Men’s pole vault
Armand Duplantis is in a class of his own with a 17-foot pole in his hands. The Swede has broken the world record 13 times, including three times this year. His clearance of 6.28m at June’s Diamond League on home soil in Stockholm was particularly special: “This was one of my biggest goals and dreams, to set a world record here at Stadion. It’s magic.” In Budapest last month, he went to 6.29m. At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics he won gold but failed in his three attempts at a world record. “I really thought I had it,” he said. This time?
Final Mon 15 Sep, 12.10pm BST
Women’s 1500m
The disappointment of her failed attempt to become the first woman to run a four-minute mile in June was short lived for Faith Kipyegon. The following week, the 31-year-old Kenyan ran 3min 48.68sec in the 1500m in Eugene, Oregon, making it three years on the spin that she has set a new world record at that distance. Whether Kipyegon wins a third successive world title in Tokyo is almost beyond question – all eyes will probably be on the clock as she crosses the line.
Final Mon 15 Sep 1.30pm BST
Women’s 3,000m steeplechase
Frustration ruled again for Kenya’s Beatrice Chepkoech at the 2017 world championships as she followed up her fourth-place finish at the 2016 Olympics with the same position in London. A year later, though, she set the current world record with a time of 8min 44.32sec before winning the world title in 2019. Eighth in that 2017 final in London was Winfred Yavi, then 17, who had recently transferred her allegiance from Kenya to Bahrain. Now 25, Yavi – a private in the Bahrain army – is the reigning world and Olympic champion, has clocked 8min 45.25sec this year and took four seconds off Chepkoech’s mile record in the steeplechase last month. Ominous.
Final Wed 17 Sep, 1.57pm BST
Men’s 400m hurdles
The Olympic final held in 2021 in Tokyo was an instant classic. Karsten Warholm and the American Rai Benjamin smashed through Warholm’s previous world record, with the Norwegian taking victory in 45.94sec. Michael Johnson called it “one of the most impressive performances in the history of the sport”. Warholm, who set the third-fastest time in history in Poland last month, and Benjamin, the Paris 2024 champion, are back for more this year, while Brazil’s Alison dos Santos is in contention as well – and, unlike in 2021, there will be a crowd to witness the drama.
Final Fri 19 Sep, 1.15pm BST
Javelin thrower Haruka Kitaguchi may represent Japan’s best chance of a medal at the world championships in Tokyo. Photograph: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
Men’s 20km race walk
Aside from Haruka Kitaguchi in the javelin, Japan’s best medal hopes for their home championships may come on the streets. Toshikazu Yamanishi is a two-time world champion over 20km but finished 24th in Budapest two years ago. At the Japanese race walking championships in February, he broke the 2015 world record of his compatriot Yusuke Suzuki by 26 seconds, finishing in 1hr 16min 10sec in Kobe. Repeating that feat in the September heat of Tokyo may be a tall order but do not rule it out.
Race Sat 20 Sep, 1.50am BST
Men’s 800m
David Rudisha’s stunning performance in the 800m final at London 2012 is the stuff of legend and his time of 1min 40.91sec remains the best in history. Yet there is plenty of talk that the generation of today can reach those standards, such is the quality in the field. Last year’s Olympic final was won by Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi; the then 20-year-old set his personal best of 1:41.11 in Lausanne two weeks later. Canada’s Marco Arop was pipped on the line by Wanyonyi in Paris when the latter ran 1:41.19, while Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati is also a pretender to Arop’s world title. Some gung-ho tactics in Tokyo could push them all towards Rudisha’s pace.
Final Sat 20 Sep, 2.22pm BST
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