Here are 10 female track and field stars poised to make their mark at the global event in Qatar

At the inaugural IAAF World Championships in 1983 the longest track event for women was 3000m. There was no 3000m steeplechase for women either, nor pole vault, triple jump or hammer.

Recent years have seen more equality, though, with women proving they are more than capable of tackling events that were once
thought beyond them.

Here are 10 potential female stars to watch our for in Doha when World Championships action takes place from September 27 to October 6.

Nafi Thiam

Event: Heptathlon
PB: 7013
Country: Belgium
Age: 24
Achievements: Olympic, world and European champion.
Current form: World-leading score of 6819 in Talence in June but struggling with injury niggles and will face tough opposition from Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson in Doha.

Sifan Hassan

Event: 5000m
PB: 14:22.12
Country: Netherlands
Age: 26
Achievements: European champion has a brilliant range of ability from 1:56.81 for 800m to 65:15 for the half-marathon.
Current form: Smashed world mile, European 3000m and European 5000m records recently.

Lijiao Gong

Event: Shot put
PB: 20.43m
Country: China
Age: 30
Achievements: Reigning world champion.
Current form: Close to the 20-metre barrier this season as she has posted a series of victories.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce

Event: 100m
PB: 10.70
Country: Jamaica
Age: 32
Achievements: Olympic champion in 2008 and 2012 and three-time world champion at 100m.
Current form: A season’s best of 10.73 is not far off her best but she will face tough opposition in Doha from, among others, fellow countrywoman and Olympic champion Elaine Thompson.

Dina Asher-Smith

Event: 100/200m
PB: 10.85/21.89
Country: Great Britain
Age: 23
Achievements: European 100/200m champion.
Current form: Already in sub-11 shape for 100m and enjoyed big 200m win at Stockholm but is pacing herself during a long season.

Caterine Ibarguen

Event: Triple jump
PB: 15.31m
Country: Colombia
Age: 35
Achievements: Olympic and two-time world champion.
Current form: After a brilliant 2018 at long and triple jump she is competing as well as ever at the age of 35 but in Doha will face reigning world champion Yulimar Rojas.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson

Event: Heptathlon
PB: 6813
Country: Great Britain
Age: 26
Achievements: World and European indoor and Commonwealth champion.
Current form: Brilliant victory in Götzis in May shows she is adding a steely competitiveness to her undoubted natural talent.

Mariya Lasitskene

Event: High jump
PB: 2.06m
Country: Russia
Age: 26
Achievements: World and European indoor and outdoor champion.
Current form: With a best of 2.06m this season, she is one of the strongest favourites to lift a title in Doha and one of the few Russians allowed to compete under the authorised neutral flag.

Sydney McLaughlin

Event: 400m hurdles
PB: 52.75
Country: United States
Age: 19
Achievements: One of the world’s top teenage talents, she made the US Olympic team in 2016 aged 16 and has since won the NCAA title.
Current form: In Monaco she overtook fellow American and Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad at the top of the 2019 world rankings, before finishing second behind Muhammad’s world-record run at the USA Championships.

Shaunae Miller-Uibo

Event: 200/400m
PBs: 21.88/48.97
Country: Bahamas
Age: 25
Achievements: Olympic 400m champion.
Current form: Looks imperious over one lap with a season’s best of 49.05 and is also tough to beat over 200m as the Commonwealth champion in that event.