The best of the world’s athletes will battle in one of sport’s box-office championships as the 20th edition of World Athletics Championship gets underway in Tokyo. With 147 medals on offer across 49 events, it promises to be an intense two weeks of track and field action in the land of the rising sun.
The Championships will feature Olympic champions, Wanda Diamond League winners and the year’s highest performers. And with the likes of sprint legend Usain Bolt and long jump icon Sergey Bubka among the big names set to take part, excitement is building ahead of the event.
There is also a great deal of local interest with a number of Irish athletes making their way to Japan, including Irish 1500m champion Brian O’Connor, 800m specialist Eamonn Coscoran and distance runner Jess Hull. Throwing stars Nicola Tuthill and Maurica Powell will also be hoping for a big showdown in the shot put and heptathlon respectively.
It’s the biggest team Ireland has ever sent to a World Championship, with 21 athletes featuring in both track and field events. Elsewhere, Nicola Sheerin will be hoping to improve on her fourth place finish in the women’s 20km walk at the last edition of the competition. Elsewhere, there are strong chances for Rhasidat Adeleke and Ciara Mageean to make their mark in the 400m and 1,500m. The Irish relay teams are also in the mix, with the men’s 4x400m including Oisin Lane, Jack Raftery and Mawdsley Becker while the women’s features Cillin Greene, Rachel McCann and Jenna Breen.