In the latest in our mini-series tracking the journey of athletes from the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 through to the Tokyo Olympics, we focus on world javelin champion Kelsey-Lee Barber from Australia.
&nbsp;
Looking back to 2019, what does your World Championships success in Doha mean to you?
Kelsey-Lee Barber: Reflecting on that win means so much more to me following the break in competition in 2020. There was so much that went well in Doha that I can draw from. It really gives me fuel in the belly and I can&rsquo;t wait to be back out there competing for a gold medal in Tokyo later this year.
&nbsp;
Your last competition took place in Doha more than 15 months ago. What is the feeling like having not competed for so long?
KLB: It has certainly been unknown territory for me and no one could have predicted the emotional waves I have experienced. I&rsquo;ve definitely had my ups and downs, but I have to take the positives out of the situation. Covid has given me the chance to train uninterrupted and we&rsquo;ve been really lucky to be able to have done so in Australia, especially here in Canberra. The AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) has done such a great job at keeping facilities open to athletes to continue daily training as normal. I am very thankful for that.
Having said that, there have been moments in the past 15 months which have been exceptionally challenging. European athletes were able to compete at a few meets here and there and this acted as a reminder that this is what I want to do and where I want to be.
&nbsp;
How has your life changed since becoming world champion?
KLB: In many regards not too much has changed, but what has most changed is the belief in my ability to perform at the highest level. I take that attitude into training every day. Before my win (in Doha) I always had a self-belief that I could always one day do it, but now that I have won gold I feel like there is a level (in training) that I don&rsquo;t let myself go below.
&nbsp;
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/H8xsL7MAi4I" width="100%" height="450" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKXHkxbjMPg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: full coverage of the women's javelin final at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019</a>
&nbsp;
Life in Australia changed very rapidly with lockdown last March. How did your life change in this period?
KLB: I was just a week away from the Brisbane Track Classic &ndash; which would have been my first comp of the year &ndash; then everything went very quickly into lockdown. Meets were cancelled, then states went into lockdown and then we went into lockdown off site at the AIS. We set up a home gym but the AIS were great in still giving athletes access to the track. I could go twice a week with my coach but with a maximum of only one athlete and one coach at any one time at the track.
The next big question was: what was going to happen with the Tokyo Olympics? It was hard to put in a lot of preparation and planning but when the decision made to postpone the Olympics this gave us a better sense of how we were going to approach the year. The original plan was to travel to Europe to do some comps but because of the pandemic, we made the decision from a health and safety perspective to stay at home.
&nbsp;
So what were your emotions with the Tokyo decision?
KLB: Initially, I very much supported that decision. Australia did not want to take a team to the Games by that point, so it was a relief when the decision was made. I then took two weeks off to allow myself to process the information. It was disappointing and frustrating coming off my World Championship success, I wanted to ride that wave and I had big goals. But this two-week period was important because it gave me the time to process that information.
&nbsp;
What specific areas did you work on developing in 2020?
KLB: I had quite a significant shoulder niggle going into the World Championships and one of the biggest pluses of 2020 is I did not have to rush the rehab process. I could take the time to get the shoulder right from a strength point of view and to get it ready for the stresses of throwing.
Also, we&rsquo;d normally be lucky to get in a six-week strength block at the end of the year but in 2020 I was able to get in a 12-week strength block &ndash; I&rsquo;ve never been able to do that before.
&nbsp;
Your husband, Mike, is also your coach. What challenges have you faced, particularly in 2020 with a period in lockdown?
KLB: I&rsquo;m really proud of the way we work together. People are so curious as to how we do it! I so respect Mike as my coach and what he brings to the table. In training mode we very much have an athlete-coach relationship. Then when we come home it is important to keep that for home life and not get too caught up in javelin. When these lines become blurred that&rsquo;s when it can become difficult. Yet some of our best discussions about javelin are when we go for a walk together in the evening of early morning. That is why we appreciate about our relationship. Athletics and javelin is a shared passion and we have some great conversations on the subject.
&nbsp;
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Carousel2/e55d273d-a0aa-4bcd-91f2-eb02450bbd9e.jpg?cachebuster=edce1edc-5f58-4960-b9c9-18d1805f32fe" alt="" width="950" height="570" />
&nbsp;
2020 was a tough year for many athletes. Who have you leaned upon to help get you through this period?
KLB: I normally rely on a small inner circle of people but this year I&rsquo;ve expanded it to include some top athletes like Dani Stevens and Brooke Stratton and Matt Denny. We would meet for weekly Zoom chats with the Athletics Australia head coach Craig Hilliard. It was super helpful to hear how other athletes were going. If one of us was struggling with motivation, we were then able to draw motivation from each other.
&nbsp;
What are you competitive plans for 2021?
KLB: This is really exciting! I plan to compete in Canberra on 25 February and 11 March and then Brisbane on 27 March ahead of Aussie nationals in April. At the moment we&rsquo;ve only planned for the Australian season but later this year I would love to be able to compete in Europe ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
&nbsp;
What are you aiming for at the domestic meets?
KLB: To get a feel for competition again and to experience the competition routine. I hope to showcase what we have been doing in training and put my stamp on 2021.
&nbsp;
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Carousel2/650799ae-f7e0-4712-b629-6881dc216114.jpg?cachebuster=9e72be32-1a8a-46ee-8ff0-ae1e064826b5" alt="" width="950" height="570" /> Kelsey-Lee Barber in action at the Diamond League meeting in London (&copy; Getty Images)
&nbsp;
What are your main aims for 2021?
KLB: A gold medal in Tokyo &ndash; that is what I&rsquo;ve been working towards for my entire career. I&rsquo;ve also yet to win a Diamond League and I would really like to end that.
&nbsp;
Looking back on 2020, what did it teach you as a person?
KLB: It reminded me it is okay to slow down a little! I love my lifestyle as an elite athlete but because I was forced into a year at home, I found enjoyment slowing down and reconnecting with a few hobbies such as cooking. I really enjoyed the chance to spend more time with family and friends. Last year taught me that it is important to have a better balance in life and we don&rsquo;t have to live out life at such a fast pace all the time.
&nbsp;
Steve Landells for World Athletics

In the latest in our mini-series tracking the journey of athletes from the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 through to the Tokyo Olympics, we focus on world javelin champion Kelsey-Lee Barber from Australia.

Doha to Tokyo: Kelsey-Lee Barber

As this extraordinary year draws to a close, we look back at the key moments of 2020 in each area of the sport. The series continues today with a review of the throwing disciplines.
&nbsp;
<h3>Women&rsquo;s shot put</h3>
Despite turning 30 this summer, Auriol Dongmo was the revelation of the outdoor season. She came into 2020 with one single put beyond 18 metres in her career and left it as joint world leader &ndash; with world champion Gong Lijiao &ndash; at 19.53m.
Dongmo, who this year transferred from Cameroon to Portugal, won two World Athletics Continental Tour meetings and remained undefeated during the outdoor season. Statistically she backed up that massive PB with three more meets at 18.85m or better.
Gong produced the top mark of the year (19.70m) indoors in February in what was to be the lead up to the World Indoor Championships, originally planned for mid-March on her home soil in Nanjing. But the World Indoors had to be cancelled and with the Olympics postponed one year, Gong had just one outdoor competition this year, in which she equalled the world lead (19.53m).
With almost no international competitions available, many other of the top shot putters &ndash; just like Gong &ndash; only had a couple of local appearances or even skipped the outdoor season altogether. The number of athletes throwing beyond 18 metres was almost halved from last year; especially noticeable was the drop in the US presence, from 12 at 18m+ in 2019 to just three in 2020.
&nbsp;
<h3>Men&rsquo;s shot put</h3>
Following the narrowest of losses at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, USA&rsquo;s Ryan Crouser was easily the top shot putter in 2020.
The 28-year-old was unbeaten in all of his 11 competitions during the season and the only athlete to throw beyond 22 metres in 2020. Crouser did it in style, too, beating the 22-metre line in all but one of those competitions.
In July he threw a world-leading PB of 22.91m, moving to equal third on the world all-time list. Only two athletes &ndash; world record-holder Randy Barnes (23.12m) and Ulf Timmermann (23.06m) &ndash; have reached 23 metres, but Crouser is closing in on that barrier. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Another shot put exhibition from <a href="https://twitter.com/RCrouserThrows?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RCrouserThrows</a>. He was over the 22-metre-line four times at the <a href="https://twitter.com/ZlataTretra?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ZlataTretra</a>; his 22.43m leads the throws action.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ContinentalTourGold?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ContinentalTourGold</a> <a href="https://t.co/7TdoO7H1hM">pic.twitter.com/7TdoO7H1hM</a>
&mdash; Continental Tour Gold (@ContiTourGold) <a href="https://twitter.com/ContiTourGold/status/1303458043036868610?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2020</a></blockquote>
 Barnes also holds the world indoor record at 22.66m from 1989, but Crouser also came really close to this mark when winning the US indoor title with 22.60m, moving to second on the world indoor all-time list.
While Crouser hasn&rsquo;t yet set a world record, he has already established himself as one of the greatest throwers ever. 105 throws beyond 22 metres is almost triple the number of 22-metre throws by Ulf Timmermann, the second-most prolific 22m thrower.
In 2020 Crouser had 54 measured throws with an average of 22.20m. This is the first time in shot put history when a thrower&rsquo;s average has been beyond 22 metres.
Crouser aside, 2020 marked a breakthrough season for Italy&rsquo;s Leonardo Fabbri, who threw a PB of 21.99m in Padua in August. World indoor champion Tom Walsh didn&rsquo;t compete outside New Zealand, but still managed to register a season&rsquo;s best of 21.70m. World champion Joe Kovacs competed just a handful of times, ending the year with a best of 21.30m in Zagreb.
Despite the obvious disruptions to the season, 17 men managed to throw beyond 21 metres during the outdoor season, which is slightly down on the number from last year (26) but equal with the figure from 2018.
&nbsp;
<h3>Women&rsquo;s discus</h3>
In the modern era, marks beyond 70 metres have been few and far between.
From 2000 onwards it took until 2014 for the first 70-metre performance. Since then, there had been just 12 such marks &ndash; 11 by Sandra Perkovic and one by Denia Caballero.
But on 1 August this year they were joined in the &rsquo;70-metre club&rsquo; by USA&rsquo;s Valarie Allman, who hit 70.15m on her opening attempt at a special throws meet in Rathdrum, Idaho. For Allman &ndash; who finished seventh at last year&rsquo;s World Championships in Doha &ndash; it was a huge improvement as her previous PB of 67.15m had been her only previous throw beyond 66 metres. Allman opened and closed her season with that competition, so confirmation of her newfound capacity will have to wait until 2021.
No one else in the world threw beyond 66 metres this year, but double Olympic champion Sandra Perkovic made a couple of notable appearances on home soil, throwing 65.93m in Split in March and 64.67m to win at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Zagreb in September.
World champion Yaime Perez and fellow Cuban Denia Caballero enjoyed a few duels at the start of the year. Perez won all but one of their clashes, ending with a season&rsquo;s best of 64.76m.
&nbsp;
<h3>Men&rsquo;s discus</h3>
Results wise, throwing disciplines seemed to lose very little at the top during the otherwise thin season. The men&rsquo;s discus was no different with several athletes consistently hitting good marks.
Daniel St&aring;hl was the clear No.1 discus thrower in the world during 2020.
The 28-year-old Swede competed 20 times in 2020 and recorded 18 victories. Between June and September, St&aring;hl won 15 competitions in a row, hitting 70 metres twice and 69 metres five times.
Not counting a competition in June when St&aring;hl failed to register a valid throw, 2017 world champion Andrius Gudzius was the only athlete to beat the giant Swede, doing so at the Continental Tour meeting in Berlin (66.72m to 65.89m). Gudzius enjoyed a strong season, throwing beyond 68 metres on four occasions.
Several other athletes were near or beyond the 70-metre line during the season, but a few of them only achieved it once and it remains to be the seen if they really can back up these one-time big throws in the future.
Colombian Mauricio Ortega threw a South American record of 70.29m in Vila Nova de Cerveira, Portugal, in June, but did not get close to that result in other meetings. Same goes for Juan Jos&eacute; Caicedo, who set an Ecuadorian record of 69.60m at that same competition. Iceland&rsquo;s Gudni Valur Gudnason is another example; he set a national record of 69.35m in September.
Jamaica&rsquo;s world silver medallist Fedrick Dacres stayed home all year, reaching a 69.67m season&rsquo;s best in February. Slovenia&rsquo;s Kristjan Čeh, meanwhile, emerged as a serious contender. The 21-year-old broke the Slovenian record with 68.75m in June and consistently threw beyond 65 metres at big invitational competitions against top opponents.
&nbsp;
<h3>Women&rsquo;s hammer</h3>
World record-holder Anita Wlodarczyk took the year off, as did wold champion DeAnna Price once it became clear that the Tokyo Olympics would be postponed until 2021. The other world medallists, Joanna Fiodorow and Wang Zheng, meanwhile, had low-key seasons.
Instead it was World Championships sixth-place finisher Alexandra Tavernier who had the strongest season with six meets, six wins and all competitions beyond 72.50m. She twice broke her own French record, throwing 74.94m in July and 75.23m in September.
Tavernier just missed registering the world-leading mark as that honour went to Hanna Malyshchyk who threw 22 centimetres farther &ndash; 75.45m &ndash; in February. But Tavernier got the better of the Belarusian in their only clash of 2020, winning in Szekesfehervar with 73.09m to Malyshchyk&rsquo;s 70.59m. 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Carousel2/10340a06-a413-4625-8837-50a9d8688385.jpg?cachebuster=aac3d2ad-2100-4b58-bb60-67c4eaf1004a" alt="" width="950" height="570" />
 Tavernier this year also lost her No.3 position on the world U20 all-time list to Finland&rsquo;s Silja Kosonen, who, at the age of 17, threw 71.34m in July. The world U20 record has stood to China&rsquo;s Zhang Wenxiu at 73.24m since 2005 but Kosonen has one more year as an U20 so could move further up the all-time list.
&nbsp;
<h3>Men&rsquo;s hammer</h3>
There may not have been any truly huge marks in the men&rsquo;s hammer this year, but two athletes managed to surpass 80 metres, one of them doing so for the first time in their career.
USA&rsquo;s Rudy Winkler ended the season as the surprise world leader. The 26-year-old, whose previous best of 77.06m was set in the qualifying round at last year&rsquo;s World Championships, threw 80.70m in July. Winkler competed two more times, but while his throws landed beyond 80 metres (80.72m and 80.07m), both results were achieved in a downhill facility in Middletown, New York.
Three-time world bronze medallist Wojciech Nowicki was the most consistent thrower this summer. The 31-year-old won his first four meets and then placed second behind fellow Pole Pawel Fajdek in the last two. Nowicki had two competitions beyond 80 metres in August within the space of three days, throwing 80.09m in Chorz&oacute;w and then an 80.28m season&rsquo;s best to win the Polish title.
Fajdek, winner of the past four world titles, closed the season well with three wins and a 79.81m season&rsquo;s best.
World bronze medallist Bence Hal&aacute;sz of Hungary competed mainly in small competitions at home. He won the Hungarian title with a 79.88m personal best in August, and placed second in Szekesfehervar and Ch&oacute;rzow.
There was another newcomer to the hammer scene in the form of Aaron Kangas. The Finn won all of his 11 meets during the season, all of them in his home country, topped by a personal best of 79.05m in Espoo in August.
&nbsp;
<h3>Women&rsquo;s javelin</h3>
In contrast to the other throwing events, nine of the top 10 women from 2019 competed at a high level also this year.
Only world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber was missing in action, opting instead to focus exclusively on training for 2021. The other two World Championships medallists from 2019 &ndash; China&rsquo;s Liu Shiyin and Lyu Huihui &ndash; topped the world list with distances beyond 67 metres.
Unfortunately there were few opportunities for the top throwers from different countries to go head-to-head. The main encounter took place at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Ostrava where 39-year old world record-holder Barbora Spotakova threw 65.19m to once again triumph over the younger generation, represented on this occasion by Maria Andrzejczyk, Nikola Ogrodnikova, Lina Muze and Sara Kolak.
This year also marked a big breakthrough for Greece&rsquo;s Elina Tzengko who, at the age of 17, threw 63.96m at a meeting in Ioannina. It was 10 centimetres farther than the world U20 record, but her mark could not be ratified. Nevertheless, Tzengko backed up that performance with marks beyond 61 metres in her other competitions this year.
Tzengko also proved herself as a competitor; she threw 62.21m in Kladno in September, losing only to Spotakova and Ogrodnikova and defeating Andrzejczyk and double Olympic finalist Madara Palameika.
&nbsp;
<h3>Men&rsquo;s javelin</h3>
Only one of the top names really excelled in the javelin this season.
Germany&rsquo;s Johannes Vetter was the only man beyond 90 metres in 2020. And the 2017 world champion did just creep over the 90-metre line; he absolutely crushed it. 
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iu-VANtP78Q" width="100%" height="450" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 The 27-year-old had an almost perfect season with a total of five throws at 90.00m or farther. His only disappointment was his season opener in July when he failed to register a valid throw, but he followed that with nine straight wins.
He first surpassed the 90-metre line in Turku in June with his opener landing at 91.49m, his best throw in two years and three months. His next 90-metre meeting was in Chorz&oacute;w two weeks later when he won with 90.86m and had another throw landing at exactly 90.00m.
Vetter returned to Chorz&oacute;w in September and hit a crazy 97.76m national record in round three, the second-best throw in history and less than a metre from Jan Zelezny&rsquo;s 24-year-old world record of 98.48m. Another monster in the next round, 94.84m, underlined that the Czech&rsquo;s record is finally in jeopardy.
Many top names were totally absent and for others their season was really short. India&rsquo;s world U20 record-holder and 2016 world U20 champion Neeraj Chopra competed only once, throwing 87.86m in South Africa in January.Towards the end of the year, meanwhile, South Africa&rsquo;s Rocco van Rooyen smashed his PB with 87.62m in November to end the year at third place on the world list.
Mirko Jalava (men&rsquo;s disciplines) and A Lennart Julin (women&rsquo;s disciplines) for World Athletics

A look back at the key moments of 2020 in the throws

2020 review: throws

In a javelin competition where the top three athletes exceeded a championship record that had stood for 32 years, Moldova&rsquo;s Andrian Mardare emerged victorious with 83.60m, producing one of the main highlights of the Balkan Championships in Cluj-Napoca.
More than 250 athletes from 11 countries descended on the Romanian city for two days of action, which concluded on Sunday (20).
Mardare, bronze medallist at the 2016 Balkan Championships, headed to Romania off the back of some strong performances on the Continental Tour circuit. After opening with a foul, he took command of the competition with his second-round effort of 82.78m.
Bulgaria&rsquo;s Mark Slavov, who took silver at last year&rsquo;s Balkan Championships and bronze in 2018, threw a PB of 78.28m in the second round but then unleashed an almighty 83.40m to break the Bulgarian record, adding almost nine metres to his pre-competition best.
Mardare kept his composure and responded with 81.01m to close out that round, but then improved to 83.60m in round four to take a narrow lead. Salvov didn&rsquo;t improve on his record throw, while Mardare rounded out his consistent series with efforts of 83.03m and 80.68m.
Bosnia and Herzegovina&rsquo;s Dejan Mileusnic, the 2016 Balkan champion, finished third with 79.57m, which was better than the previous championship best.
Alin Alexandru Firfirica won his fourth Balkan title in the men&rsquo;s discus. The Romanian, who finished fourth at last year&rsquo;s World Championships, threw 64.72m to win by more than six metres.
Compatriot Bianca Ghelber also landed her fourth senior Balkan title. The two-time world U20 champion, now aged 30, produced her best series of the year to win the women&rsquo;s hammer with 72.18m, regaining the title she last won in 2014.
For the second year in a row, the men&rsquo;s hammer title was won by an U20 athlete. 2019 winner Christos Frantzeskakis was unable to defend his title as Greece opted not to send a team, leaving Mykhaylo Kokhan a relatively clear path to victory.
The 19-year-old Ukrainian, who finished fifth at last year&rsquo;s World Championships, took the lead in round three with 75.01m and followed it with three further throws beyond 75 metres, his best &ndash; 75.43m &ndash; coming in the penultimate round.
<h3>Tkachuk takes 400m hurdles title, Bobocea completes middle-distance double</h3>
Ukrainian athletes scooped several medals on the track and they landed a 1-2 finish in both of the women&rsquo;s one-lap events.
Viktoriia Tkachuk won the 400m hurdles in 55.58, finishing comfortably ahead of teammate Mariaa Mykolenko. Anna Ryzhykova, better known as a hurdler, focused on the 400m flat in Cluj-Napoca &nbsp;and won handily in 51.74, just 0.04 shy of the PB she set last month. Compatriot Alina Logvynenko was second in 52.89.
All four women teamed up in the 4x400m on Sunday and won gold by almost four seconds in 3:34.21.
Claudia Bobocea won both of the host nation&rsquo;s individual track titles. She took the 800m title on Saturday in 2:03.32 and then returned to the track 24 hours later to win the 1500m in 4:12.95.
Turkey&rsquo;s Jak Ali Harvey was the most successful athlete of the championships. He won the men&rsquo;s sprint double in 10.30 and 20.77 and added another gold medal in the 4x100m (39.63). Turkey added another relay gold in the final race of the championships, the men&rsquo;s 4x400m (3:06.35).
<h3>Petrova lands double jumps gold</h3>
Bulgaria&rsquo;s Gabriela Petrova also had a busy weekend. The 2015 European indoor silver medallist comfortably won her specialist event, the triple jump, on Saturday with 14.19m (0.8m/s). She was back on the runway on Sunday in the long jump and once again emerged victorious, taking the lead in round three with 6.34m and then improving to 6.41m in the fourth round.
She becomes the first athlete since Marian Oprea in 2014 to complete the horizontal jumps double at the Balkan Championships.
Other jumps highlights came from Armenia&rsquo;s Levon Aghasyan, who won the men&rsquo;s triple jump with his opening effort of 16.53m, and Ukraine&rsquo;s Andriy Protsenko, who claimed the men&rsquo;s high jump title with 2.25m.
Elsewhere, Alina Shukh won the heptathlon title with a massive 1000-point margin, scoring 5940, helped by a 51.90m effort in the javelin.
Ukraine topped the medals table with 12 gold and 32 medals in total, followed by Turkey (10 gold) and Romania (8).
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

In a javelin competition where the top three athletes exceeded a championship record that had stood for 32 years, Moldova’s Andrian Mardare emerged victorious with 83.60m, producing one of the main highlights of the Balkan Championships in Cluj-Napoca.

Mardare highlights Balkan Championships with record-breaking throw 

World silver medallist Liu Shiying and 2015 world bronze medallist Wang Jianan produced the highlights of the Chinese Championships, which drew to a close on Friday (18) after four days of action in Shaoxing.
Wang emerged victorious in a competitive long jump contest, pushed all the way by 2016 world indoor bronze medallist Huang Changzhou. Huang kicked off the opening round with a world-leading PB of 8.33m (0.5m/s) while Wang opened with 8.21m. Huang backed up his leading mark in the second round with an 8.29m effort, but Wang improved to 8.36m (0.3m/s) to take the lead.
Huang tried to respond and followed up with consistent leaps of 8.24m, 8.23m, 8.23m and 8.12m, but Wang held on to pole position. After fouls in rounds three and four, and a pass in round five, Wang ended his series with an 8.29m leap.
His winning mark is the best by a Chinese athlete since Wang equalled the national record of 8.47m in 2018.
The women&rsquo;s javelin was similarly competitive. Liu Shiying opened proceedings with a 65.08m effort while Lu Huihui, the Asian record-holder and three-time world medallist, needed a few throws to find her rhythm. After opening with 61.06m and improving to 62.71m in round two, Lu closed in on Liu&rsquo;s lead with a third-round effort of 64.98m.
Lu improved again in the penultimate round, taking the lead with 65.70m. But Liu saved her best for last, unleashing a lifetime best of 67.29m with the final throw of the competition to regain the lead and take the title.
Asian champion Xie Wenjun was a class apart in the men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles. The World Championships fifth-place finisher clocked a season&rsquo;s best of 13.24 to win by 0.30.
In the women&rsquo;s shot put, Gao Yang came through in the final two rounds to take the title from Jiang Yue. Jiang set a PB of 17.63m with her opening throw, which stood as the leading mark for the first four rounds. Gao bettered it by one centimetre with her fifth throw and then improved to 17.98m in the last round to take the title.
Elsewhere in the field events, world finalist Wu Ruiting took the men&rsquo;s triple jump title with a season&rsquo;s best of 16.90m, while World University Games silver medallist Ma Qun won the men&rsquo;s javelin with 81.13m, also a season&rsquo;s best.
World University Games bronze medallist Li Ying added 20 centimetres to her PB to win the triple jump with 14.02 (1.3m/s). Asian Games bronze medallist Xu Xiaoling was just one centimetre shy of her outdoor PB in the long jump, winning the title with 6.63m (-0.7m/s).
Xie Zhenye, the Asian record-holder for 200m, won the men&rsquo;s sprint double. He took the 100m title in 10.31 (-0.2m/s) and two days later added the 200m crown to his collection, stopping the clock at 20.72 (-0.4m/s). 17-year-old Yan Haibin was second in a PB of 20.86, moving him to eighth on the Asian U18 all-time list.
Ge Manqi, the national indoor record-holder over 60m, won the women&rsquo;s 100m in 11.35 (-0.2m/s).
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

World silver medallist Liu Shiying and 2015 world bronze medallist Wang Jianan produced the highlights of the Chinese Championships, which drew to a close on Friday (18) after four days of action in Shaoxing.

Wang and Liu impress at Chinese Championships

World champion Malaika Mihambo, competing off a shortened run-up, sailed out to a world-leading 7.03m to win the long jump at Anhalt 2020, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting, in Dessau on Tuesday (8).
Elsewhere, Johannes Vetter won the javelin with 86.17m, while Ukrainian duo Yuliya Levchenko and Yaroslava Mahuchikh both exceeded the meeting record in the high jump with 1.96m as Levchenko won on countback.
Lining up for just her second competition of the outdoor season, Mihambo was in third place for the first four rounds. World silver medallist Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk led for the first half of the competition with her opening effort of 6.68m before 2011 world bronze medallist Nastassia Mironchyk-Ivanova took the lead with 6.72m in round four.
Bekh-Romanchukh regained the lead in the next round with 6.85m, but then Mihambo responded by flying out to 7.08m (0.8m/s) to take pole position and add 10 centimetres to Mironchyk-Ivanova&rsquo;s world lead.
Vetter, competing just two days after he unleashed a 97.76m monster throw in Silesia, was understandably not quite at the same level today. As he explained on Sunday after producing the second-best throw in history: &ldquo;Small things can make big differences. Last week I threw 84 metres, this week I threw 97.&rdquo;
The 2017 world champion opened with a modest 79.56m, but it was enough to take an early lead. He then improved to 84.16m, which remained the best mark of the evening until the final round when Moldova&rsquo;s Andrian Mardare threw a season&rsquo;s best of 84.41m to take a surprise lead.
Not wanting to disappoint the German crowd, Vetter pulled out a winning effort of 86.17m with the last throw of the competition to take back the lead.
In their fourth clash of the outdoor season, Yuliya Levchenko levelled the score with compatriot Yaroslava Mahuchikh in the high jump. It was close once again, though, and they were level up to and including 1.87m with no failures on their card.
Levchenko took control of the competition with a second-time clearance at 1.90m, one attempt fewer than Mahuchikh required, and then went on to clear 1.93m first time. Mahuchikh, again, needed one extra attempt.
Both women then cleared 1.96m on their first tries before failing at 1.99m. Levchenko&rsquo;s better record gave her the victory on countback, but both women bettered the previous meeting record of 1.92m set nine years ago by Levern Spencer.
In the men&rsquo;s 100m, Sri Lanka&rsquo;s Yupun Abeykoon Mudiyanselage set a national record of 10.16, getting the better of in-form German Deniz Almas, who was second in 10.18. European champion Elvira Herman won the 100m hurdles in 12.85m, and Piotr Lisek won the pole vault from Chris Nilsen, 5.80m to 5.70m.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
<h3> Hynne clocks 1:59.15 to break Norwegian 800m record in Rovereto</h3>
After several near-misses, Hedda Hynne finally broke the Norwegian 800m record at the Palio Citt&agrave; della Quercia meeting in Rovereto, clocking 1:59.15 at the World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting on Tuesday (8).
The five-time national champion, who missed out on the World Championships final by one place last year, headed to Italy with a season&rsquo;s best of 1:59.94 and following a third-place finish at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Stockholm.
She dominated the race in Rovereto, though, powering to victory in 1:59.15 to take 0.67 off the previous Norwegian record set 10 years ago by Ingvill Makestad Bovim. In a race where the top five finishers set PBs, Switzerland&rsquo;s Lore Hofmann finished second with 2:00.51 ahead of Ireland&rsquo;s Nadia Power (2:01.01).
World bronze medallist Ferguson Rotich won the men&rsquo;s 800m in 1:44.82, scoring his third win in the past seven days after finishing first in Marseille and Silesia. Rotich held off fellow Kenyan Collins Kipruto, winner in Rovereto last year, who improved his season&rsquo;s best to 1:45.26.
Several highlights came in the hurdles events, including a victory for Italy&rsquo;s World University Games champion Luminosa Bogliolo. The three-time national champion, whose Stockholm victory last month made her the first Italian woman to win at a Diamond League meeting, won in 12.90 ahead of USA&rsquo;s Taliyah Brooks (13.09). 
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Luminosa Bogliolo on her way to winning the 100m hurdles in Rovereto</div>
&nbsp;
&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t really expect to run a fast time tonight,&rdquo; said Bogliolo. &ldquo;I thought the time would have been slower. This summer I&rsquo;ve enjoyed competing against great hurdlers.&rdquo;
After running the 100m hurdles, Brooks headed over to the runway and won the women&rsquo;s long jump with 6.51m (-0.3m/s) ahead of world finalist Abigail Irozuru (6.50m).
USA&rsquo;s Freddie Crittenden took a narrow win in the men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles in 13.31 sharing the same time as world indoor champion Andy Pozzi. USA&rsquo;s Aaron Mallett finished third in 13.39.
Wilfried Happio of France won the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles in 49.28, beating 2014 European silver medallist Rasmus Magi (49.79).
World and Olympic finalist Akani Simbine edged out Italy&rsquo;s Marcell Jacobs in the men&rsquo;s 100m, 10.17 to 10.21. Fausto Desalu finished third with 10.33 just a few days after winning the 200m in Brussels in 20.39.
In an even closer long jump contest, Simbine&rsquo;s fellow South African Ruswahl Samaai beat Italian champion Filippo Randazzo by just one centimetre with 8.00m.
Elsewhere, European champion Christin Hussong won the javelin with 61.13m, German compatriot Corinna Schwab took a close win in the women&rsquo;s 400m in 52.69 to finish 0.08 ahead of hurdles specialist Ayomide Folorunso, and Cuba&rsquo;s Arialis Josefa Gandulla took a surprise victory in the women&rsquo;s 100m in 11.39 ahead of world U20 bronze medallist Kristal Awuah (11.47).
Diego Sampaolo for World Athletics

World champion Malaika Mihambo, competing off a shortened run-up, sailed out to a world-leading 7.03m to win the long jump at Anhalt 2020, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting, in Dessau on Tuesday (8).

Mihambo leaps world-leading 7.03m in Dessau, Hynne breaks Norwegian 800m record in Rovereto

Another week, another world record was seriously threatened.
With the likes of Karsten Warholm, Mondo Duplantis and Ryan Crouser having crept closer to the top of the world all-time lists in their respective events over the past few weeks, at yesterday&rsquo;s World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Silesia, it was Johannes Vetter&rsquo;s turn to take a crack at breaking a world record.
The German javelin thrower hadn&rsquo;t necessarily targeted Jan Zelezny&rsquo;s long-standing mark of 98.48m, set back in 1996, but Vetter has been in terrific form all season. The 2017 world champion had thrown beyond 90 metres at the Continental Tour meetings in Turku (91.49m) and Chorzow (90.86m) and headed to Poland last weekend with a string of six victories.
His two opening throws at the Skolimowska Memorial &ndash; 83.77m and 86.41m &ndash; hadn&rsquo;t really hinted that a bigger throw was in the offing, but then he unleashed his monster effort in the third round.
As is his trademark, and such is the force with which he throws, Vetter fell to the ground upon release of his javelin. But there was also a glint in his eye; the look of an athlete who realises that they may have done something special.
Still roaring, Vetter stood up quickly and watched as his javelin sailed out across the Silesian Stadium, seemingly defying gravity. After what felt like an age &ndash; in javelin-throwing terms, at least &ndash; the implement finally landed at the other end of the infield, way beyond the 90-metre line and almost within the shot put sector at the opposite end of the green.
Moments later, the measurement appeared: 97.76m. The second-best throw in history and just 72 centimetres &ndash; about a quarter the length of an average javelin &ndash; shy of Zelezny&rsquo;s world record. 
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/iu-VANtP78Q" width="500" height="280" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 Vetter, tearful and jubilant, managed to regain his composure and followed it with a 94.84m effort &ndash; the second-best throw of his career &ndash; and rounded out his series with efforts of 89.95m and 87.28m.
&ldquo;In javelin throwing, small things matter, especially with the technique,&rdquo; he said afterwards. &ldquo;Small changes can make big differences. My grandfather was born here in 1941, so it's a bit like coming home for me.
&ldquo;I don't really remember the throw,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;You've got so much adrenaline in your body, I only remember celebrating afterwards.&rdquo;
After then watching back a clip of the throw, Vetter offered further insights. &ldquo;It was really close to perfection,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was a good throw, yes, but it still wasn't a world record, so I have to wait a bit more. In an open field with a good backwind, I think that throw would have been 100 metres, but I'm really happy.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/LargeL/413ebc4d-584c-488b-94d2-7d3da26164bd.jpg?cachebuster=3eaa2594-a904-4a1d-ba9e-13bb460ea949" alt="Johannes Vetter" width="600" height="400" />
 News of Vetter&rsquo;s throw didn&rsquo;t take long to reach Zelezny.
&ldquo;I got a message first, I didn't watch it live,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;And when I heard the result, I thought 'Okay, it is still there&rsquo;.
&ldquo;It was always clear that the record will go away some day. It&rsquo;s already been 24 years so maybe the time has come. Johannes belongs to the group of athletes who I always thought could break it. He&rsquo;s fast, he&rsquo;s strong, he&rsquo;s powerful.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s worth noting that the track in Jena where Zelezny set the world record is a far more open facility that would have benefitted more from strong winds. That&rsquo;s also true of most of the other big throws at the top of the world all-time list. Vetter&rsquo;s effort in Silesia is the best ever throw achieved inside a full-sized stadium by quite some margin. The next best is Zelezny&rsquo;s 92.80m from the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton.
&ldquo;Ten days ago I threw over 90 metres twice in a competition in a stadium,&rdquo; said the 27-year-old. &ldquo;Today I did that again. I'm really close to the world record. I'm still quite young and have some more years to go. I hope that one day I will break it.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/SpikesLb1/e593a0dc-8fbd-447c-be76-f8e56f193d2c.png?cachebuster=fcd3b6a2-1e2b-49bc-a039-7e041208d39b" alt="Crouser, Duplantis, Vetter and Warholm" width="600" height="263" />
 Although 2020 has been far from a normal season, several athletes have been in record-breaking shape.
At last month's Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco, Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei broke Kenenisa Bekele's long-standing world record for 5000m, running 12:35.36. Just last week at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Brussels, Sifan Hassan and Mo Farah set world one-hour records on the track. The next morning in Prague, Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya broke the women-only world record for the half marathon, clocking 1:05:34.
With Warholm, Duplantis and Crouser all in peak form, the race is now on to become the next athlete to break a world record.
Warholm has had a short but impressive outdoor campaign. After clocking a world best over 300m hurdles in Oslo, he went on to win the 400m hurdles in Monaco in 47.10 and then <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/diamond-league/news/warholm-4687-stockholm-diamond-league" target="_blank" rel="noopener">went even faster in Stockholm, running 46.87</a> &ndash; the second-fastest time in history &ndash; despite clattering the final barrier. For good measure, he went on to win the 400m flat later that afternoon in 45.05.
Warholm will race at tomorrow&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-continental-tour/news/how-follow-2020-continental-tour-gold" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Continental Tour Gold meeting in Ostrava</a>, where he will once again target Kevin Young&rsquo;s 46.78 world record from the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.
Duplantis broke the world pole vault record twice during the indoor season earlier this year and then carried that momentum through to the outdoor season. Undefeated in all 13 of his competitions in 2020, <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/diamond-league/news/duplantis-lausanne-pole-vault-607-kendricks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the young Swede scaled 6.07m with room to spare in Lausanne</a> before having an attempt at 6.15m &ndash; what would have been the best ever outdoor vault in history &ndash; but the lack of light made vaulting too difficult and so he called it a night.
The 20-year-old&rsquo;s next competition will be at the Continental Tour Silver meeting in Berlin on Sunday (13) when he will be up against the two men with whom he shared a podium at last year&rsquo;s World Championships: gold medallist Sam Kendricks and bronze medallist Piotr Lisek. After that, he intends on competing at the Wanda Diamond League meetings in Rome and Doha.
Crouser &ndash; like Vetter, Warholm and Duplantis &ndash; is also undefeated this year. The Olympic shot put champion <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/news/report/bol-400-hurdles-record-japan-u20-records-stee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">set a PB of 22.91m in July</a> to move to equal third on the world all-time list. He followed it with 22.56m and 22.72m victories in Des Moines in late August and last weekend won in Silesia with a Polish all-comers&rsquo; record of 22.70m.
Already the most prolific 22-metre thrower in history, the 27-year-old will next compete at the <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-continental-tour/news/how-follow-2020-continental-tour-gold" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Continental Tour Gold meetings in Ostrava</a> on Tuesday and Zagreb next week. The meeting records of 22.27m (Ostrava) and 22.28m (Zagreb) seem to be a realistic target, while the world record of 23.12m looks to be living on borrowed time.
Vetter, meanwhile, will be in action on Tuesday (8) at the Continental Tour Bronze meeting in Dessau, a more open venue that has previously played host to several 90-metre performances, and then at the ISTAF meeting in Berlin on Sunday. The <a href="https://www.mdr.de/video/livestreams/mdr-plus/eventlivestreamzweiww-2202.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MDR website will have a live stream of Dessau</a>.
Keen to stress the nuances of the event, Vetter himself said in Silesia: &ldquo;Last week I threw 84 metres, this week I threw 97. Those little things make a big difference.&rdquo; But provided he finds the right elements to tweak before Tuesday&rsquo;s competition, he could once again challenge the world record.
The race is on.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

Another week, another world record was seriously threatened.

Vetter joins Warholm, Duplantis and Crouser in race to break the next world record

The sport of athletics rarely stands still and this is no more evident than when we scrutinise the journey undertaken by Olympic javelin throw hampion Sara Kolak.&nbsp;
Since the powerful Croatian caused a major surprise to snag gold in Rio, courtesy of a national record 66.18m, the 25-year-old has undergone many changes and experiences.
Now living in a different country with a different coach and having undergone elbow surgery in the intervening period, her success inside the Estadio Olimpico seems like a lifetime ago.
Yet the quest for self-improvement never stops and in August last year Kolak relocated from Slovenia and moved to Oslo to be coached by Norway&rsquo;s two-time Olympic champion&nbsp;Andreas Thorkildsen.
&nbsp;
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Sara Kolak unleashes a meeting and Croatian national record in Lausanne</div>
&nbsp;
The switch demanded resourcefulness and enterprise but it was one made with the confidence it will enable her to improve and perform more consistently at the top level.
<h3>Overnight celebrity</h3>
Yet to fully understand the journey the woman, who originally hails from the small Croatian town of Ludbreg, has undertaken over the past four years we need to rewind back to 2016.
Back then in the hazy glow of her Rio success she admits winning Olympic gold &lsquo;changed everything&rsquo;. Overnight she became a celebrity name in her homeland and it took time to adapt to her changing profile.
&ldquo;The way people now looked at me and having also to deal with the extra attention from media and sponsors was a big shock,&rdquo; admits Kolak. &ldquo;I had to quickly come to terms with the fact this was part of the job but also to understand that sometimes when this became too much, it made me tired. Throughout I always had to remember to remain the same person I always was.&rdquo;
Coached at that time by the Slovenia-based Andrej Hajnsek, she went on to enjoy some memorable moments in 2017.
At the Lausanne Diamond League meeting she claimed top spot with an impressive national record mark of 68.43m and also struck gold at the European Under-23 Championships in Bydgoszcz.
&ldquo;Lausanne is one of my favourite meets along with Zurich because of the atmosphere,&rdquo; she explains. &ldquo;The 68-metre throw felt good, it is hard to find the perfect sentence to describe it, although I know I made a little bit of a mistake because I lost the tip of the javelin.&rdquo;
Yet at the World Athletics Championships in London she had what she describes &ldquo;as a bad day at the office&rdquo;, finishing fourth with a best effort of 64.95m, 31cm shy of the bronze medallist.
&nbsp;
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Sara Kolak in the Rio 2016 Olympic final</div>
&nbsp;
<h3>Nagging injuries appear</h3>
It was also in London when issues with her right elbow surfaced for the first time. Kolak climaxed her season with a third place finish in the Diamond League final in Zurich and second spot in front of adoring home fans in Zagreb but the elbow problem did not subside.
For three months or so her training was badly compromised and after some thought she took the decision in January 2018 to commit to reconstructive surgery on her medial collateral ligament.
Undergoing the specialist surgery in Minnesota, USA, Kolak knew from experiencing of shoulder surgery in 2014 she faced a long road ahead.
&ldquo;In some ways the surgery is the easy part, the difficult part is the recovery,&rdquo; she explains. &ldquo;Post-surgery it is important to stay focused on the rehab, not push it too hard and stay patient. Although compared to the shoulder surgery, it was probably a little easier because after elbow surgery I did feel pain.&rdquo;
<h3>Learning to be patient</h3>
Throughout 2018 the Croatian diligently employed a patient attitude. Determined not to rush the rehab process she first opted to throw with a tennis ball and then a lighter 400g javelin. She avoided the temptation of trying to squeeze in any late-season competitions and focused her efforts on being 100% ready for the 2019 campaign.
It was not a road without its bumps and she recalls the torment of watching the women&rsquo;s javelin final at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin.
&ldquo;Watching the competition was horrible,&rdquo; she admits. &ldquo;But then minutes after it finishes I cooled down and said to myself, &lsquo;everything next year will be good&rsquo;. One positive of 2018 is that it made me hungrier for success.&rdquo;
In June 2019 she returned to the competitive javelin runway for the first time in 21 months, hurling the spear an impressive 64.45m to clinch victory in Ostrava.
<h3>Adjusting to a new coaching and training environment</h3>
Yet performing inconsistently last summer she made the courageous decision mid-season to leave Hajnsek to link up with Norwegian javelin great Thorkildsen.
Out of respect for her former coach, Kolak prefers not to go into details surrounding the reasoning behind the coaching switch.
However, she is delighted with the progress made under the influence of the 2009 world javelin champion.
&nbsp;
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Sara Kolak after her Croatian javelin record at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games</div>
&nbsp;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really happy to have the chance to learn from the best and I&rsquo;ve learned a lot over the past year,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I do a different type of training, but it is a good different.&rdquo;
Moving to Oslo where Kolak shares a flat with Norwegian 63.28m international thrower Sigrid Borge, who is also coached by Thorkildsen, she says relocating has been a relatively straight forward process.
In fact, she has more sympathy with her coach and adds, &ldquo;It was much harder on him than it was on me because he had to try to help me in the middle of the season.&rdquo;&nbsp;
In their first competition together she fired the javelin out to a season&rsquo;s best of 66.42m to win in Zagreb but the World Championships in Doha did not go according to the script.
Placing seventh with a best of 62.28m was not what she desired but despite not having &ldquo;a good day&rdquo; in Qatar, Kolak took the mature approach that it would take time to reap the benefits of the new regime.
&ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t bring me down, I was excited to learn more and become better and I needed time for my body to adapt to the new way of working,&rdquo; she explains.
Hugely impressed with the training facilities on offer in Oslo &ndash; which includes in winter a large indoor throwing option &ndash; Kolak insists she has already made some big changes in her approach to training.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve learned the importance of quality over quantity,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Andreas understands javelin on a different level because of his success. He looks at javelin differently and I&rsquo;m the result of what he&rsquo;s taught me. When I throw the javelin it flies, I can feel it.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m also improving in jumps, sprints and technique, but the technique is the most important part and that will be the main focus. We are a really good team together.&rdquo;
The pandemic has created its inconveniences but Kolak believes being based in Norway has made the challenges easier to overcome. Drawing upon her rehab exercises learned during shoulder surgery to keep her body strong she adapted her training for a period by using a local park and her backyard to maintain fitness.
In late-June she returned to competition with a handy 62.42m in Oslo and is targeting the Zagreb meet alongside possible options in the Czech Republic in September.
However, for Kolak the longer term aim is the Tokyo Games next year and her pursuit of matching her coach as a back-to-back Olympic champion.
&ldquo;At the time of the postponement of the Olympic it was a shock for everybody and we had to adapt as best we could,&rdquo; says Kolak. &ldquo;But the good thing is I can now take this time to improve and be the best I can by the time of the Olympics next year. One thing I can say for certain is, I will be ready.&rdquo;
Steve Landells for World Athletics

The sport of athletics rarely stands still and this is no more evident than when we scrutinise the journey undertaken by Olympic javelin throw hampion Sara Kolak. 

Kolak on Olympic title defence: 'I will be ready'

Germany&rsquo;s 2017 world champion Johannes Vetter dominated the javelin at the Orlen Kusocinski Memorial, winning with 90.86m at the World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting in Chorzow on Tuesday (25).
The 27-year-old German headed to the Polish city off the back of four consecutive victories, including a 91.49m world lead at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Turku. He opened his series today at the Silesian Stadium with 86.81m, a mark which would have ultimately been enough to win, but he improved in the second round to a stadium record of 90.86m.
Vetter followed it with 86.40m in round three and 90.00m in round four. It wasn&rsquo;t until the fifth round that one of his competitors joined him beyond 80 metres as 2013 world champion Vitezslav Vesely launched his spear out to 82.94m. Poland&rsquo;s Marcin Krukowski then improved to 82.17m in the final round to move into third place. But Vetter could not be caught and he ended his series with 89.00m.
<h3>World lead for Reekie, meeting record for Ortega</h3>
Like Vetter in the javelin, Britain&rsquo;s Jemma Reekie maintained her winning streak in the 800m.
Two days after winning at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Stockholm, the double European U23 champion was paced through the first lap in 58.80 before she once again ran away from the rest of the field in the final 200 metres to win in 1:58.63.
Her time is the fastest outdoor performance in the world this year, while the outright world lead remains Reekie&rsquo;s indoor clocking of 1:57.91.
Poland&rsquo;s Sofia Ennaoui was second in 2:00.12 with Germany&rsquo;s Christina Hering placing third in 2:00.47.
Olympic silver medallist Orlando Ortega comfortably won the 110m hurdles, equalling the meeting record of 13.25 (1.0m/s). France&rsquo;s 2017 world U18 silver medallist Cyrena Samba-Mayela impressed in the 100m hurdles to win in a PB of 12.87, the second-fastest time ever by a European teenager.
<h3>Nowicki goes beyond 80m</h3>
European champion Wojciech Nowicki delighted the 5000 Polish spectators &ndash; a smaller crowd than usual to keep in line with current guidelines &ndash; by winning the men&rsquo;s hammer with a season&rsquo;s best of 80.09m.
Up against domestic rival and four-time world champion Pawel Fajdek, Nowicki led from the outset after opening with 76.81m and improving to 78.65m. Fajdek was close behind in both rounds, throwing 76.37m and 78.05m, but Nowicki extended his advantage in the third round, sending his hammer out to 80.09m.
Earlier in that round, Hungary&rsquo;s world bronze medallist Bence Halasz crept into second place between the two Poles, throwing 78.18m. None of the top three improved in the final three rounds, meaning Nowicki maintained pole position.
In an all-Polish women&rsquo;s hammer, 2017 world bronze medallist Malwina Kopron came out on top with a second-round throw of 73.43m. Katarzyna Furmanek continued her current good form with 71.37m for the runner-up spot.
European champion Michal Haratyk secured a third Polish throws victory, but he was pushed all the way by World Indoor Tour winner Filip Mihaljevic of Croatia.
Haratyk started strongly, opening with 21.37m and 21.33m. Mihaljevic came close to Haratyk&rsquo;s lead in round three with 21.36m but then improved to 21.44m in round four and 21.59m in round five. Just moments later, Haratyk grabbed the lead back with a season&rsquo;s best of 21.88m.
Mihaljevic spun out of the circle in the final round and crashed to the ground with what appeared to be a groin injury. With the competition already won, Haratyk ended his series with 21.10m.
<h3>Kendricks back on top</h3>
US pole vaulter Sam Kendricks has had mixed fortunes on the European circuit so far this month.
The two-time world champion was unable to compete at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco after his poles failed to arrive on time. He then headed to Leverkusen and Bydgoszcz, winning both times with 5.81m and 5.80m respectively, but appeared to struggle in Stockholm at the weekend, bowing out with a best of 5.53m.
With conditions more conducive to bigger vaults in Chorzow than they were in the Swedish capital two days ago, Kendricks returned to the higher heights. A first-time clearance at 5.77m secured victory for Kendricks and he then sailed over 5.82m, also on his first try. He ended his competition with three unsuccessful attempts at a would-be meeting record of 5.92m.
Britain&rsquo;s Imani Lansiquot finished strongly in the women&rsquo;s 100m, overtaking Germany&rsquo;s Tatjana Pinto and the fast-starting Ewa Swoboda to win in 11.19 (1.3m/s) &ndash; just 0.01 shy of Swoboda&rsquo;s meeting record from last year.
World bronze medallist Ferguson Cheruiyot also came on strong in the latter stages, overtaking early leader Wesley Vazquez and holding off Polish duo Marcin Lewandowski and Adam Kszczot to win the 800m in 1:45.34. Vazquez held on to second place in 1:45.54.
Elsewhere, USA&rsquo;s Wadeline Jonathas won the 400m in a season&rsquo;s best of 51.23, world silver medallist Maryna Bekh-Romanchukh won the long jump with 6.78m (0.2m/s) and Ghana&rsquo;s Sean Safo-Antwi took the 100m in 10.23 (-0.8m/s).
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

Germany’s 2017 world champion Johannes Vetter dominated the javelin at the Orlen Kusocinski Memorial, winning with 90.86m at the World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting in Chorzow on Tuesday (25).

Vetter beyond 90 metres again in Chorzow

It may not have been the competition that Tokyo&rsquo;s Olympic Stadium had originally been set to host in August 2020, but Japan&rsquo;s leading athletes got a taste of the big time at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, on Sunday (23).
To help minimise risks, no spectators were present and the fields were entirely made up of domestic athletes. But thousands of fans were still able to tune in via TV coverage and the live stream to watch Japan&rsquo;s leading athletes in action.
They rose to the occasion, too, especially Nozomi Tanaka. The world U20 3000m champion stepped down in distance to the 1500m and front-ran her way to a national record. The 20-year-old had announced her intentions to break the mark ahead of the race, having come within a second of Yuriko Kobayashi&rsquo;s 14-year-old mark (4:07.86) with a 4:08.68 clocking in Shibetsu last month. 
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Nozomi Tanaka wins the 1500m at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Tokyo</div>
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With no pacemakers, Tanaka started conservatively and led the field through the first lap in 66.42. Japanese 800m and 1500m champion Ran Urabe, compatriot Kaede Hagitani and Kenya&rsquo;s Japan-based Hellen Lobun were the only ones capable of following the early pace.
At 800m, reached in 2:11.91, Urabe moved into second place as Lobun and Hagitani dropped behind. Tanaka continued to wind up the pace, and after hearing the bell ring with 3:02.37 on the clock, she kicked it up another gear and pulled away from Urabe.
Tanaka flew around the final lap in 63 seconds to cross the line in 4:05.27, smashing the national record by two seconds. Urabe finished six seconds in arrears, clocking 4:11.75.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
How about that!? Nozomi Tanaka breaks the Japanese 1500m record, winning at the <a href="https://twitter.com/goldengrandprix?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@goldengrandprix</a> in 4:05.27 💫. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ContinentalTourGold?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ContinentalTourGold</a> Stream 📺 <a href="https://t.co/1kzk4EAL6c">https://t.co/1kzk4EAL6c</a> <a href="https://t.co/hIr3RgsUPU">pic.twitter.com/hIr3RgsUPU</a>
&mdash; Continental Tour Gold (@ContiTourGold) <a href="https://twitter.com/ContiTourGold/status/1297429562243133441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 23, 2020</a></blockquote>

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"I thought about all kinds of race plans, but I also knew that if I thought about it too much, I&rsquo;d get anxious," said Tanaka, whose mother, Chihiro, is a two-time Hokkaido Marathon champion. "So today I decided not to be too conscious of the time and to just run. I&rsquo;ve been confident with my finish in training, so I just gave everything I had. I realised in the final 100 metres that I was going to break the national record.
"I&rsquo;m very excited that I finally broke the national record that had been held by Yuriko Kobayashi, who is from my home town," added Tanaka, who is coached by her father, Katsutoshi. "With my performance today I was able to show my appreciation towards to the people who have supported me."
<h3>Dean back to his best</h3>
Since making the Olympic final in 2012 at the age of 20, Japanese javelin thrower Genki Dean has struggled to reproduce his best form. He set a national U20 record of 78.57m in 2010, a few months after earning world U20 silver, and set a lifetime best of 84.28m in 2012.
But in the past eight years, he has thrown beyond 80 metres on just one occasion. Keen to turn things around ahead of a home Olympics, Dean set up a crowd funding page at the end of last year to fund an extended training stint in Finland and South Africa. After reaching his funding target, Dean made a promise.
&ldquo;The number of supporters is 84,&rdquo; <a href="https://twitter.com/GenksRoderick/status/1207429941673037830" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he tweeted in December</a>. &ldquo;And the best way to repay you is to throw 84 metres.&rdquo;
Today he made good on that pledge. He opened his series with 79.88m &ndash; his best throw since 2013 &ndash; to take an early lead, but Ryohei Arai applied pressure in the second round with 79.28m. Arai then moved into the lead in the fifth round with 81.02m, but Dean kept his cool and responded in the final round with 84.05m &ndash; the best throw by a Japanese man for four years and just 23 centimetres shy of his PB. 
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Genki Dean, winner of the javelin at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Tokyo</div>
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"It feels as though I've finally returned to my workplace," said Dean. "During the winter I went to Finland and South Africa and I was able to train without being hampered by injuries, which was a big factor in my performance today.
"When I threw 84.05m, I was relieved and I realised that I haven't been wrong in what I've been doing," he added. "If I can keep this up, then I can aim for 87 or 88 metres and hit the national record (87.60m). I want to finish the season strong without getting hurt."
In the women&rsquo;s event, national record-holder Haruka Kitaguchi was slightly frustrated to come up short of the 60-metre barrier, but her 59.38m effort was enough to win from Marina Saito (58.64m).
<h3>Kiryu edges Cambridge &ndash; twice</h3>
There was a feeling of d&eacute;j&agrave; vu in the men&rsquo;s 100m as Yoshihide Kiryu pipped Aska Cambridge by 0.02 &ndash; on two separate occasions.
In the heats earlier in the afternoon, Kiryu sped to a 10.09 victory (0.7m/s) with Cambridge running a season&rsquo;s best of 10.11. The breeze had turned to a slight headwind of -0.2m/s by the time of the final 80 minutes later, but the outcome was essentially the same with Kiryu once again finishing marginally ahead of his 2016 Olympic 4x100m silver medal-winning teammate Cambridge, 10.14 to 10.16. 
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Yoshihide Kiryu and Aska Cambridge in the 100m at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Tokyo</div>
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National record-holder Asuka Terada &ndash; who took a break from the sport between 2014 and 2019 to start a family and then play rugby &ndash; enjoyed a promising start to her 2020 outdoor campaign, winning the 100m hurdles in 13.03 (0.3m/s), just 0.06 shy of her lifetime best. Masumi Aoki was second in a PB of 13.09.
Taio Kanai, the national indoor record-holder, won the men&rsquo;s sprint hurdles in a season&rsquo;s best of 13.45, the second-fastest time of his career. 18-year-old Rashiddo Muratake was second in 13.65, the fastest time in the world this year by an U20 athlete.
In his first competition of the year, Asian Games bronze medallist Takatoshi Abe won the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles in 49.31. 2015 world U18 bronze medallist Masaki Toyoda was second in 49.82.
In other sprint events, Rikuya Ito won the men&rsquo;s 400m in 45.83 while Shota Iizuka took the 200m in 20.74.
<h3>Eto wins competitive high jump</h3>
Tomohiro Shinno pushed Asian silver medallist Takashi Eto all the way in the men&rsquo;s high jump in a competition that was eventually decided in a jump-off.
Both men went clear at 2.10m, 2.15m and 2.20m on their first tries. They then needed all three attempts to get over 2.24m and they were joined in doing so by Naoto Tobe. All three men then failed at 2.27m, but Shinno&rsquo;s and Eto&rsquo;s scorecards were still equal. The bar remained at 2.27m for one more attempt to break the tie and Eto succeeded, giving him the victory.
Elsewhere, world U20 champion Yuki Hashioka won the long jump by 20 centimetres with 7.96m, while Seito Yamamoto took the pole vault with 5.60m. Reimi Yoshimura, the national U20 record-holder, comfortably won the women&rsquo;s steeplechase with 9:54.50.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

It may not have been the competition that Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium had originally been set to host in August 2020, but Japan’s leading athletes got a taste of the big time at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, on Sunday (23).

Tanaka takes down Japanese 1500m record at Golden Grand Prix in Tokyo

Haruka Kitaguchi, the national record-holder in the javelin, is among the latest group of top Japanese athletes confirmed for the Seiko Golden Grand Prix, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, in Tokyo on 23 August.
Kitaguchi, the 2015 world U18 champion, broke the Japanese record last year with 64.36m and went on to finish second at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix. After winning the national title in Fukuoka, she took the silver medal at the World University Games.
She narrowly missed the World Championships final by just six centimetres but rebounded one month later by smashing her own national record with 66.00m in Kitakyushu, ending the year at No.7 on the world list.
Four of the six Japanese women who&rsquo;ve thrown beyond 60 metres will also be in action in Tokyo. 2018 national champion Marina Saito, 2011 Asian bronze medallist Yuka Sato and two-time Asian bronze medallist Risa Miyashita will face Kitaguchi later this month.
The men&rsquo;s javelin is of a similar high standard with four 80-metre throwers on the entry list. Asian bronze medallist Ryohei Arai will take on 2012 Olympic finalist Genki Dean, Takuto Kominami and Yuta Sakiyama.
Koki Fujihara, who broke the Japanese U20 record last year with 8.12m, is among the latest additions to the men&rsquo;s long jump field. He&rsquo;ll join national record-holder Shoutarou Shiroyama and world U20 champion Yuki Hashioka, whose participation was announced earlier this month.
Elsewhere, Joan Chepkemoi has been added to the women&rsquo;s steeplechase field. The 26-year-old Kenyan, who is based in Japan, has a steeplechase best of 9:20.22 and has set PBs in the 3000m (8:57.20) and 5000m (15:04.32) this year.
World Athletics

Haruka Kitaguchi, the national record-holder in the javelin, is among the latest group of top Japanese athletes confirmed for the Seiko Golden Grand Prix, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, in Tokyo on 23 August.

Japan’s best throwers set to star in Tokyo's Golden Grand Prix

Johannes Vetter produced his best throw for more than two years to win the javelin at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku on Tuesday (11), providing the highlight of the first World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting of 2020.
In what was perhaps the highest quality outdoor meeting of the year so far &ndash; and, with about 6000 fans, certainly one of the best attended &ndash; Vetter&rsquo;s 91.49m was one of six meeting records set tonight in the Finnish city. The other standout performance came from world champion Daniel Stahl, who added almost three metres to the meeting record in the discus.
Since opening his season in late July, 2017 world champion Vetter has improved with each competition. The German recorded three fouls in his season opener in Zweibrucken but then found his rhythm in Kuortane on 1 August, winning with 86.94m. Eight days later, he won the German title with 87.36m.
It didn&rsquo;t take him long to settle into the competition in Turku as he sent his spear out to 91.49m in the opening round, adding 21 centimetres to the meeting record set by compatriot Thomas Rohler in 2016, the year in which he won the Olympic title. 
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 Vetter took three more throws, and although he didn&rsquo;t improve on his opening mark, any one of them would have been enough to win: 87.59m, 88.57m and 86.42m.
European silver medallist Andreas Hofmann, a 90-metre thrower at his best, unleashed a season&rsquo;s best of 85.24m in the fourth round to move into second place. Latvian champion Gatis Cakss was third with 82.65m, just ahead of Hungary&rsquo;s Norbert Rivasz-Toth (82.22m).
&ldquo;The big throw was a surprise,&rdquo; said Vetter, who took bronze at the World Championships last year. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want to risk too much because I felt a little bit tired.&rdquo;
One day after throwing a world-leading 71.37m in Sollentuna, Stahl was close to the 70-metre line once again in Turku.
Understandably, given the tight turn around, he needed a couple of rounds to get into the groove in Turku, but after registering fouls in the first two rounds, he sent his discus out to 69.23m in round three to add almost three metres to the meeting record. 
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Daniel Stahl celebrates his discus victory at the World Athletics Continental Tour meeting in Turku</div>
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Lithuania&rsquo;s 2017 world champion Andrius Gudzius, who opened with 65.55m before throwing 66.39m in round three, was relegated to second place, marginally ahead of Slovenia&rsquo;s Kristjan Ceh, who threw 66.07m in round three.
Stahl&rsquo;s fifth-round throw was measured at 70.20m, but after the conclusion of the competition it was ruled a foul.
"I just heard it [about the disqualification of his 70.20m throw] when I came to the mixed zone," said Stahl. "If the judge says it's a foul, it's a foul. I didn't feel it in the circle, that I was fouling, but I'm pretty happy that I showed the people that I could throw 70m with a tailwind.
"It has been such a great evening," he added. "6000 people here, a Finnish crowd screaming at me because I'm half Finnish &ndash; it's such a great feeling. In Sweden there have only been like 50 people, because of the restrictions around the corona situation. So, yes, totally different here than back home and in other countries."
<h3>World leads from Visser and Pozzi</h3>
In a competitive 100m hurdles final, European indoor champion Nadine Visser emerged victorious in 12.68, her fastest time outside of the World Championships last year. 
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Nadine Visser wins the 100m hurdles at the World Athletics Continental Tour meeting in Turku</div>
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The Dutch hurdler finished a metre ahead of Italy&rsquo;s Luminosa Bogliolo (12.79) and Hungary&rsquo;s Luca Kozak, who set a PB of 12.83. Finnish record-holder Annimari Korte was fourth in 12.89.
"I'm really happy," said Visser. "It's my first really big competition. I've had quite a lot of time to train, of course, and it's going well, and I felt like I could do what I've shown in training, so now I'm looking forward to more competitions."
After impressing in the heats with 13.25, Britain&rsquo;s world indoor champion Andrew Pozzi was a clear winner of the 110m hurdles final with 13.17, the second-fastest time of his career. It also shaved 0.01 from the meeting record. France&rsquo;s Wilhem Belocian was second in 13.38. 
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Andrew Pozzi wins the 110m hurdles at the World Athletics Continental Tour meeting in Turku</div>
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Pozzi&rsquo;s compatriot Melissa Courtney-Bryant was even more dominant. The European indoor bronze medallist ran away from the field in the second half of the 1500m to win in 4:03.69, just a quarter of a second shy of the PB she set when taking bronze at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Belgium&rsquo;s Elisa Vanderelst finished more than five seconds adrift to take second place in 4:09.32.
Greece&rsquo;s Nikoleta Kiriakopoulou took victory in the pole vault on countback from Britain&rsquo;s Holly Bradshaw. Both women cleared a best of 4.63m to add a centimetre to the meeting record, but Kiriakopoulou&rsquo;s first-time clearances at the earlier heights gave her the edge.
The other jumping events were similarly close as just two centimetres separated Jazmin Sawyers from fellow Briton Abigail Irozuru in the long jump, 6.54m to 6.52m. Sawyers&rsquo; leap equalled the meeting record set 23 years ago by Hungary&rsquo;s Tunde Vaszi.
Kristiina Makela&rsquo;s 14.12m delighted the home crowd as the Finn won by four centimetres from Bulgaria&rsquo;s Gabriela Petrova.
Elsewhere, Italy&rsquo;s Lamont Marcell Jacobs held off CJ Ujah to win the 100m in 10.11 (1.3m/s), while Finland&rsquo;s Topi Raitanen took a comfortable victory in the 3000m steeplechase with 8:22.45.
At the start of the competition, <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/heritage-plaque/news/heritage-plaque-turku-paavo-nurmi-games" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paavo Nurmi Games meeting organisers were presented with their Heritage Plaque</a>.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

Johannes Vetter produced his best throw for more than two years to win the javelin at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku on Tuesday (11), providing the highlight of the first World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting of 2020.

Vetter and Stahl break meeting records in Turku

Johannes Vetter produced the world&rsquo;s best javelin throw since late January to win at the Kuortane Games, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting, on Saturday (1).
On a good day for field events in the Finnish city, world champion Daniel Stahl won the discus with 68.68m and Britain&rsquo;s Holly Bradshaw topped 4.73m to win the pole vault.
Vetter, the 2017 world champion, opened his series with 80.69m &ndash; the first 80-metre effort so far this year by a German thrower &ndash; but Sweden&rsquo;s Kim Amb took an early lead with his opening throw of 82.51m.
Amb extended his lead in round three with 82.64m and then threw 85.68m in round four. Vetter, meanwhile, had fouls in the second and third rounds before improving to 81.69m in the fourth. Latvia&rsquo;s Gatis Cakss threw 82.73m during that round, bumping Vetter down to third.
Vetter improved to 84.19m in the penultimate round to move back into second, while Cakss responded with 82.92m and Amb consolidated his series with 84.27m. With his final throw of the day, however, Vetter sent his spear out to 86.94m, his best throw since the qualifying round of the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019. Amb recorded a foul with his final throw, leaving Vetter as the winner.
&ldquo;Solid start, but much more to come,&rdquo; Vetter posted on Instagram following the competition.
The discus was similarly competitive. Simon Pettersson took the early lead with 64.07m before Stahl responded with 65.91m in the next round. Pettersson briefly regained the lead in round three with 66.11m, but Stahl took it back again just minutes later with 67.51m.
Pettersson didn&rsquo;t improve in the final three rounds, but Stahl produced a stadium record of 68.48m in round four to seal the victory.
Bradshaw also broke a competition record with her victory, clearing 4.73m in the pole vault. The European indoor silver medallist had first-time clearances at 4.40m, 4.50m and 4.60m before getting over 4.73m on her second try. She ended with three unsuccessful attempts at 4.82m, but was still content to finish with her best ever outdoor seasonal debut mark.
Elsewhere, Latvia&rsquo;s Lina Muze won the women&rsquo;s javelin with 62.75m, overtaking Nikola Ogrodnikova (60.61m) in the penultimate round. Annimari Korte won the 100m hurdles in 12.88 (0.0) from fellow Finn Nooralotta Neziri (12.96).
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

Johannes Vetter produced the world’s best javelin throw since late January to win at the Kuortane Games, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting, on Saturday (1).