Aleksander Menkov of Russia competes in the Men's Long Jump qualification during day one - WIC Istanbul (© Getty Images)
A winner at the Russian Winter meeting with 8.30m and in Birmingham with 8.14m, 2013 world champion Aleksandr Menkov heads to Sopot as the man to beat.
The Russian faces the two men who finished behind him in the medal frame in Moscow last August, the Netherlands’ Ignisious Gaisah and Mexico’s Luis Rivera. If Menkov wins, he would become the first Russian man to win this title, while Rivera could potentially become Mexico's first ever medallist in a field event at the World Indoor Championships.
The two men directly behind Menkov on the 2014 world list, Greece’s Louis Tsatoumas and US champion Tyron Stewart, are among the other medal contenders.
China’s Jinzhe Li – guided by Mike Powell’s old coach, Randy Huntington – could be a threat, while Panama's 2008 Olympic champion Irving Saladino and Brazil’s 2012 world indoor champion Mauro Vinicius da Silva are also in the field.
Simon Turnbull for the IAAF
