Five stars expected to light up the arena at World Championships
Faith Kipyegon is the favourite to win the 1500m title in Eugene
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Your support makes all the difference.Eugene’s Hayward Field hosts the World Championships which start on Friday.
Here, the PA news agency looks at five global stars who are expected to make an impact in Oregon.
Faith Kipyegon
The Kenyan has been unbeaten since retaining her 1500m Olympic crown and is looking to upgrade the silver she won three years ago when she had just returned following a 21-month maternity break.
In Tokyo last year she became the first woman and only the second athlete to claim consecutive Olympic 1500m titles after Sebastien Coe.
Christian Coleman
All eyes will be on the defending 100m champion, back at a major championships for the first time since his ban for missing three drugs tests ended last year.
He has still only run the eighth fastest time this year but it will be difficult to write off the American after he won the US trials.
Shericka Jackson
The sprint star is on fire this year and ran the third fastest 200m in the world when she clocked 21.55 seconds at Jamaica’s trials last month.
She dropped down from the 400m last year, having claimed 400m bronze in Doha three years ago, and was third in the 100m at the Tokyo Olympics.
Wayde van Niekerk
Fit again, the 2016 Olympic champion and 400m world record holder is a favourite to make the podium.
He has struggled since a knee injury in 2019 forced him to miss the World Championships in Doha and he could only reach the semi-final in Tokyo last year but a fit van Niekerk is a force.
Sydney McLaughlin
The 22-year-old broke her own 400m hurdles world record, which she set at the Olympics, by posting 51.41 seconds at the US trials last month.
That it was at Hayward Field suggests the record could be on the line again, and she has not lost a race since coming second at the World Championships in Doha.
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