IAAF World Indoor Tour moves on to Dusseldorf - global update
Excellent fields have been assembled for the PSD Bank Meeting in Dusseldorf on Wednesday (February 1) for the second meet in the IAAF World Indoor Tour series.
In the 60m hurdles, world silver medallist Cindy Roleder will face bronze medallist Alina Talay as well as leading Americans Jasmin Stowers and Sharika Nelvis along with Britain's Olympic finalist Cindy Ofili. The men’s event should be a French affair with Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, Dimitri Bascou and Garfield Darien all in action, although Spain's Olympic silver medallist Orlando Ortega is a late addition.
In the 60m flat, world indoor champion Barbara Pierre faces leading Europeans Ewa Swoboda, Olesya Povh, Asha Philip, Rebekka Haase and Gina Luckenkemper while super-veteran Kim Collins faces James Dasaolu and Christophe Lemaitre in the men’s event.
World indoor champion Pavel Maslak makes his season’s debut over 400m, while Britain's Rabah Yousif is among those in action and in another race will be Grenada's Bralon Taplin.
World medallists Adam Kszczot and Amel Tuka go head-to-head over 800m. Elsewhere on the track, world champion Marina Arzamasova faces Olympic finalist Joanna Jozwik in the women’s 800m and Elijah Manangoi starts as the favourite in the 1500m which includes Britain's third-placer in Boston,'s mile Jake Wightman. Dawit Wolde faces German Richard Ringer over 3000m in a race which features Britain's Charlie Grice, contesting his first indoor race over the distance.
Highlights on the in-field will be Anita Marton vs Christina Schwanitz in the shot put, while in-form Yulimar Rojas could challenge the meet record of 14.84m in the triple jump. Olympic silver medallist Sandi Morris is the favourite in the pole vault.
Entry lists and a timetable can be found here.
Olympic heptathlon champion Nafissatou Thiam will make her season’s debut at the Meeting de Paris Indoor on February 8. T
hiam is set to contest the long jump, shot put and 60m hurdles and will take on Antoinette Nana Djimou and Nadine Broersen.
Thiam will also compete in the high jump at the Belgian Indoor Championships before she will make a decision on whether or not she will contest the pentathlon at the European Indoor Championships in Belgrade.
The 11th edition of the RAK Half Marathon on Friday February 10 will have a top line-up with 12 men having sub-one hour bests.
On the women's side, Rio Olympic marathon champion Jemima Sumgong will go up against three-time Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba, reigning world half-marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir and course record-holder and three-time New York Marathon champion Mary Keitany.
Eight women in the line-up have run under 68 minutes.
For the men, Patrick Makau's 58:52 race record of 2009 could be under serious threat, with two of the pacemakers being sub-60 minute performers themselves.
Stanley Biwott returns after his second last year, Eritrea's Nguse Amlosom took third last year and Bahrain's Abraham Cheroben fourth.
Perhaps the most fascinating addition to the field is Kenya's Augustine Choge, who in only his second ever half-marathon last November placed third in New Delhi in a tantalising 60:01 and who feels that he's only scratched the surface of his potential at this new event.
The elite women start at 6.45am UAE time, the men 15 minutes later and all is being covered on live local TV. With info from the organisers.
World under-20 pentathlon record-holder Alina Shukh, who set her 4550 points record on January 27, will compete in another pentathlon at the Tallinn Indoor Meeting this weekend, informs organisers.
The 17-year-old Shukh had set three indoor personal bests (8.85 60m hurdles, 1.88m high jump, 14.27m shot put), jumped 6.04m in the long jump and clocked 2:17.69 over 800m at her national indoor team championships to improve on the previous world junior record of Carolina Kluft from 2002 by 15 points.
Shukh's 4550 points PB makes her the highest-scoring entrant in the Tallinn line-up ahead of Norway’s Ida Marcussen (4316).
The favourites in the heptathlon are Austria’s Dominik Diestelberger (5951) and Japan’s Akihiko Nakamura (5831).
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