With many combined events athletes seeking a last-ditch attempt at boosting their Olympic selection chances, the first day of action at the Stadtwerke Mehrkampf-Meeting in Ratingen, part of the World Athletics Challenge &ndash; Combined Events, has been highly competitive.
Much is at stake for Germany&rsquo;s leading decathletes, and even world champion Niklas Kaul and 2017 world bronze medallist Kai Kazmirek have not yet had their selection guaranteed, so they&rsquo;re both in action this weekend to ensure they&rsquo;ve done all they can to convince national selectors that they&rsquo;re worthy of a place on the national team.
There are, however, several other talented Germans who, on their day, are capable of getting close to the qualifying standard of 8350, or at least 8150 &ndash; the minimum performance required to be deemed eligible for selection by the German federation (provided the athletes are also in the top 24 in the world rankings).
Andreas Bechmann took the overall lead after the second event of the decathlon, following a wind-assisted 10.78 clocking in the 100m and a 7.32m leap in the long jump. A 15.38m PB in the shot put meant he extended his overall lead, while Kazmirek &ndash; who had long jumped 7.38m before hurling his shot 14.31m &ndash; sat in second place, 14 points ahead of Poland&rsquo;s Pawel Wiesiolek.
Germany&rsquo;s Tim Nowak was the top performer in the high jump, banking valuable points with his 2.06m clearance and moving into third overall. Bechmann and Kazmirek both cleared 2.03m, meaning their positions remained the same.
Kazmirek made a small dent in Bechmann&rsquo;s lead in the 400m, clocking 47.26 to the leader&rsquo;s 47.68, but the latter maintained his overall lead, ending the first day with 4370. A 48.41 run from Wiesiolek moved the Pole up to fourth overall, 42 points shy of third-placed Nowak.
Although he has a 66-point lead, Bechmann isn&rsquo;t quite as strong on the second day as Kazmirek or Nowak, so the battle between the three Germans tomorrow could go down to the wire.
Kaul, as is often the case on the first day of a high-quality decathlon, is currently further down the standings in eighth, slightly below the pace he set in G&ouml;tzis last month, but doing just enough to keep an eye on what his rivals are doing. A big day two performer, he can be expected to climb up the standings on Sunday.
Odile Ahouanwanou has enjoyed one of her best ever starts to a heptathlon.
The 30-year-old from Benin has already set two national records in the first four disciplines, clocking 13.25 in the 100m hurdles and throwing 15.79m in the shot put.
Her series so far has also included a 1.73m leap in the high jump and a 24.45 run in the 200m, giving her a day-one score of 3830 &ndash; 52 points ahead of the pace she set en route to her lifetime best of 6210, set when finishing eighth at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019.
But Finland&rsquo;s Maria Huntington is within striking distance. The 24-year-old ran a slightly wind-assisted 13.16 (2.2m/s) to win the 100m hurdles, then topped the high jump with 1.82m to maintain her lead. A 12.50m throw in the shot put meant she surrendered her lead to Ahouanwanou, but she ended her day with a 24.70 run in the 200m to bring her overall tally to 3712.
Looking to tomorrow&rsquo;s events, Huntington and Ahouanwanou are similarly matched in the javelin and 800m, but the Finn is much stronger in the long jump and could conceivably make up the points deficit in that discipline.
As is the case in the decathlon, the battle of the Germans is extremely close in the heptathlon with just six points separating Sophie Weissenberg, Vanessa Grimm and Anna Maiwald. Weissenberg gained the upper hand in the high jump (1.79m) but Grimm hit back with a far superior mark in the shot (14.41m). A 24.10 run in the 200m gave Weissenberg the slight edge over her compatriots at the end of the first day. Of the three Germans, Weissenberg is stronger in two of tomorrow&rsquo;s events, but there&rsquo;s not much in it.
World bronze medallist Verena Mayr (nee Preiner) is currently sixth with 3669, but is particularly strong in the last two disciplines of a heptathlon, so expect to see the Austrian climbing up the leader board tomorrow.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics 
&bull; <a href="https://www.leichtathletik.de/termine/top-events/mehrkampf-2021-ratingen/ratingen-2021-live" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Results</a>

With many combined events athletes seeking a last-ditch attempt at boosting their Olympic selection chances, the first day of action at the Stadtwerke Mehrkampf-Meeting in Ratingen, part of the World Athletics Challenge – Combined Events, has been highly competitive.

Bechmann and Ahouanwanou lead overnight in Ratingen

Olympic champion Ryan Crouser broke the long-standing world record in the shot put at the US Olympic Trials, throwing 23.37m* in Eugene on Friday (18).
The world silver medallist, who earlier this year broke the world indoor record, had given a hint he was in record-breaking form earlier in the day. With his opening effort in the qualification round, he sent his shot out to 22.92m &ndash; the fifth best throw in history and the second-best mark of his career.
Little more than six hours later, Crouser was back in action for the final. He opened with 22.61m to take an early lead, then followed it with 22.55m and 22.73m. By the half-way stage of the competition, two-time world champion Joe Kovacs was the only other man to have thrown beyond 22 metres (22.06m).
The event came to life at the end of the fourth round. As soon as he launched the shot, and before it had landed well beyond the 23-metre line, Crouser punched the air with both fists, knowing he had released a huge throw. Just moments later, it was confirmed on the scoreboard: 23.37m, adding 25 centimetres to the world record set by Randy Barnes back in 1990, two years before Crouser was born.
Fired up from his record-breaking throw, Crouser sent his fifth effort out to near the 23-metre line but it was a foul. He ended his series with 22.62m, his seventh throw of the day beyond 22 metres.
Kovacs improved to 22.34m in the final round to take second place, more than a metre behind Crouser.
"It's a really special moment for me on my first time at the new Hayward Field," said Crouser. "I've wanted that world record for so long, it feels like a weight has been lifted. I knew the strength and the power was there, I just had to get it into the ball. I've been thinking about this moment since I started throwing. To finally do it is pretty special."
Just one other final, the men's 10,000m, was held on the opening day of action in Eugene. Woody Kincaid bided his time in the pack before unleashing a 53-second final lap to take victory in 27:53.62.
Grant Fisher (27:54.29) and Joe Klecker (27:54.90) also secured their place on the team, finishing second and third respectively. Ben True, who finished sixth at the 2012 Olympic Trials and fifth in 2016, was fourth in 27:58.88.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
*Subject to the usual ratification procedure

Olympic champion Ryan Crouser broke the long-standing world record in the shot put at the US Olympic Trials, throwing 23.37m* in Eugene on Friday (18).

Crouser smashes world shot put record with 23.37m in Eugene

World Athletics is deeply saddened to hear that India&rsquo;s three-time Asian Games champion Milkha Singh died on Friday (18) at the age of 91 due to Covid-19 complications.
The former sprinter became a sporting icon in India after making athletics history throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Known as &lsquo;The Flying Sikh&rsquo;, Singh competed at three Olympic Games, placing fourth over 400m in 1960, and his national record of 45.73 stood for 38 years.
Born in the village of Govindpura, which is now part of Pakistan, Singh became an orphan after his parents and three siblings were killed during the Partition of India. Having witnessed these atrocities, Singh fled the area and moved to Delhi, but never fully settled anywhere. He spent some time with family, followed by a stint in jail for petty crime, and later joined a refugee camp and a resettlement colony.
He was persuaded by his brother to join the army and it was during his time there, in the early 1950s, that he was introduced to athletics. He made swift progress and in 1956, at the age of 21, he was selected to represent India at the Olympic Games in Melbourne.
Although he didn&rsquo;t progress behind the heats of the 200m and 400m in Melbourne, Singh was inspired by watching his competitors in action and he went on to win gold medals in those disciplines at the Asian Games just two years later. At the Commonwealth Games later that year, Singh picked up another gold medal, this time in the 440 yards, making him the first Indian man to win a Commonwealth gold medal in athletics.
Returning to the Olympic stage in 1960, Singh travelled to Rome with the ambition of claiming a medal. He fell just short of his goal, placing fourth &ndash; 0.13 behind bronze medallist Malcolm Spence and 0.67 behind US winner Otis Davis &ndash; but was rewarded with a national record of 45.6 (45.73).
Singh successfully defended his Asian Games 400m title in 1962 and anchored India to victory in the 4x400m, setting a Games record of 3:10.2. He went on to compete at a third Olympic Games in 1964, taking part in the heats of the 4x400m.
In 1962 Singh married Nirmal Kaur, captain of India&rsquo;s volleyball team, and together they had three daughters and a son. In 1998 their son, Jeev Milkha Singh, made national sporting history by becoming the first Indian golf player to join the European Tour.
Just five days before Singh&rsquo;s death, his wife had died after also contracting Covid-19.
Singh left a lasting legacy in Indian sport, on and off the track. Veteran Indian sports journalist Rohit Brijnath described Singh as &ldquo;the finest athlete India has ever produced&rdquo;. In 2003 Singh founded the Milkha Singh Charitable Trust, created to assist poor and needy sportspeople. In 2013 he released his autobiography, The Race of My Life, which went on to inspire the critically acclaimed feature film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.
Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was one of many leading Indian sporting figures to pay tribute to Singh.
&ldquo;We lost a gem,&rdquo; Chopra said in a tweet. &ldquo;He will always remain an inspiration for every Indian. May his soul rest in peace.&rdquo;
World Athletics

World Athletics is deeply saddened to hear that India’s three-time Asian Games champion Milkha Singh died on Friday (18) at the age of 91 due to Covid-19 complications.

Indian athletics legend Singh dies

The triple jump provided the main highlights of the Meeting Madrid, a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting, in the Spanish capital on Saturday (19).
On a pleasant evening for athletics with temperatures at about 24C, world indoor record-holders Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela and Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso came out on top in the women&rsquo;s and men&rsquo;s competitions respectively.
Rojas produced her most consistent series ever with four leaps beyond 15 metres, topped by a wind-assisted 15.34m and consolidated with three slightly shorter wind-legal marks. Zango, meanwhile, took a thrilling men&rsquo;s contest with a wind-assisted 17.83m to beat Portugal&rsquo;s Pedro Pablo Pichardo by just 14 centimetres.
Whenever Rojas competes, there is little doubt over whether she will win. The only question is: how close to the world record will the Venezuelan get? And today the answer was 31 centimetres.
Boosted by her recent national long jump record of 6.88m set last week in La Nuc&iacute;a, the two-time world champion opened with 15.19m (1.4m/s), her longest ever round-one leap, immediately giving her a significant margin over Spain&rsquo;s Ana Peleteiro (14.39m) and Portugal&rsquo;s Patricia Mamona (14.35m).
Rojas leapt 15.16m in round two while France&rsquo;s Rouguy Diallo moved to second, thanks to a PB of 14.51m. After a foul in round three, Rojas sailed out to 15.18m and 14.99m with her next two jumps before concluding her stunning series with 15.34m (2.2m/s).
Rojas first surpassed the 15-metre landmark back in 2016 also in Madrid thanks to a 15.02m effort. Overall, she has gone no fewer than 20 times beyond the 15m barrier, eleven of them in Spain, where she is based. The reigning Olympic silver medallist declared:
&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t realise that today I set my record of three jumps over 15m; that&rsquo;s the most important thing for me, the consistency I showed today,&rdquo; said Rojas, whose first 15-metre jump back in 2016 also came in Madrid. The Olympic silver medallist has now surpassed 15 metres 20 times, 11 of them in Spain. &ldquo;This season all is about Tokyo and everything is OK so far; I&rsquo;ll next compete at the Wanda Diamond League in Monaco on 9 July.&rdquo;
The men&rsquo;s event was billed as a fascinating encounter between Zango and Pichardo, two members of the exclusive 18-metre club. The fireworks began in round one with Pichardo landing at 17.65m (1.6m/s) while Zango fouled. Both men fouled in round two, then Pichardo strengthened his lead in round three by leaping 17.59m, but Zango then managed his first valid jump, 17.49m, before taking the lead in the following round with a slightly wind-assisted 17.83m (2.5m/s).
Pichardo passed his fourth-round jump, while Zango fouled his remaining two efforts. Pichardo landed at a world-leading 17.69m in the penultimate round, but it wasn&rsquo;t enough to displace Zango at the top of the leader board in Madrid.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m obviously satisfied with the win but I&rsquo;m especially happy since I managed to respond to Pichardo&rsquo;s stiff challenge,&rdquo; said Zango, who jumped a world indoor record of 18.07m in February. &ldquo;I felt I was very competitive and that&rsquo;s what really matters, thinking of Tokyo.&rdquo;
Three more athletes surpassed the 17-metre barrier: France&rsquo;s Melvin Raffin and Jean Marc Pontvianne, both with 17.17m, and Germany&rsquo;s Max Hess (17.16m).
<h3>Zambrano wins, Van Niekerk ready for Olympic title defence</h3>
The much awaited men&rsquo;s 400m featured South Africa&rsquo;s Olympic champion Wayde Van Niekerk and Colombia&rsquo;s world silver medallist Anthony Zambrano.
Today&rsquo;s race was one of Van Niekerk&rsquo;s last chances to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics and he didn&rsquo;t disappoint, running well inside the required 44.90. Drawn in lane five, he reached half way just outside 21 seconds, while Zambrano ran some five metres behind. The Colombian began to approach Van Niekerk entering the home straight and finally caught the South African in the closing 20 metres, crossing the line in a season&rsquo;s best of 44.51. Van Niekerk was right behind in 44.56, his first sub-45-second clocking since winning the 2017 world title.
&ldquo;it&rsquo;s an honour for me to beat a legend like Van Niekerk,&rdquo; said Zambrano. &ldquo;He has a very strong first 200m but I was finally able to catch him on the home straight. I would like to make the Olympic final; I&rsquo;d dedicate that feat to my mum, I do everything for her.&rdquo;
As for Van Niekerk, who is now based in Florida where he trains under the guidance of Lance Brauman, the 28-year-old said: "I ran inside the qualifying standard for Tokyo (44.90) so mission accomplished. I'm training well so I knew what I was capable of. 44.56 in my first 400m race in a long time is okay, but I hope to improve in my following competitions. I'll next race in Luzern but I&rsquo;m not sure whether it will be over 200m or 400m.&rdquo;
Namibia&rsquo;s Christine Mboma was a convincing winner of the women&rsquo;s 200m, clocking 22.79, just 0.12 shy of her PB. The 18-year-old finished comfortably ahead of Ecuador&rsquo;s Gabriela Su&aacute;rez (23.18).
France&rsquo;s Cyrena Samba-Mayela was a convincing winner of the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles in a season&rsquo;s best of 12.80 ahead of Ireland&rsquo;s Sarah Kate Lavin, runner-up in a career best of 12.95. The men&rsquo;s 110m event was taken by Spain&rsquo;s Enrique Llopis in 13.44, who had clocked 13.42 in semifinals.
Germany&rsquo;s Julian Weber took the better of Spain&rsquo;s Odei Jainaga in the men&rsquo;s javelin, 82.65m to 82.21m. Italy&rsquo;s European U23 bronze medallist Sara Fantini won the women&rsquo;s hammer thanks to a massive lifetime best of 72.31m, beating Spain&rsquo;s Laura Redondo, whose 70.65m was just one centimetre shy of the national record she set last week.
The men&rsquo;s pole vault was won by Rutger Koppelaar of the Netherlands with 5.70m, while his compatriot Tony Van Diepen won the 800m in 1:45.17, finishing marginally ahead of Ireland&rsquo;s Mark English (1:45.22). Elsewhere, South Africa&rsquo;s 2016 world U20 200m silver medallist Gift Leotlela won the men&rsquo;s 100m in 10.15.
Emeterio Valiente for World Athletics
&bull; <a href="https://www.rfeamanager.es/Results/Schedule?chid=MAD21AL" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Results</a>

The triple jump provided the main highlights of the Meeting Madrid, a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting, in the Spanish capital on Saturday (19).

Rojas and Zango shine in Madrid

Geoffrey Kamworor ran the quickest 10,000m time ever recorded in Kenya on Friday (18), clocking an all-comers' record of 27:01.06 at the Kenyan Championships in Nairobi to secure his Olympic team place for Tokyo.

Obiri and Kamworor break Kenyan 10,000m all-comers' records in Nairobi

Some of the world&rsquo;s best pole vaulters will be looking to test themselves on the eve of the Tokyo Olympics when they compete at the Muller British Grand Prix &ndash; a Wanda Diamond League meeting &ndash; in Gateshead International Stadium on 13 July.
Competing on home soil, British record-holder Holly Bradshaw will be joined by Olympic champion Katerina Stefanidi, world leader Katie Nageotte, world indoor champion Sandi Morris and world champion Anzhelika Sidorova.
&ldquo;After opening my season well in Doha last month, things have gone even better since with my best-ever outdoor height of 4.82m in Spain,&rdquo; said Bradshaw.
&ldquo;My event is really competitive at the moment and in Gateshead I&rsquo;ll be due to face most of the top pole vaulters in what promises to be a really good competition. With the meet falling so close to the Olympics as well it will be a great final test before heading out to Tokyo.&rdquo;
Such is the quality of the competition, in good conditions the athletes could get close to the world record of 5.06m set by Yelena Isinbayeva in 2009. Several women&rsquo;s pole vault world records have been set at Gateshead International Stadium in the past. Daniela Bartova of the Czech Republic, for example, set a world record of 4.14m at the venue in 1995 while Isinbayeva of Russia set world marks of 4.82m in 2003 and 4.87m in 2004 at the same track.
The pole vault line-up is the latest to be announced for the Muller British Grand Prix following the news that British star Dina Asher-Smith will be racing over 200m and Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands will compete in the women&rsquo;s mile.
Gateshead staged the first Wanda Diamond League event of 2021 in May after it was moved from Rabat in Morocco to the North East of England and now, on 13 July, the same venue will host the seventh Diamond League of the season after it was moved from its original home of London.
Organisers for World Athletics

Some of the world’s best pole vaulters will be looking to test themselves on the eve of the Tokyo Olympics when they compete at the Muller British Grand Prix – a Wanda Diamond League meeting – in Gateshead International Stadium on 13 July.

Stefanidi and Bradshaw in world-class Gateshead pole vault field

Blessing Okagbare added another impressive result to what has become a superb sprint season, clocking 10.63 for 100m at the Nigerian Championships in Lagos on Thursday (17).
The wind reading was 2.7m/s, so above the limit allowed for record purposes, but the result places Okagbare joint second on the world all-time list for performances achieved under all conditions.
Only world record-holder Florence Griffith Joyner has ever gone quicker, while Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce also ran 10.63 in Kingston just earlier this month.
These performances in Olympic year add to the 10.72 run by Sha'Carri Richardson in April and the 10.78 by Elaine Thompson-Herah in May, plus the wind-assisted 10.74 (2.2m/s) by Cambrea Sturgis as part of her sprint double at the NCAA Championships last weekend.
In Lagos, Okagbare fell to the track in delight when she saw her time. The Olympic and world medallist had earlier clocked 10.99 in the semifinals and ran 10.90 at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha at the end of last month.
Rosemary Chukwuma was second in 11.07 and Grace Nwokocha third in 11.11 in that&nbsp;Nigerian Championships race.
The men&rsquo;s 100m was won by Enoch Adegoke in a PB of 10.00 (1.2m/s). 
<h3>Asian record for Mahmoud</h3>
Bahrain&rsquo;s Abdelrahman Mahmoud threw 21.15m to break the Asian shot put record at the Arab Championships in Rades, Tunisia. That mark improves on his previous outdoor best of 20.68m, while he threw an Asian indoor record of 21.10m in January.
Over in Italy, Jerry Motsau ran 7:40.99 to break the South African 3000m record at the Meeting Citt&agrave; di Nembro on Thursday (17). He held off Italy&rsquo;s European 10,000m bronze medallist Yeman Crippa, who finished second in 7:41.41, while Purity Gitonga won the women&rsquo;s 3000m in 8:50.51.

Blessing Okagbare added another impressive result to what has become a superb sprint season, clocking 10.63 for 100m at the Nigerian Championships in Lagos on Thursday (17).

Okagbare runs wind-assisted 10.63 100m in Lagos

Today (18) marks the 60th anniversary of the first of six high jump world records set by Siberian Valeriy Brumel during a remarkable career which was sadly cut short at 23 years of age due to a motorbike accident.
Brumel, the 1964 Olympic champion, raised the world record bar from 2.23m to 2.28m from 1961 to 1963. 
<h2>No Flop</h2>
For several decades now, every elite high jumper has utilised the 'Fosbury Flop'. But there was a time, prior to the introduction of the revolutionary back layout in the late 1960s, when a variety of different techniques were in use.
The 'Eastern Cut-Off' was a more sophisticated version of the basic 'Scissors' style, but that was largely superseded by the 'Western Roll', as used by George Horine of the USA when claiming the inaugural IAAF world record in 1912 with 2.00m, and the 'Straddle', the first outstanding exponent of what was also termed the 'Belly Roll' being another American, Dave Albritton, co-holder of the world record with 2.07m in 1936.
It was the 'Straddle' which held sway until the Fosbury era over 30 years later, and a landmark performance occurred in 1956 when Charley Dumas cleared 2.15m, the first man to jump 7 feet. 
<h2>Olympic silver at 18</h2>
The record crept up a centimetre at a time until, at the 1960 US Olympic Trials, 19-year-old John Thomas improved all the way from 2.18m to 2.22m. The overwhelming favourite to win at the Rome Games, Thomas could manage only 2.14m in third place behind two Soviet athletes: Robert Shavlakadze from Georgia and the precocious Siberian-born Valeriy Brumel.
<img style="width: 350px; height: 495px; margin-left: 20px;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60cbcdf3fa102b29c4d45307.jpg" alt="Valeriy Brumel" align="right" />
Shavlakadze won on countback at 2.16m but it was a notable international debut by Brumel, the European record-holder at 2.17m and aged only 18.
Coached since the start of 1960 by former pole vaulter Vladimir Dyachkov, author of a 300-page book on high jumping, Brumel's progress that season had been startling. From a best of just 2.01m, ranking him around 70th in the world in 1959, he improved literally by leaps and bounds ... 2.08m in May, 2.17m in August, 2.18m in September, 2.19m and 2.20m in October.
Only one man in the event's history (Thomas) had ever gone higher, but in January 1961 Brumel surpassed him by clearing 2.25m off a dirt surface indoors in Leningrad. That did not count as an officially ratified world record, but it did not take long for Brumel, now 19 and still a junior, to rectify that. He was ready to become the first male high jumper in history to set six world records.
The PE student's first record was set in Moscow's Lenin Stadium on 18 June 1961. He overcame a crisis at 2.08m, clearing only at his final attempt, before relaxing with flawless successes at every height up to and including 2.23m. He even had two good tries out of three with the bar at 2.30m, a height which no one would clear until Dwight Stones did so in 1973. 
<h2>Training intensity</h2>
The contrast between the training programmes of Brumel (1.85m tall, weighing 80kg) and Thomas (1.96m and 88kg) &ndash; was immense. Thomas would weight train just once a week and worked out for three or four days a week for nine months of the year.&nbsp;
Under the revolutionary coaching methods of Dyachkov, Brumel would train for two hours every day the whole year round. In January 1960 he lifted almost 9000kg of weights as well as making 310 jumps at 1.85m. He reached a maximum weights total of close to 11,000kg in June before tapering off and concentrating more on his jumping: 100 leaps over 2.10m in August. Jumping for height and style occupied only about 14% of training time. Psychology played a large part too in his preparation. 
<h2>More records and Olympic laurels</h2>
Among his greatest admirers was Romania's queen of high jumping, Iolanda Balas, who said Brumel &ldquo;has shown such perseverance in training and his calmness in competition is so astonishing that I shall not be surprised to hear that he has achieved a new record."&nbsp;
<img style="width: 350px; height: 519px; margin-left: 20px;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60cbcdd4fa102b29c4d45304.jpg" alt="Valeriy Brumel" align="right" />
That second record, 2.24m on 16 July, was again achieved at the Lenin Stadium ... only this time in a high-pressure match between the Soviet Union and the United States.
Spurred on by his home crowd and the presence of his American rival, Thomas, and ignoring the rain that fell throughout the contest, he jumped 2.05m, 2.10m, 2.13m, 2.16m and 2.19m first time and with Thomas unable to go higher than 2.19m Brumel's successful third try at 2.24m brought him a cherished victory as well as the record.
He did not rest on his laurels for long. Again at his final attempt he straddled over 2.25m with daylight to spare at the International Student Games in Sofia on 31 August, thus equalling the unprecedented height he had achieved indoors at the start of his momentous year.
Brumel would go on to scale even greater heights in 1962 (2.26m at Stanford in the USA v USSR match and 2.27m in Moscow) and 1963 (2.28m again versus the Americans in Moscow).
He must have clinched the title of &lsquo;world's greatest ever high jumper&rsquo; when after his silver medal in Rome he struck gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, winning on countback against Thomas at a modest 2.18m after twice clearing 2.24m earlier in the season.&nbsp;&nbsp;
It appeared to be business as usual at the start of 1965. He topped the world indoor list with 2.21m, but the big heights eluded him outdoors. His best was merely 2.19m whereas China's Ni Chihchin (born on 14 April 1942, the exact same day as Brumel!) jumped 2.25m. 
<h2>29 operations!&nbsp;</h2>
That was the least of Brumel's worries, for in Moscow on 6 October 1965 he was involved in a serious road accident. He was riding pillion on a friend's motorbike when, rounding a sharp bend, it skidded out of control. He was flung off and the machine toppled across his right leg, resulting in multiple fractures. Amputation was considered but the doctors decided the leg could be saved by surgery.
"Lucky it's not my left leg, the one from which I drive off," Brumel commented.
Realistically, at the age of just 23, his fabulous career was over ... but that was to ignore Brumel's resolve. "I'll return to the jumping sector no matter what it costs me." And so, he did.&nbsp;
Brumel was lucky ever to be able to walk again but after years of monumental struggle, including 29 operations and countless setbacks, he did high jump again ... miraculously clearing 2.06m in 1970, and still holder of the world record. That really was the last word in terms of high jumping but he went on to forge a successful career as a writer.
Brumel died in Moscow on 26 January 2003, aged 60.&nbsp;
Mel Watman for World Athletics Heritage

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the first of six high jump world records set by Siberian Valeriy Brumel during a remarkable career which was sadly cut short at 23 years of age due to a motorbike accident.

Celebrating brilliant Brumel's six high jump world records

Germany&rsquo;s Niklas Kaul will be among the athletes looking to secure an Olympic spot when the World Athletics Challenge &ndash; Combined Events moves on to the Stadtwerke Ratingen Mehrkampf-Meeting on 19-20 June.
The qualification period for combined events ends on 29 June, with the standards being 8350 points for the decathlon and 6420 points for the heptathlon.
<h3>Decathletes look to make their mark</h3>
Kaul has the standard for Tokyo thanks to his 8691-point PB to win the world title in Doha in 2019, but having decided not to compete in 2020, and following the elbow surgery he underwent that year, the 23-year-old is keen to make a statement and prove his form in Ratingen. He returned to decathlon action for the first time since Doha in G&ouml;tzis, scoring 8263 to finish fifth.
His compatriot Kai Kazmirek, the 2017 world bronze medallist, is another who has the standard from 2019 having scored 8444 to win in Ratingen and will be looking to get close to that to secure a spot for Tokyo.
Also among those fighting for places on Germany&rsquo;s Olympic team will be 2016 world indoor heptathlon bronze medallist Mathias Brugger, who set his PB of 8304 points in 2018, and Tim Nowak, whose best is 8229 from 2018.
As well as the 11 athletes competing on home soil, the event will feature nine international decathletes including Ukraine&rsquo;s 2009 world bronze medallist Oleksiy Kasyanov, Japan&rsquo;s Asian champion Keisuke Ushiro and Sweden&rsquo;s Fredrik Samuelsson. 
<h3>Weissenberg and Grimm seek standard</h3>
Although she also has the Tokyo standard with the 6426-point score she achieved in 2019, Germany's 2017 world heptathlon silver medallist Carolin Schafer had been planning to compete in Ratingen to demonstrate her form. However, unexpected vaccination side effects have disrupted her preparation and she will no longer compete.
Among those in action will be Austrian record-holder Verena Mayr, who won world bronze in 2019 as Verena Preiner, and Austria&rsquo;s world indoor pentathlon silver medallist Ivona Dadic, who both have the Tokyo entry standard from 2019.
Others with the standard in their sights will be Germany&rsquo;s European U23 silver medallist Sophie Weissenberg and Vanessa Grimm, who set a PB of 6316 points to finish fifth in G&ouml;tzis at the end of last month.
World Athletics

Germany’s Niklas Kaul will be among the athletes looking to secure an Olympic spot when the World Athletics Challenge – Combined Events moves on to the Stadtwerke Ratingen Mehrkampf-Meeting on 19-20 June.

Kaul targets Tokyo in Ratingen

Keturah Orji has a skill for making history in Olympic seasons. Five years ago the eight-time NCAA champion leapt 14.53m to break the 12-year-old US triple jump record and went on to improve that mark to 14.71m at the Games in Rio. Her fourth place there, just three centimetres off a medal, was the highest ever Olympic Games finish by a US athlete in the event. On to 2021 and Orji opened in the triple jump by leaping 14.92m to regain the national record, after it had been taken to 14.84m by Tori Franklin in 2018.
Now, as the Atlanta Track Club athlete prepares for the US Olympic Team Trials starting Friday (18), her focus is on securing a place for her second Games where she could well make history yet again.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of hard to grasp, I don&rsquo;t think about it often,&rdquo; says the 25-year-old on how it feels to be a history maker. &ldquo;When people say &lsquo;no one has jumped further than you in the history of America&rsquo;, that sounds crazy. But it is an honour to be creating this path for any other person that wants to follow down the same route and be a triple jumper too.&rdquo;
But it is not only future athletes Orji hopes to inspire, or just within athletics that she shares her knowledge. With a degree in financial planning and a master&rsquo;s degree in sport management &amp; policy, she also writes blog posts on topics including financial advice and at college she launched a mentoring programme for eighth-grade girls in Athens, Georgia, where she was then based.
&ldquo;Representation is extremely important to me,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Especially being a woman of colour, there are a lot of times when you are looking for a role model, and there&rsquo;s no one that looks like you. So, I just think it&rsquo;s important to have people that represent all races, genders, all types of people in positions of power, especially, so that younger people will know that they can also be in those positions and they can really strive for those same areas of success.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/e1e0bd28-ca93-4a46-8239-080773f1c635.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="612" /> Keturah Orji competes at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (&copy; Getty Images)
 When it comes to her own role models, Orji has looked to her mother (&ldquo;her faith in God and the way she lives her life, the way she cares about others&rdquo;) and tennis star Serena Williams. In athletics, she admires four-time world long jump champion Brittney Reese, who is now among her training partners under coach Jeremy Fischer in California.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s amazing to be able to train with her,&rdquo; says Orji of Reese. &ldquo;She is so competitive and really strong when she trains. You can just tell she is very experienced and knows how to handle competition and so it is amazing that I used to look up to her and now I am training with her.&rdquo;
Having started out as a gymnast, Orji took up athletics in her freshman year of high school and soon after claimed two medals &ndash; long jump silver and triple jump bronze &ndash; at the 2013 World Athletics U18 Championships in Donetsk. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s when I realised that this could be an event I could do in the future and go to college for, and it really became more reality that I would be doing this long-term,&rdquo; she explains.
Since then, Orji has also improved her long jump best to a mark of 6.85m when making her season debut in April and she will be contesting both events at the US Trials. Her focus for Tokyo, however, is on the triple jump &ndash; an event in which she is currently ranked fourth this season behind Yulimar Rojas (15.43m), Shanieka Ricketts (14.98m) and Liadagmis Povea (14.93m).
&ldquo;It was really exciting to get the American record back because it was something that I had previously, then it had been broken, and I had been working to get it back,&rdquo; she says reflecting on her 14.92m leap, also achieved in April. &ldquo;It was a 20-centimetre PB and just something that I had been waiting for, for a long time. I jumped 14.72m in Paris in 2019 but that was only one centimetre better (than her previous best).
&ldquo;So it had been quite some time and I think it means even more this time to break it than it did the first time.&rdquo;
On having that domestic competition, she adds: &ldquo;It does help having Tori (Franklin) and there&rsquo;s another American triple jumper that has the standard, Jasmine Moore. It&rsquo;s just so exciting to have three women with the standard again in Olympic year.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60ca78fbe70456a97a3e761e.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="606" /> Silver medallist Keturah Orji with Florentina Marincu and Natalia Chacinska at the 2013 World U18 Championships&nbsp;(&copy; Getty Images)
 When it comes to numbers, unsurprisingly 15 metres in the triple jump and seven metres in the long jump are the figures at the forefront of Orji&rsquo;s mind, but she is also focused on longevity.
&ldquo;For any jumper, those are really the two barriers that, if you eclipse them, it&rsquo;s seen as amazing and really successful, so that&rsquo;s the place I&rsquo;m at right now,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;But if I achieve those, then I will obviously push the barrier even further.
&ldquo;I think the Olympics and all the meets that I have been to are all just a part of the journey,&rdquo; she adds. &ldquo;Obviously we all want to reach the place where we can win an Olympic or world medal, but sometimes that doesn&rsquo;t happen so I have to just enjoy the journey and the process, and everything that I learn, the mistakes I make, it all helps me to be the person that I will be in the future.&rdquo;
But with a nickname of &lsquo;KO&rsquo;, to deliver a knockout jump at the Olympics would be a fine way for that journey to continue.
&ldquo;I know that my name is a little bit more difficult to pronounce &ndash; Keturah Orji is not a common name at all &ndash; so it&rsquo;s easier for people to call me &lsquo;KO&rsquo;,&rdquo; she explains. &ldquo;Then, on top of that, my hashtag is &lsquo;#KOtheCOMP&rsquo;, so &lsquo;knock out the competition&rsquo;, and I feel like that stuck with people.
&ldquo;Winning a medal in Tokyo would be so amazing,&rdquo; she adds. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know, again it&rsquo;s hard to grasp, because obviously everyone puts that on their list of goals. It would be an honour because there are so many people who work towards that and are never able to actually get there, so to be a part of that small club would be amazing.&rdquo;
Historic, some might say.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

Keturah Orji has a skill for making history in Olympic seasons. 

Orji ready to deliver the KO

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<a href="#JPN">Japanese/日本語</a>
In the latest in our &lsquo;seven wonders&rsquo; series, we turn our attention&nbsp;to&nbsp;the most recent global athletics event staged in&nbsp;Japan:&nbsp;the&nbsp;World Athletics Relays Yokohama 2019.&nbsp;
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<h2>&nbsp; Setting the&nbsp;scene&nbsp;</h2>
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The fourth edition of the World Athletics Relays was&nbsp;awarded to Yokohama, Japan after&nbsp;The Bahamas dropped out of staging the event for financial reasons. It was the first time the event had taken place outside of the Caribbean nation who had staged the first three versions of the event in Nassau (2014, 2015 and 2017). The 2019 World Relays took place inside the Yokohama International Stadium on&nbsp;11-12&nbsp;May. 
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<h2>Broken&nbsp;records&nbsp;</h2>
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A record-breaking 43 countries entered the 2019 edition of the World Athletics Relays&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;one more than the previous record set at the 2015 edition.&nbsp;&nbsp;
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Four countries also claimed their maiden&nbsp;victory&nbsp;at the World Relays: France, Brazil, Poland and Trinidad &amp; Tobago. South Africa (second&nbsp;in the men&rsquo;s 4x200m) and Italy (third&nbsp;in the women&rsquo;s 4x400m) also&nbsp;achieved up their first&nbsp;top-three finish&nbsp;at a World Relays.
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<h2>Headline&nbsp;acts&nbsp;</h2>
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In the three previous editions of the World Relays, the US had won gold in each and&nbsp;every&nbsp;men&rsquo;s&nbsp;and women&rsquo;s 4x400m,&nbsp;but their streak came to a shuddering halt in Yokohama.&nbsp;
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In&nbsp;the men&rsquo;s event,&nbsp;a strong quartet of Nathan&nbsp;Strother, Fred&nbsp;Kerley&nbsp;and Michael Cherry handed the baton on to anchor Paul&nbsp;Dedewo&nbsp;with a comfortable&nbsp;five-metre&nbsp;lead. However,&nbsp;Dedewo&nbsp;badly tied up in the final 50&nbsp;metres&nbsp;and was caught by the flying&nbsp;Machel&nbsp;Cedenio&nbsp;in the final stride as Trinidad &amp; Tobago claimed an exhilarating victory. The USA, who crossed the line in second, was&nbsp;later disqualified for a lane violation.&nbsp; 
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 In the women&rsquo;s 4x400m, the sequence of US success came to an end as a talented Polish quartet anchored by&nbsp;Justyna&nbsp;Swiety-Ersetic&nbsp;timed their run to perfection to deny the US by 0.16.&nbsp;
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An experienced US quartet containing Noah Lyles was&nbsp;surprisingly defeated in the men&rsquo;s 4x100m final by a talented and well-drilled Brazilian team, who clinched a narrow victory by 0.02 in a thrilling final.&nbsp;
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US earned some consolation by taking out the men&rsquo;s 4x200m for the first time and&nbsp;winning&nbsp;all three mixed events &ndash; the 4x400m as well as the newly introduced 2x2x400m relay and&nbsp;shuttle&nbsp;hurdles&nbsp;relay.&nbsp;
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<h2>Home&nbsp;stars&nbsp;</h2>
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In the three previous editions of the World Relays, Japan had&nbsp;only once secured a top-three finish, placing third in&nbsp;the men&rsquo;s 4x100m in 2015,&nbsp;but&nbsp;the host county&nbsp;fared much better in 2019. Japan actually surprisingly led after two legs of the&nbsp;shuttle&nbsp;hurdles&nbsp;relay until the US ran them down in the second half of the race. Still,&nbsp;second place&nbsp;was a rich reward for the host nation. Japan executed a tactically astute race to&nbsp;finish third&nbsp;in the 2x2x400m relay thanks to the efforts of&nbsp;Ayano&nbsp;Shiomi&nbsp;and&nbsp;Allon&nbsp;Tatsunami&nbsp;Clay.&nbsp;&nbsp;
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The&nbsp;host nation also claimed fourth-place finishes in the men&rsquo;s 4x400m and women&rsquo;s 4x200m as well as fifth spot in the men&rsquo;s 4x200m. There was disappointment, however, for their highly-rated men&rsquo;s 4x100m who were disqualified for a baton exchange mishap in the heats.
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<h2>Talk of the&nbsp;town&nbsp;</h2>
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Besides the memorable success of Brazil (men&rsquo;s 4x100m), Trinidad &amp; Tobago (men&rsquo;s 4x400m) and Poland (women&rsquo;s 4x400m), France claimed a surprise victory in the women&rsquo;s 4x200m. They did, however, benefit from a pair of shocking baton exchanges by the stellar Jamaican quartet of Elaine Thompson,&nbsp;Stephenie&nbsp;Ann McPherson, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and&nbsp;Shericka&nbsp;Jackson, who,&nbsp;despite a pair of blunders,&nbsp;still had the sheer speed to claim&nbsp;third place.&nbsp; 
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 The two new events on the programme &ndash; the 2x2x400m relay and&nbsp;shuttle&nbsp;hurdles&nbsp;relay &ndash; proved a hit with Kenya, who opted to lead off with a male athlete in the former event. But it&nbsp;proved&nbsp;the wrong tactic as&nbsp;USA&rsquo;s Donavan Brazier&nbsp;executed&nbsp;a smartly judged plan to perfection to&nbsp;take the victory.&nbsp;
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Spare a thought too for Australia, one of just three finalists who took to the start line for the shuttle&nbsp;hurdles&nbsp;relay.&nbsp;But&nbsp;Brianna&nbsp;Beahan&nbsp;committed a false start,&nbsp;leading to a heart-breaking disqualification.
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<h2>Innovations&nbsp;</h2>
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<div>
Without doubt the introduction of the mixed 2x2x400m relay &ndash; to replace the previously featured 4x800m relay&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;proved a hit as teams were forced to think carefully about tactics and pace judgement in order to deliver. The introduction of the&nbsp;shuttle&nbsp;hurdles relay also injected a new element&nbsp;into the biennial competition.
&nbsp;
<h2>Legacy&nbsp;</h2>
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<div>
The 2019 World Relays &ndash; the first be staged outside of&nbsp;The&nbsp;Bahamas &ndash; further helped expand the frontiers of the growing event. A record number of competing nations, plus&nbsp;the&nbsp;greatest spread of&nbsp;top-three finishes,&nbsp;further aided its global appeal while some exhilarating racing and multiple shocks and surprises made edition four of the World Relays, arguably, the best to date.&nbsp;&nbsp;
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<div>
Steve Landells for World Athletics
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<a name="JPN"></a>&nbsp;
<h1>日本陸上界の七不思議：世界リレー2019横浜</h1>
&nbsp;
<h2>はじめに</h2>
第4回世界リレーは、バハマが財政上の理由により開催を断念したことにより、日本の横浜に開催地を移すことが決定した。ナッソーで過去3回（2014年、2015年そして2017年）行われた世界リレーがバハマ外で行われるのは初めてのことであった。横浜国際スタジアムで5月11日・12日に世界リレー2019横浜が開催された。 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60cb0dc2057cd74a212bbb2b.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="632" />
&nbsp;
<h2>記録の更新</h2>
世界リレー2019横浜では2015年大会より1国多い過去最高の43か国が横浜に集った。
フランス、ブラジル、ポーランドそしてトリニダード・トバゴの4か国が初の優勝を手にした。また、南アフリカ（男子4x200m2位）とイタリア（女子4x400m3位）も初のトップ3と結果を残した。
&nbsp;
<h2>注目のパフォーマンス</h2>
過去すべての大会の男女4x400mで優勝していたアメリカが横浜で連勝記録を途絶えることとなった。
男子4x400mではネイサン・ストローザー、フレッド・カーリー、マイケル・チェリーがアンカーのパウル・デデオへと5mのリードでバトンを繋いだ。しかし残り50mで疲れが出て、トリニダード・トバゴのマシェル・セデニオに交わされる結果となった。トリニダード・トバゴの優勝確定が出た後にアメリカはレーン侵害で失格となりアメリカの連勝は途絶えた。
女子4x400mではシビェンティ＝エルセティック率いる経験豊富なポーランドがアメリカを0.02で下し優勝したことでアメリカの連勝を抑えた。
男子4x100mではノア・ライルズなど経験豊富なチームで挑んだものの0.02秒ブラジルに敵わず2位。
アメリカは初めて男子4x200mを制し、また全ての混合種目 4x400mと初実施の2x2x400mとシャトルハードルリレーでも優勝した。 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60cb10e66515e3631390e336.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="632" />
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<h2>開催国の英雄たち</h2>
日本は過去3大会では2015年の男子4x100mでの3位以外ではトップ3結果が無かったが、開催国日本は2019年大会では大きく結果を残すこととなる。シャトルハードルリレーでは前半はアメリカをリードするする驚きの展開であったが、後半はアメリカの強さに敵わない結果となったが大健闘の2位。2x2x400mでも頭脳戦を塩見綾乃とクレイ・アーロン・竜波の2人でバトンを繋ぎ3位と健闘した。
&nbsp;
<h2>巷で沸いた種目</h2>
ブラジル（男子4x100m）トリニダード・トバゴの（男子4x400m）ポーランド（女子4x400m）の優勝以外ではフランスが女子4x200mを制した。この結果はジャマイカのドリームチームのエレイン・トンプソン、ステファニーアン・マクファーソン、シェリーアン・フレーザープライスそしてシェリカ・ジャクソンのバトンミスがありながらも3位という事もあり実現した。
初実施種目の混合2x2x400mとシャトルハードルリレーはケニアチームが両方エントリーした。男子選手でスタートするなど野心的なオーダーで挑んだが、アメリカのドナバン・ブラジエに交わされ2x2x400mの戦略は失敗となってしまった。&nbsp;
オーストラリアはシャトルハードルリレー3チーム中3チーム目の決勝メンバーであったが、フライングに泣き失格となってしまった。&nbsp; 
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<h2>イノベーション</h2>
過去大会で行われていた4x800mの代わりに実施された2x2x400mが戦略的種目としてチームが考え抜いたオーダーにより行われることでより面白さを増した。シャトルハードルリレーも競技の柔軟さを示す種目となったと言えるだろう。
&nbsp;
<h2>レガシー</h2>
世界リレー2019横浜はバハマ外で行われたことでより多くのチームが出場となり、競技のグローバル化をはかることができた。多くの感動やショックで沸いた横浜大会は間違いなく過去一番の世界リレーとなったと言えるだろう。
&nbsp;
World Athletics Steve Landells World Athletics 大久保マイケル拓磨
</div>

In the latest in our ‘seven wonders’ series, we turn our attention to the most recent global athletics event staged in Japan: the World Athletics Relays Yokohama 2019. 

Japan's seven wonders: World Athletics Relays Yokohama 2019

World champions Karsten Warholm, Yulimar Rojas, Tajay Gayle, Anzhelika Sidorova and Kelsey-Lee Barber are among the first stars confirmed for the Meeting Herculis EBS &ndash; part of the Wanda Diamond League &ndash; in Monaco on 9 July.
Warholm, the two-time world 400m hurdles champion, smashed the meeting record last year with his 47.10 clocking. Nine days later, the Norwegian hurdler went on to record a lifetime best of 46.87 in Stockholm, consolidating his No.2 position on the world all-time list and putting him within 0.09 of Kevin Young&rsquo;s long-standing world record.
Rojas will also be looking for a back-to-back victory in Monaco, having won there last year. The Venezuelan triple jumper broke the world indoor record last year with 15.43m and recently matched that mark outdoors in Andujar. The two-time world champion, who is now just seven centimetres away from the world record that was set 26 years ago, will face Olympic champion Caterine Ibarguen in Monaco.
Gayle was one of the surprise performers at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, winning the men&rsquo;s long jump with a Jamaican record of 8.69m. The 24-year-old, who recently jumped a wind-assisted 8.56m, will take on European champion Miltiadis Tentoglou, who currently leads the world list with 8.60m.
Sidorova, winner of the women&rsquo;s pole vault in Monaco in 2018, returns to the Herculis meeting where she&rsquo;ll take on Katie Nageotte. The in-form US vaulter leads the 2021 indoor and outdoor world lists with marks of 4.94m and 4.93m respectively.
Barber, world champion in the women&rsquo;s javelin, will take on Olympic champion Sara Kolak of Croatia and Maria Andrejczyk, who earlier this year moved to No.2 on the world all-time list with a Polish record of 71.40m.
In the men&rsquo;s high jump, European indoor champion Maksim Nedasekau will take on 2016 world indoor champion Gianmarco Tamberi and world bronze medallist Ilya Ivanyuk.
Other confirmed athletes include Nijel Amos, the meeting record-holder in the men&rsquo;s 800m, and French steeplechaser Djilali Bedrani.
World Athletics

World champions Karsten Warholm, Yulimar Rojas, Tajay Gayle, Anzhelika Sidorova and Kelsey-Lee Barber are among the first stars confirmed for the Meeting Herculis EBS – part of the Wanda Diamond League – in Monaco on 9 July.

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