A small audience in the German capital are in for a treat at the annual, long-standing ISTAF meeting on Sunday
Only 3500 spectators instead of the usual 45,000 are allowed in the cavernous Olympic Stadium in Berlin this Sunday (Sept 13) for the ISTAF meeting but they will be among the luckiest people in Germany given the star-studded line-ups on display.
Athletes include 400m hurdler Karsten Warholm, who will hope for good weather as he has another late-summer assault on Kevin Young’s long-standing world 400m hurdles record.
Armand Duplantis leads the pole vault line up with Sam Kendricks, Piotr Lisek, Thiago Braz and British record-holder Harry Coppell.
Warholm and Duplantis will also have in their sights ISTAF records held by Ed Moses (47.17) and Sergey Bubka (6.05m) – both of whom, coincidentally, lived in Berlin for a short period.
Another in-form Swedish star, discus thrower Daniel Stahl (pictured below), is due to compete.
The host nation is not surprisingly well represented courtesy of Johannes Vetter, fresh from the second-longest javelin throw in history in Chorzow with 97.76m, and Malaika Mihambo (pictured below), the world No.1 in the women’s long jump with 7.03m from a few days ago in Dessau.
Mihambo faces, among others, British duo Jazmin Sawyers and Abigail Irozuru.
Laura Muir, Laura Weightman and Melissa Courtney-Bryant are part of a sizeable and competitive 1500m line-up.
Christian Taylor heads the triple jump entries, Dafne Schippers leads the women’s 100m field, while world record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech tackles her specialist steeplechase event.
READ MORE: Johannes Vetter close to Jan Zelezney’s world javelin record
Other Brits in action in Berlin include Kristal Awuah in the 100m, Aimee Pratt, Elizabeth Bird and Rosie Clarke in the steeplechase, Ojie Edoburun in the 100m and Chris McAlister in the 400m hurdles.