.45, 1.81m, 12.85m, 6.40m and finished with an 800m indoor best of 2:09:19, more than nine seconds faster than anybody else. She won all the individual events except the shot put.Switzerland&rsquo;s Michelle Zeltner finished second overall with 4369, equalling her national record set two years ago.<h3>Saunders and Sloan also top the 2016 lists</h3>There were four other world-leading marks set in the USA by US athletes on Saturday.Raven Saunders already held the world-leading mark in the shot put with 18.98m from a fortnight ago but the 19-year-old student, who is coached by Connie Price-Smith, surpassed 19 metres for the first time when she heaved her implement out to 19.23m to add 25 centimetres to her world-leading mark at the Iowa State Classic in Ames.The world junior silver medallist, and one of the few world-class female shot putters to employ the spin technique, also added the US collegiate indoor record to her list of accolades.Eric Sloan became the first triple jumper to exceed 17 metres this year when he bounded out to 17.03m at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville.World-leading times by University of Texas teams in both the 4x400m relays were also set in the Arkansas city. An all-USA men&rsquo;s team clocked 3:04.41 while a mixed-nationality women's team ran 3:27.94.Belgium's 2013 European under-23 1500m champion Pieter-Jan Hannes set a world-leading mark over 2000m of 5:04.33 on home soil at the IFAM Indoor Meeting in Ghent on Saturday.Hannes holds the Belgian indoor record at 1500m but he just missed the national record at this distance of 5:00.0 which has been held by Emiel Puttemans since 1973. The meeting also played host to two good quality 800m races won by teenagers who could make an impression at the IAAF World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz this summer.Morocco&rsquo;s Mostafa Smaili, 19, won the men&rsquo;s 800m in an outright best of 1:46.50 with Thijmens Kupers a close second in 1:46.57 while Ethiopia&rsquo;s Habitam Alemu, 18, won the women&rsquo;s equivalent in 2:02.23 ahead of world fifth-placer Shelayna Oskan-Clarke in 2:02.66. On the in-field, Chinese teenager Huang Bokai won the pole vault with a 5.70m clearance while Alessia Trost marked her comeback from injury by winning the high jump from Belgian combined-eventer Nafissatou Thiam on countback at 1.90m. <h3>World youth indoor pole vault best for Karalis</h3>World indoor champion Konstadinos Filippidis won the Greek indoor title as expected with a first-time clearance at 5.70m while 16-year-old Emmanouil Karalis broke the world youth indoor best of 5.50m set last weekend by Sweden&rsquo;s US-based world youth champion Armand Duplantis. Karalis, who took the bronze medal in Cali last summer, improved his lifetime best by 18 centimetres in total with first-time clearances at 5.39m and 5.53m before three unsuccessful attempts at 5.60m. His 5.53m is also an outright world youth best, surpassing the 5.51m set by German Chiaraviglio in 2004.Two-time world finalist Konstadinos Baniotis claimed another Greek title in the high jump with a 2.33m clearance, his best result since 2013, before one attempt at 2.35m and two attempts at 2.37m. World indoor 60m hurdles record-holder Susanna Kallur continued her comeback with her first appearance in a Swedish vest in six years at the Nordenkampen, a four-way Scandinavian international match, in Vaxjo on Saturday.Kallur will only be racing on the flat this winter and the 34-year-old finished a close second in the 60m to Norway&rsquo;s Ezinne Okparaebo. Okparaebo claimed the win in 7.34 with Kallur just a fraction behind in 7.35 in what was just her second race at the distance since 2007.In-form Angelica Bengtsson won a full complement of points for the hosts in the pole vault by clearing 4.66m before three attempts at a Swedish record of 4.71m.Denmark and Iceland competed as a joint team and produced two standout performances on the track: 400m hurdles specialist Sara Peterson won the 400m flat in a Danish record of 52.59 while Iceland&rsquo;s Anita Hinriksdottir won the 800m in 2:01.59.Steven Mills for the IAAF

Germany’s Kai Kazmirek put together a world-leading heptathlon total of 6111 points at the International Combined Events Meeting in the Estonian capital of Tallinn on Sunday (14).

Kazmirek gets world-leading heptathlon total in Tallinn – indoor round-up

The Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center saw another world best, a world junior best, and six world-leading marks at the 20th edition of the IAAF Indoor Permit meeting now known as the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix on Saturday night (7).Nick Willis provided the unexpected highlight when he delivered a scorching 3:51.61 to win the men&rsquo;s mile in meeting record time. It was a world-leading mark, an indoor best for Willis, and a New Zealand indoor record formerly held by middle-distance great John Walker.&ldquo;I wanted to negative split the race, running each section faster than the last, but the first 400 was too fast,&rdquo; said Willis &nbsp;Led by pacemaker Shawn Roberts, Willis was back in third and behind multiple World Indoor Championships medallist Abdalaati Iguider when Roberts stepped off just past halfway, but Willis was able to put Iguider&rsquo;s feet to the fire in the last two laps, carrying Ben Blankenship along with him, the latter finishing second in 3:53.13.&ldquo;I treated my indoor season seriously in 2008,&rdquo; said Willis, reflecting on the year when he won an Olympic silver medal, &ldquo;and it seems to have worked.&rdquo;<h3>Martinez maintains her momentum</h3>Brenda Martinez ran a 4:27.77 1600m to anchor a USA team to a world indoor best of 10:42.57 in the women&rsquo;s distance medley relay, a non-championship event that is rarely run outside the USA but will feature at this year's IAAF World Relays.The quartet of Sarah Brown (1200m - 3:15.54), Mahagony Jones (400m - 53.59), Megan Krumpoch (800m - 2:05.68) and Martinez (1600m - 4:27.77) chopped more than eight seconds off the old mark of 10:50.98, held by a Brown-anchored University of Tennessee squad since 2009.After two scorching 1200m legs, where a &ldquo;New York All-Stars&rdquo; team held the lead and separated two leaders from the pack of six, the record was a near certainty.By the time the baton came to Martinez with a narrow lead over Nicole Tully of the New York All Stars, 4:36 would have been sufficient to break the record.&ldquo;We had a team discussion last night,&rdquo; said Martinez. &ldquo;We agreed that if they gave me the biggest lead they could, my current fitness would be enough.&rdquo; Martinez, who anchored a winning USA 4x800m team, as well as being part of the 4x1500m squad, at the inaugural IAAF World Relays in The Bahamas last May, was making her first and likely only indoor appearance this season.Instead of needing to make up time, Martinez had to shake the shadow of Tully. Martinez actually lost the lead going in to the final lap, but mustered a ferocious kick over the last 100m to regain the lead and put her name in the record books.Their winning time was almost six seconds faster than the world outdoor best for the distance medley relay.<h3>Seyaum outdistances Kipyego and Coburn; redemption for Simpson</h3> Ethiopia&rsquo;s world junior 1500m champion Dawit Seyaum won the women&rsquo;s 2000m in 5:35.46, passing the mile in 4:32.13 on the way to the line. She wasn&rsquo;t seriously pressed late in the race despite sharing the starting line with world and Olympic silver medallist Sally Kipyego and steeplechase ace Emma Coburn; the former took second in 5:40.35 and the latter third in 5:41.11. Seyaum&rsquo;s mark is a world junior best for the event in addition to being a world-leading mark.<h3>Big win for Whiting </h3> Another world-leading mark came in the men&rsquo;s shot put when Ryan Whiting pitched the shot out to a massive 21.43m on his fourth attempt to really put his season in motion.Whiting surpassed 21 metres twice, while Christian Cantwell in second reached 20.83m.In the women&rsquo;s two miles, 2014 Diamond Race 1500m winner Jenny Simpson took the lead early and simply pulled away from Ethiopia&rsquo;s Sentayehu Ejigu to win in 9:18.35.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a fine balance between settling in and keeping the pace up,&rdquo; said Simpson. &ldquo;I had to listen closely to the splits in order to not slow down.&rdquo;The victory erased a 13-year-old US national record and gave Simpson a measure of relief from the 2014 meeting, when she miscounted her laps and came to a full stop after leading with a lap to go. &ldquo;I needed to run that 16th lap so they wouldn&rsquo;t fine me,&rdquo; Simpson joked after the race.<h3>1000m world leads </h3> Former US 1500m champion Treniere Moser picked up the win and a world-leading time in the women&rsquo;s 1000m, running 2:37.86 to grab victory from her training partner, the world junior 3000m champion Mary Cain. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had some down years, but now I&rsquo;m racing up to my own expectations,&rdquo; Moser said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all about June and making the team for Beijing. The best in the world can close very fast, so I&rsquo;m here to work on my speed.&rdquo;Matt Centrowitz lowered his own world-leading mark in the men&rsquo;s 1000m, running 2:17.00. In doing so he also beat the meet record, a 2:17.86 set in 2002 by David Krummenacker. Now the second-fastest American ever at the distance, Centrowitz indicated that the national record was still a goal. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll have to tackle it another time,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I thought I had it, but I was a couple of tenths slow.&rdquo;Dejen Gebremeskel won the men&rsquo;s 3000m in 7:48.19, less than 0.2 ahead of Bernard Lagat, whose move to the front with two laps remaining underscored the point that Lagat, now 40, is running for more than age group records. Lagat&rsquo;s 7:48.33 for second betters the listed men&rsquo;s over-40 mark by almost 13 seconds. &ldquo;I expected Lagat to have a fast last lap,&rdquo; said Gebremeskel. &ldquo;Of course Bernard has a strong kick. Last year I ran road races because there was no world championship after the World Indoors, but this year I will run the 5000m in Beijing.&rdquo;Mary Saxer won the women&rsquo;s pole vault with a clean slate up to 4.50m. World indoor record-holder Jenn Suhr only cleared that on her second attempt after passing all the other heights up to that point. Suhr explained her training had been hampered by illness, and added: &ldquo;in hindsight, I probably shouldn&rsquo;t have come.&rdquo;Trell Kimmons won the men&rsquo;s 60m in 6.51, barely a lean ahead of Asafa Powell in 6.52 and Michael Rodgers in 6.53. Trinidad&rsquo;s Michelle-Lee Ahye was the start-to-finish winner of the women&rsquo;s 60m in 7.15 with Tianna Bartoletta next over the line in 7.19.Tiffany Townsend upset Natasha Hastings in the final strides of the 300m, coming around the outside to win 36.74 to 36.80, the second and third fastest marks of the season in that event.Parker Morse for the IAAF

The Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center saw another world best, a world junior best, and six world-leading marks at the 20th edition of the IAAF Indoor Permit meeting now known as the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix on Saturday night (7).

Willis's mile win leads the string of indoor superlatives in Boston

When Meseret Defar and Bernard Lagat compete at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston on 7 February, both will be marking milestones in their careers at the IAAF Indoor Permit meeting.Two-time Olympic champion Defar will be competing for the first time since the birth of her daughter in June. Her last race was at the 2013 Great North Run when she set a half-marathon PB of 1:06:09, but in Boston she will be competing at the other end of the distance spectrum when she lines up for the 2000m.&ldquo;It is perfect that I am running my first race since childbirth in Boston,&rdquo; said the four-time world indoor 3000m champion. &ldquo;I always feel so comfortable and welcome in the city and at the track, and of course I have not forgotten setting a world best there. I am eager to show my fans there that Meseret is back!&rdquo;In 2008, the 31-year-old set a world best over two miles in Boston, clocking 9:10.50. She still holds the outdoor world best for the distance at 8:58.58 as well as the world indoor 5000m record of 14:24.37.Her indoor 2000m PB of 5:34.74 was recorded en route to her 8:30.72 indoor 3000m clocking in 2006, but was just four seconds shy of the world indoor 2000m record of 5:30.53 set by Gabriela Szabo in 1998.Lagat, the 2007 world 1500m and 5000m champion, returns to the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix for the first time since 2010. In that race, he broke the US indoor 5000m record with a time of 13:11.50.Now 40, in Boston Lagat will contest the 3000m, the distance at which he has won three world indoor titles. The world indoor M40 masters record is 8:01.44. Lagat&rsquo;s best mark for the 3000m last season was 7:38.51.Both Defar and Lagat will face strong competition. Returning in an attempt to improve on her runner-up finish at 2000m here last year will be 24-year-old Emma Coburn, who went on to break the US steeplechase record with 9:11.42.Lagat will have to contend with 20-year-old&nbsp; Hagos Gebrhiwet, the world 5000m silver medallist from Ethiopia who set a world junior indoor 3000m record of 7:32.87 at this meeting in 2013.These four stars join the previously announced Jenny Simpson, Jenn Suhr, Mary Cain, Matthew Centrowitz, and Brenda Martinez in celebrating the 20th running of the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, which has played host to seven world records and 11 US records.Organisers for the IAAF

When Meseret Defar and Bernard Lagat compete at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston on 7 February, both will be marking milestones in their careers at the IAAF Indoor Permit meeting.

Defar and Lagat set to return to Boston

Brave efforts in the middle distances by Genzebe Dibaba and Caleb Ndiku and Justin Gatlin&rsquo;s world-leading dash in the 100m were among the highlights of a thoroughly entertaining 53rd edition of Ostrava&rsquo;s Golden Spike on Tuesday (17).The IAAF World Challenge meeting played host to three world record attempts. Although none of them materialised, the near-capacity crowd at the Mestsky Stadium did not leave disappointed as five meeting records were broken and seven world-leading marks were set.Near miss for Dibaba in 2000m record bidNear the end of the evening&rsquo;s programme, Genzebe Dibaba brought the stadium to life with a brave assault on the world 2000m record. She came up a bit short, but it wasn&rsquo;t for lack of trying.She reached the midway point in 2:42.67, within half a second of the pre-race target, before forging on alone for the final 900 metres. She passed the bell in 4:20.62, needing to close in less than 65 seconds to take down Sonia&rsquo; Sullivan&rsquo;s 5:25.36 record set 20 years ago.Urged on by the crowd&rsquo;s clapping, stomping and screaming, the double world indoor record-holder gritted her teeth as she entered the final stretch before crossing the line in 5:27.50, the third fastest performance in history and an African record.Her compatriot Senbera Teferi was a distant second in an African junior record of 5:34.27.World leads for Ndiku and GatlinA similar scenario played out in the Zatopek Memorial 3000m earlier in the evening &ndash; albeit without a record assault &ndash; where Caleb Ndiku, the world indoor champion over the distance, also found himself running alone over the final two laps.Unfazed, he forged on to produce an impressive 7:31.66 victory, a world lead and just inside the previous meeting record.World youth champion Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia edged New Zealand&rsquo;s Olympic medallist Nick Willis for second, 7:36.28 to 7:36.91, personal bests for both. Kejelcha&rsquo;s time was the second-fastest performance in history by a youth athlete.At the other end of the age spectrum, fourth-placed Bernard Lagat clocked 7:38.30. In doing so, the 39-year-old became the oldest ever man to run faster than 7:40 in the 3000m.Poster boy Gatlin was among the chief protagonists at the meeting and his evening-capping performance in the 100m didn&rsquo;t fail to impress.Powering from the blocks, he was well ahead some 40 metres into the race en route to a 9.86 performance that knocked 0.01 seconds from the world lead he brought with him to this eastern Czech city.&ldquo;I almost broke the (9.83) meet record so I&rsquo;m pleased,&rdquo; said the 2004 Olympic champion, who extended his unbeaten streak in the event this season to eight.Mike Rodgers held off Kim Collins 10.08 to 10.12 to finish a distant second.Bondarenko and Lavillenie dominate jumpsCompeting just three days after his sensational 2.42m clearance in New York, Bohdan Bondarenko rode a massive wave of momentum to Ostrava. He couldn&rsquo;t duplicate his weekend feat on this night, but he did produce two decent attempts at 2.40m after upping the meeting record to 2.33m.&ldquo;I was missing the power in my jumps,&rdquo; said the 23-year-old who took the world title last year. &ldquo;I felt tired from my long journey from New York. But I didn&rsquo;t hesitate. It was a good decision to come to Ostrava.&rdquo;Adonios Matoras of Greece cleared 2.30m with his third try to finish second and improve his outdoor career best by four centimetres.Renaud Lavillenie needed just two clearances to take top honours in a pole vault competition where the shifting winds took centre stage. History&rsquo;s highest vaulter entered the competition at 5.73m, which he cleared on his second attempt, then topped 5.83 on his first before bowing out after three misses at a would-be meeting record of 5.93m.&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t jump higher today because the wind was very strong, it was changing every minute,&rdquo; said Lavillenie. &ldquo;So I&rsquo;m satisfied with my result today.&rdquo;Brazil&rsquo;s Thiago Braz was second at 5.73m and Czech Jan Kudlicka (5.63m) third, tied with Augusto Dutra.Merritt blazes 44.16Another meeting record came in the 400m courtesy of world champion Lashawn Merritt. Running patiently through the first 300 metres, he cruised home to a comfortable 44.16 win to eclipse the 44.49 meeting standard set by Kirani James one year ago.Botswana;s Isaac Makwala was second in 44.83, improving his own national record set at altitude earlier this year.Rounding out the sprints, Allyson Felix produced a confidence-boosting win in the 200m, ultimately fighting off Briton Bianca Williams and Frenchwoman Myriam Soumare in 22.75.&ldquo;The wind was a little tough, but the fantastic fans really helped,&rdquo; said the Olympic champion, who is on the comeback this year from an injury she sustained at the World Championships last year.Running just to Felix&rsquo;s outside, Williams clocked 22.79, the fourth straight PB for the 20-year-old this season. Soumare, a former European champion, clocked 22.85, also a season&rsquo;s best.Vesely, Ratej and Majewski take victories in the throwsThe home crowd was treated to a strong exhibition in the javelin throw courtesy of world champion Vitezslav Vesely. The Czech will be pleased with his consistent performance, one in which he surpassed 87 metres three times. His winning effort came with his opening throw of 87.38m, but he also hit 87.04m and 87.01 in rounds three and five. World junior record-holder Zigismunds Sirmais was second with a PB of 86.61m.With Olympic champion Barbora Spotakova sidelined by an appendix infection, Doha IAAF Diamond League winner Martina Ratej encountered little difficulty on the way to her fourth win of the season. The Slovenian record-holder&rsquo;s 64.45m best effort came in the final round, but any of her other four measured throws would have sufficed for the victory.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s too bad Barbora couldn&rsquo;t be here,&rdquo; said Ratej, who beat the Czech star in Ostrava in 2010. &ldquo;Of course that increased my chances to win, but I feel really sorry about her illness.&rdquo;Tatjana Jelaca of Serbia was a distant second with a 60.16m throw, also from the final round. German Katharina Molitor (58.68m) was third.Poland&rsquo;s Tomasz Majewski controlled the shot put competition from his opening round 20.72m effort, but didn&rsquo;t seal his first victory of the season until his 20.90m toss in round five.&ldquo;I wanted to throw over 21 metres so I&rsquo;m not very satisfied with the result,&rdquo; said the two-time Olympic champion who brought a 21.04m season&rsquo;s best to Ostrava.Czech Jan Marcell threw a season&rsquo;s best of 20.74m with his last put to take second, ahead of compatriot Tomas Stanek (20.58m).Nanyondo and Ozbilen surpriseWinnie Nanyondo nabbed an impressive win in the women&rsquo;s 800m, powering down the homestretch and away from a crowded 14-woman field to a 1:59:27 personal best. It was the first international win over the distance for the 20-year-old, one she celebrated with a little dance before she knelt to the track and raised her arms to the sky.&ldquo;It was a hard race and I&rsquo;m very happy,&rdquo; said Nanyondo, whose previous best of 1:59.39 came in Hengelo nine days ago. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s only my second race in Europe and I have to say I like it here.&rdquo;Maryna Arzamasava of Belarus ran down Molly Beckwith of the US in the waning stages to take second, 1:59.65 to 1:59.77, season&rsquo;s bests for both. Czech Lenka Masna (1:59.93) and Sifan Hassan (1:59.95) of The Netherlands also dipped under two minutes.The men&rsquo;s 1000m was to be a world record attempt for 800m world champion Mohamed Aman. But Ilham Tanui Ozbilen had other plans.The Kenyan-born Turk looked strongest throughout, even when Frenchman Pierre-Ambroise Bosse tried to steal the race with 200 metres to go. The pair engaged in a spirited battle down the home straight before Ozbilen pulled away to win in 2:15.08. Bosse clocked 2:15.31 to finish second with Australian Jeff Riseley (2:16.09) third. Aman (2:16.33), who was never really in it, was a distant fourth.Birthday victory of ParchmentThe men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles was a fairly even affair through the first six hurdles when Hansle Parchment apparently decided that he wouldn&rsquo;t be beaten on his 24th birthday.It was then that the Olympic bronze medallist began to pull away and by the time he approached and cleared the final barrier, he was well on his way to decisive victory in 13.18.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very glad I gave myself such a nice birthday present,&rdquo; said Parchment, the Jamaican record-holder at 13.05 from last year.Pascal Martinot-Lagarde of France was a clear runner-up in 13.28 with Xie Wenjun (13.37) of China third. Dayron Robles, who set a world record of 12.87 on this track in 2008, finished a distant seventh in 13.76.For the first half of the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, Ashton Eaton more closely resembled a seasoned veteran of the event than the world record-holder and Olympic champion in the decathlon.The US all-rounder went on a tear from the gun, building a clear lead by the second hurdle, one he extended down the back stretch and midway through the final turn. Then, as he entered the homestretch, things began to unravel.Estonian Rasmus Magi took advantage, passing Eaton over the final barrier only to be overtaken in the final lunge for the line by Briton Niall Flannery who snatched the victory with a 48.80 personal best. Magi clocked 48.87 for second and a national record while Eaton&rsquo;s 48.94 was his first jaunt into sub-49 territory.In the women&rsquo;s race, Czech Denisa Rosolova kept the crowd on their feet with a strong run for the initial two-thirds of the race, but when she faded entering the homestretch, it became a Jamaican duel to the line. Nickiesha Wilson prevailed over Ristananna Tracey 55.22 to 55.43, with surprise Doha winner Kemi Adekoya (55.49) less than a step behind to finish third.Illness halts Kiplagat&rsquo;s record bidThe afternoon world record assault in the women&rsquo;s 20,000m came to an abrupt halt when Florence Kiplagat succumbed to apparent stomach problems and stepped off the track 29 laps into the 50-lap contest.&ldquo;She didn&rsquo;t have any problems before the race, she was perfectly prepared to break the record,&rdquo; her coach Renato Canova said. &ldquo;She started to feel a stomach ache during the race and couldn&rsquo;t continue.&rdquo;In her absence, her Kenyan compatriot Alice Kimutai was the clear winner. Catching and passing Ethiopian Mulahabt Tsega just as the gun sounded one minute to go in the one-hour race, the 22-year-old went on to win the race in 1:08:32.2, 35 seconds clear of Tsega. En route, they covered 17,545m and 17,544m over one-hour, respectively.Kenyan Hyvin Jepkomei fought off Morocco&rsquo;s Salima Alami to win the 3000m steeplechase in 9:22.58, 0.53 shy of her career best. Alami&rsquo;s perseverance paid off in the form of a 9:23.27 personal best.And finally, Li Yanmei of China took the victory in the women&rsquo;s triple jump, with a 14.03m best from the second round. No one else managed to reach 14 metres; Portugal&rsquo;s Susana Costa and Kristin Gierisch of Germany came closest, reaching 13.98m and 13.95m respectively.Bob Ramsak (organisers) for the IAAF

Brave efforts in the middle distances by Genzebe Dibaba and Caleb Ndiku and Justin Gatlin’s world-leading dash in the 100m were among the highlights of a thoroughly entertaining 53rd edition of Ostrava’s Golden Spike on Tuesday (17).

Seven world leads and five meeting records in Ostrava

Three planned world record assaults and appearances by world leaders Justin Gatlin, Renaud Lavillenie and LaShawn Merritt are just some of the highlights expected at the 53rd Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on Tuesday (17).However, with the Czech Republic home to the reigning world champion on the men&rsquo;s side and Olympic champion on the women&rsquo;s, the infield action most eagerly anticipated in Ostrava comes in the javelin. Indeed, consistently among the main attractions in Ostrava is Czech heroine Barbora Spotakova, who returned to action this season after maternity leave last year. The two-time Olympic champion, who has won twice here and is the meeting record-holder at 67.78m, has performed admirably already this season, hinting that little, if anything, was lost during her time off. By her own admission faster and slightly slimmer this summer, she won the IAAF Diamond League fixture in Rome earlier this month with a 66.43m effort and took top honours again four days later in Prague where she reached 64.08m. The toughest challenge should come from Slovenian record-holder Martina Ratej, winner at the opening 2014 IAAF Diamond League meeting in Doha last month with a good 65.48m effort.In the competitive men&rsquo;s event, world and European champion V&iacute;tezslav Vesely won&rsquo;t need to look too far for his primary threat. Compatriot Petr Frydrych has a career best that&rsquo;s nearly identical to Vesely&rsquo;s &ndash; 88.34m for the latter, 88.23m for the former &ndash; and, on current form, owns the best throw of those assembled here, an 85.07m effort from his victory Prague last week. The field also includes Russia&rsquo;s Dmitri Tarabin, bronze medalist at last year&rsquo;s IAAF World Championships, and Olympic bronze medallist Antti Ruuskanen of Finland.Spotakova and Vesely take up two-thirds of this year&rsquo;s meeting poster; the remaining portion is devoted to Justin Gatlin, currently the hottest 100m sprinter in the world.Gatlin, the 100m world leader at 9.87 from the Beijing IAAF World Challenge meeting, arrives unbeaten in seven 100m starts this year and has produced the season&rsquo;s three fastest performances.&ldquo;If the weather holds up and if there&rsquo;s going to be a good fair wind, I think we can go out there do something very special,&rdquo; said the world silver medallist, who last raced in Ostrava in 2004. Lavillenie returns to familiar stomping groundsOlympic pole vault champion Renaud Lavillenie famously soared to 6.16m indoors to finally succeed Sergey Bubka as the event&rsquo;s standard bearer. The Frenchman hasn&rsquo;t let up since, winning each of his six outdoor competitions and arriving as the world leader at 5.92m. He is familiar with Ostrava too, having cleared meeting records of 5.90m and 5.92m here in 2012 and 2013 respectively.The field includes Germany&rsquo;s Raphael Holzdeppe who upset Lavillenie at the World Championships last year and five others with career bests of 5.80m or better.Minor ailments have forced Olympic gold and silver medallists Ivan Ukhov and Erik Kynard to the sidelines, so the focus in the men&rsquo;s high jump will shift to Ukraine&rsquo;s Andriy Protsenko. The 26-year-old has been on the rise this season, firstly improving his indoor best to 2.36m to take the bronze at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships. On Saturday, he topped 2.35m to finish third in New York, a personal best outdoors.The men&rsquo;s 400m features two-time world champion LaShawn Merritt, the joint 2014 world leader at 43.97.With seven wins in nine races this spring &ndash; most recently in New York on Saturday &ndash;&nbsp;the US sprinter is clearly the class of the field, with nearly a full second on the season&rsquo;s next fastest here, Botswana&rsquo;s African champion Isaac Makwala, who clocked a national record of 44.92 at altitude in Potchefstroom a month ago.&nbsp; Meanwhile, the women&rsquo;s 200m features Olympic and three-time world champion Allyson Felix, who continues her return from an injury-plagued 2013 season. The 28-year-old Californian arrives in Ostrava on the heels of a confidence-boosting 22.73 win in Oslo this week.Record ambitions for Aman in the 1000m and Dibaba at 2000mAfter setting world bests as a youth and junior, world 800m champion Mohamed Aman is wasting little time in his effort to continue breaking records now that he&rsquo;s joined the senior ranks. His first target? Noah Ngeny&rsquo;s 1000m world record of 2:11.96 set in 1999.Aman won the 800m in Ostrava last year in 1:43.78, and has run faster than 1:43 twice, but hasn&rsquo;t contested a 1000m race since the 2010 Youth Olympic Games which he won 2:19.54. The prospects of a fast time over the rarely-run distance has attracted entrants from more than a dozen countries. France&rsquo;s Pierre-Ambroise Bosse and multiple European indoor champion Adam Kszczot of Poland will be chasing their national records.Not to be outdone, also billed as a world record assault is the rarely contested women&rsquo;s 2000m designed with rapidly rising star Genzebe Dibaba in mind. The Ethiopian, who set world indoor records this past winter in the 1500m and 3000m, will be targeting Sonia O&rsquo;Sullivan&rsquo;s 5:25.36 mark set two decades ago. On paper the mark should be within the 23-year-old&rsquo;s reach; in her 8:16.60 3000m record, she covered the final 2000m in 5:27.95. Dibaba was a well-beaten sixth in the Doha 3000m last month, her outdoor debut, but bounced back in Rome on 4 June where she won the 5000m with a world-leading 14:34.99.Kiplagat to chase 20,000m and one hour world recordsThe first advertised world record assault will come early in the programme with Florence Kiplagat&rsquo;s looking for new global standards in both the women&rsquo;s one-hour run and 20,000m. Given her form this year &ndash; in February she broke the world record in the half marathon with a 1:05:12 performance and took down the 20km mark en route &ndash; there&rsquo;s little reason to doubt that two more records are not within the two-time Berlin Marathon champion&rsquo;s reach. The Golden Spike has successfully hosted the distances in the past. Haile Gebrselassie broke both world marks here in 2007 and a year later fellow Ethiopian Dire Tune followed his lead when she improved the world record in the one-hour event with 18,517m. Tegla Loroupe has held the 20,000m world record of 1:05:26.6 since September 2000.Rounding out the middle-distance action is the featured Zatopek Memorial 3000m, where Caleb Ndiku, the recently minted world indoor champion in the event, has his sights set on the 7:31.68 meeting record. The 21-year-old will start as favourite, landing in Ostrava on the heels of a world-leading 13:01.71 5000m run in Eugene and a narrow runner-up finish over the same distance in Oslo. &ldquo;If everything goes well, it will be easy for me to break this record,&rdquo; Ndiku said. The solid field includes the ever-young Bernard Lagat of the US, Kenyan Augustine Choge, and 2008 Olympic 1500m medallist Nick Willis of New Zealand.In the women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase, Ethiopia&rsquo;s Hiwot Ayalew is the class of the field and will be chasing the 9:17.92 meeting record set last year. Robles returns to world record setting Ostrava&rsquo;s strong tradition in the sprint hurdles continues. Pascal Martinot-Lagarde arrives as not only the fastest sprint hurdler of the season, but the most consistent. The 22-year-old Frenchman won his last two outings in 13.13 and 13.12 in Eugene and Oslo respectively, the two fastest performances of the year. The field also includes Jamaica&rsquo;s Hansle Parchment, the Olympic bronze medallist, who has clocked 13.14 this season and will be gunning for his third win of the year. Meanwhile, Cuba comes armed with the prodigious Yordan O&rsquo;Farill and Dayron Robles, the 2008 Olympic champion who returned to action this season after sitting out last year to injury. Robles knows the Ostrava track well; he broke the world record here in 2008, clocking 12.87.As has become tradition, the meeting kicks off the day prior to the main programme when it makes the world&rsquo;s finest hammer throwers centre stage as part of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge.The men&rsquo;s event features a podium reunion from last year&rsquo;s World Championships, headed by gold medallist Pawel Fajdek. The 25-year-old Pole set his 82.45m career best last year in nearby Dubnica nad Vahom, Slovakia, and is rounding into 80-metre form. But two men in the field have already breached that barrier this season: reigning Olympic champion and current world leader Krisztian Pars (81.31m) from Hungary and Mostafa Al-Gamel of Egypt, who extended the African record to 81.29m in March. The local favourite is Czech star Lukas Melich, the world bronze medallist. Pars set the meeting record of 82.28m in 2012.On the women&rsquo;s side, Germany&rsquo;s Betty Heidler leads the field. The world record holder and 2007 world champion has reached 76.91m this season, the second farthest in the world. She is also the meeting record-holder at 78.07m from 2012.Former world record-holder Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland, whose impressive medal haul includes world gold in 2009, European gold in 2012, and world and Olympic silver in 2013 and 2012 respectively, will be making her season&rsquo;s debut.The programme also includes two competitive 400m hurdles contests. In the men&rsquo;s race, the attention will fall squarely on Ashton Eaton, the Olympic champion and world record-holder in the decathlon who is turning his attention to the full lap hurdles this season as a break from the combined events. Eaton arrives in Ostrava fresh from a 49.07 personal best in Hengelo and a 49.16 victory in Oslo in little more than the past week.On the women&rsquo;s side, the favourite is Bahrain&rsquo;s Kemi Adekoya, the surprise Doha winner in 54.59 and runner-up in Oslo. In the men&rsquo;s shot put, Kurt Roberts of the US will arrive on the heels of a 21.47m outdoor best, just shy of his 21.50m indoor best, to lead the field. The spotlight will nonetheless fall on two-time Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski. The Pole has reached 21.04m this season but has yet to notch a victory. Meanwhile the crowd could push rising Czech star Tomas Stanek, who recently reached a personal best of 20.93m, into new territory.Bob Ramsak (organisers) for the IAAF

Three planned world record assaults and appearances by world leaders Justin Gatlin, Renaud Lavillenie and LaShawn Merritt are just some of the highlights expected at the 53rd Golden Spike meeting on Tuesday (17).

Three world record attempts, Lavillenie and Merritt set to highlight Ostrava meeting

Barbora Spotakova’s streak of seven podium finishes at Ostrava’s Golden Spike meeting came to an end last year as the javelin world record-holder was on a baby break, but the Czech star will make a popular return to the IAAF World Challenge meeting on 17 June.The 32-year-old has won twice in Ostrava and set a meeting record of 67.78m with her last victory in 2012. The two-time Olympic champion is yet to open her 2014 season, but a late-season effort of 62.33m in 2013 – just a few months after giving birth – gave an indication that she is on course to recapturing her best form.Ostrava has in the past played host to world records in the 20,000m and one-hour run. Haile Gebrselassie broke both men’s marks in 2007, then one year later fellow Ethiopian Dire Tune set a world record for the women’s one-hour event with 18,517m.At this year’s Golden Spike meeting, Kenya’s Florence Kiplagat will compete over the 20,000m distance with a view to bettering Tune’s one-hour mark as well as Tegla Loroupe’s 20,000m world record of 1:05:26.6. Earlier in 2014, Kiplagat broke the half marathon world record in Barcelona, taking down the 20km world record in the process.“Even though I won the 2013 Berlin Marathon, I wasn’t completely happy with my time (2:21:13),” said Kiplagat. “Therefore I changed my training and started focusing on shorter distances, then in February I managed to set a world record for the half marathon.“I didn’t win the London Marathon this year, but I want to improve even further and to set another record. My management contacted the organisers of the Golden Spike, who are known for staging record attempts at these distances. Ostrava has a rich tradition, a great audience and a great track. I believe I’ll succeed in breaking both records.”Another world record-holder confirmed for the Golden Spike is Genzebe Dibaba. The Ethiopian set world records indoors this year in the 1500m and 3000m, and in Ostrava next month she will look to add another record to her CV when she makes her 2000m debut.Her target will be Sonia O’Sullivan’s mark of 5:25.36, set 20 years ago. When Dibaba set her world indoor 3000m record of 8:16.60 earlier this year, she went through the 2000m mark in 5:34.3 and covered the final 2000m in 5:27.95.“My sister Tirunesh has won in Ostrava several times,” Dibaba said of her multiple Olympic gold medal-winning sister. “We were thinking of the records I could break in the summer and we agreed on the 2000m.”Spotakova, Kiplagat and Dibaba are the latest names to be announced for Ostrava, joining the likes of Jamaican superstar Usain Bolt, world indoor and outdoor 800m champion Mohammed Aman, pole vault world record-holder Renaud Lavillenie, Olympic high jump champion Ivan Ukhov, and world and Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.Organisers for the IAAF

Barbora Spotakova’s streak of seven podium finishes at Ostrava’s Golden Spike meeting came to an end last year as the javelin world record-holder was on a baby break, but the Czech star will make a popular return to the IAAF World Challenge meeting on 17 June.