Just 48 hours from the start of the World Athletics Championships that will take place in Budapest from August 19 to 27 with a suffocating and unexpected heat, Iberian press highlights six protagonists who shine with their own light on a date it brings strong emotions and exciting duels.
Despite this, other important figures should not be forgotten, such as the American sprinter Noah Lyles (100, 200 and 4×100 meters), the versatile Dutchwoman of Ethiopian origin Sifan Hassan (1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 meters), the ‘forgiven’ Nigerian Tobi Amusan after not showing up for three anti-doping controls (100 meter hurdles), the Greek Miltiadis Tentoglou (long jump) or, at the Spanish level, references such as walkers Álvaro Martín, María Pérez (both 20 and 50 km walk), Miguel Ángel López (35 km) or the 1,500 km trio with Mohamed Katir, Adel Mechaal and Mario Garcia Romo.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen
At just 22 years old, the Norwegian has already become one of the best middle-distance runners in history with a vast list of winners full of gold medals such as the last World Cup in 5,000 or the Tokyo Games in 1,500 and sensational ‘doublets’ such as those of the last two Europeans outdoors (1,500 and 5,000), the last two indoor continental appointments (1,500 and 3,000).
“You can’t catch it. It doesn’t change. He gets in front and changes the cadence without flinching. It looks like you’re going to catch it and it keeps increasing, so it’s impossible,” Adel Mechaal told SPORT. (from the Prensa Ibérica group) in the past Meeting Ciutat de Barcelona. “My goal is to beat him this summer. I know it’s very difficult, but I’m not going to give up,” said Mohamed Katir after his resignation from the last European indoor events.
Registered in 1,500 and 5,000 meters, the great objective of the youngest of the Ingebrigtsen is to achieve the first universal double, something that escaped him in Eugene after achieving gold in 5,000 because of the electrifying finish of the British Jake Wightman in the ‘milqui’ that condemned him to silver. With 3:27.14, he is already the fourth in history at 74 hundredths of the historical world record of Hicham El Guerrouj. In 5,000 meters he is also a favorite despite the presence of the adopted Spaniard Mohamed Katir, the Ugandan genius Cheptegei and a large “Ethiopian army” headed by Aregawi.
Ryan Crouser
The American giant of 2.01 meters and 145 kilos of weight is one of the great attractions in Budapest after winning last year in Eugene, less than 200 kilometers from his home, one of the only shot put titles that was missing from his record, the outdoor world championships. Before, he had been sixth in London’17 and second in Doha’19 by just one centimeter behind his compatriot Joe Kovacs.
The 30-year-old from Portland arrives in the Hungarian capital at the best moment of his career after once again beating his own universal record. The first was achieved in 2021 when he threw 23.37 and erased the historic record that his compatriot Randy Barnes had held for 31 years from the lists by 25 centimeters. AND this same season he has improved it, sending the ball weighing 7.26 kg to 23.56 meters on May 27 in Los Angeles.
Endowed with exceptional physical conditions and a polished technique that allows him to make the most of his size, Crouser hung the gold in the last two Olympic Games and now he only lacks the universal indoor title after being silver last year in Belgrade when he fell against the forecast against the Brazilian Darlan Romani (this season he has not approached 22 meters). With the permission of the South American, his great rivals will be the aforementioned Kovacs (22.69 this year) and the New Zealander Tom Walsh (once world champion outdoors and twice indoors).
Armand Duplantis
‘Mondo’ Duplantis has been competing against himself for the past decade and this season he has shown the first signs of fatigue after many dozens of competitions in which he is left alone and ends up trying to break his world record, something he has already achieved on six occasions until reaching 6.22 meters on February 25 the Clermont-Ferrand (France).
In fact, this season they have suffered one of their only four defeats in the last 60 competitions since 2019 (it had only fallen last year in Brussels and in 2021 at Gateshead and Lausanne). It was in the Monaco Diamond League when he failed to jump 6.02 and was relegated to fourth position. Despite this, he does not seem to have a rival to the Scandinavian, an athlete who has lived surrounded by poles all his life and who even has a vault in his house.
At just 23 years old, the jumper born in the US town of Lafayette (Louisiana) United States is the current Olympic, world champion in the open air and indoors and also in Europe on both surfaces (in the big events he only lost in the World Cup in Doha’19 at the hands of the absent American Sam Kendricks by less than zero (both jumped 5.97). Rivals? With 22 centimeters less, the Norwegian Guttormsen and the Filipino Obiena They are the only ones who have been able to with the six meters and also watch out for the Australian Kurtis Marschall (5.95).
Yulimar Rojas
The blaugrana is one of the icons of athletics since she began to try her luck with this sport at the age of 13 by being moved by the Venezuelan athletes who participated in the Olympic Games in Beijing’08. With extraordinary physical conditions thanks to her height of 193 centimeters and her very high hips with legs typical of someone who exceeds two meters, ‘La Guerrera’ continues to destroy all records in the triple jump.
The Venezuelan is perhaps the biggest favorite for gold in the World Cup counting all the men’s and women’s events with the brand new record universal that he established on August 1, 2021 at the Tokyo Games when he went up to 15.67 meters (17 centimeters more than the previous one of the Ukrainian Inessa Kravets back in 1995). In Guadalajara since 2015 under the command of the legendary Cuban Iván Pedroso, the most important thing is that he still has room for improvement and the 16-meter barrier does not seem like a chimera.
His training partner, the Galician Ana Peleteiro (bronze at the Tokyo Games), was absent. Rojas will have to do his best in a course in which he has jumped only 15.18, since he is six centimeters behind the American Jasmine Moore (22 years). She also kept an eye on the Cubans Leyanis Pérez and Liadagmis Povea or the excellent Ukrainian competitor Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk… but her true rival will be herself.
Faith Kipyegon
The 29-year-old Kenyan has long been the big star of the season with three world records each more spectacular. She gold in 1,500 in the last two Olympic Games and in the 2017 and 2022 World Cups (in 2019 she was surpassed by the versatile and laureate Dutch Sifan Hassan), she is registered in the ‘milqui’ and in the 5,000 meters.
Words fall short to describe his achievements in this outdoor season. The athlete from the Kalenjin tribe, weighing only 42 kilos, trains in her country under the orders of Patrick Sang (one of the great precursors of Kenyan athletics with his silver at the Barcelona Games in 3,000 obstacles and at the 1991 World Cups and 1993 after Moses Kiptanui).
In less than two months, Kipyegon broke three world records. On June 2 in Florence, Genzebe Dibaba’s 1,500-meter record to become the first woman to drop under 3:50 (3:49.11), seven days later she beat Letensebet Gidey’s 5,000 (14:11) at the Diamond in Paris. 05.20) and on July 21 at the Diamond in Monaco he made history by improving Sifan Hassan’s universal record by almost five seconds and leaving it at 4:07.64. Despite the presence of Hassan in the two tests, the African should not have a rival in 1,500, while in 5,000 she will face the Dutch, with Gidey herself, with the Ethiopians Meshesha, Haylom and Welteji without forgetting a competitor with capital letters like the British Laura Muir.
Femke Bol
The Dutch is one of the great sensations of athletics in the last two seasons. The tall, 23-year-old, 1.84-meter tall 400-year-old was the star of the Berlin’22 Europeans with her mathematical and perfect running that led her to the triplet of gold in the 400 sprint, 400 hurdles and 4×400 that she added to her two ‘doublets’ followed in the indoor Europeans of Torun’21 and Belgrade’23.
The Communication Sciences student only lacks gold at the universal level, since after being third at just 21 years old in the 400 hurdles at the Tokyo Games (they were won by the Americans Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah Muhammad), Bol was second last year in 400 meters at the Indoor World Championships after the Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo and in the Eugene’22 in her fetish test of 400 hurdles after the great American McLaughlin, the fastest in history. However, the absence of the woman from New Jersey makes her a great favorite for gold in the return to the track with hurdles and… be careful with the 4×400 in the company of Lieke Klaver.
The one from Amersfoot is completing the best season of her still short career with a birthday party (23) that was brought forward four days on February 19 by accrediting 49.26 over 400 meters at the Netherlands Nationals, breaking the historic world record held by the Czech Jarmila Kratochvilova with 49.59… since 1982! He also holds the European record in the 400m hurdles with 51.45 (second in the world only after McLaughlin’s 50.68). With those 51.45, she is almost two seconds this year behind the Jamaican Andrenette Knight (53.26) and the American Shamier Little (53.34) without forgetting Muhammad (53.53).
2023-08-17 16:00:25
#Athletics #World #Cup #international #stars #World #Cup #Budapest
