High-flyer Mondo Duplantis, super mom Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce or Hungary’s gold hope and Bayern Munich fan Bence Halász: These are the stars and eye-catchers of the World Athletics Championships and their stories.
Armand “Mondo” Duplantis – Golden Air Show Guaranteed
The question of who will travel home with the world title does not really arise. Again this year, Armand Duplantis flies to dizzying heights with such ease that anything but gold would be a real sensation for the exceptional Swedish athlete.
The goal for Budapest is therefore of course: world record. At his first world title last year in Eugene, he had improved his own record to 6.21 m. A year later, this is already at 6.22 m. He himself, who else, screwed it up further in February. The air show is guaranteed in the final on the second Saturday (26.08.2023, 7.25 p.m., live on sportschau.de).
Super-Mama Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce – “Pocket Rocket” jagt Usain Bolt
Imagine you are running for your child in a parent competition at school and suddenly “Pocket Rocket” is written next to you. Jamaica’s sprint legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce took the opportunity at the end of June to stand in for her son Zyon. “Every point counts!” Wrote the three-time Olympic champion and ten-time world champion on Facebook, after of course not giving the other mothers the slightest chance.
The “pocket rocket”, which is just 1.52 m tall, wants to further expand its impressive collection of medals in Budapest. Even if the competition is fierce, not least from their own country with Shericka Jackson and Elaine Thompson-Herah. The 36-year-old is just one badge away from overtaking Usain Bolt in the all-time World Cup leaderboard. Exciting questions are whether she will succeed and what shrill hair colors she wears every day in Budapest. The world’s fastest mom will provide answers.
Fred Kerley – “If I Can Do It, So Can They”
From the bottom to the top: Fred Kerley is a success story that Americans love. Father in prison, mother on the wrong track, Kerley grew up with his aunt in Texas – with twelve other children in one room. Driven to escape these “difficult” conditions, he had an outstanding track and field career that led him to the sprint throne at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene.
Defending the title is the goal, but Kerley is only third so far this year with a time of 9.88 seconds. The eyes and cameras will still be on the 28-year-old, with whom the message to the kids from difficult backgrounds always sprints: “If I can do it, you can do it too.”
Noah Lyles – world record with announcement?
Sprinters don’t just set fast times, they also like pithy sayings. 200m champion Noah Lyles is no exception. “I will run 9.65 seconds and 19.10 seconds,” wrote the American on Instagram. So second best time in history for the 100m and world record for the 200m. Drumming is part of the sprint business.
If Lyles lives up to his promises, his double start in Budapest would no doubt be a memorable one. But even if he “only” managed to win the world championship title over the 200 m and thus the hat trick, the trip to Hungary would be a very successful one for Gina Lückenkemper’s training partner. It would give him the opportunity to draw level with Usain Bolt in Tokyo in two years’ time: the Jamaican triumphed four times at the World Championships half-round stadium between 2009 and 2015.
Sha’Carri Richardson – Dazzling sprinter finally wants a medal
A US sprint gold hope for two years, Sha’Carri Richardson is a colorful athlete. In 2021, however, she was banned from the Tokyo 2021 Olympics after testing positive for marijuana. She then had her hopes of a medal at last year’s World Championships dashed when she failed at the US Trials. The story behind it is like a personal roller coaster ride.
In Budapest, the 23-year-old should finally have her international medal breakthrough. The shape is definitely right. Only Jamaica’s runner-up Shericka Jackson (10.65) has run faster than Richardson (10.71) this year.
Sifan Hassan: 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 m? “Yes gladly!”
As is well known, people grow with their tasks. For Sifan Hassan, the same cannot be big enough at major athletics events. After the triple start at the 2021 Olympic Games, the Dutchwoman of Ethiopian origin will also be at the starting line at the World Championships in Budapest over 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 m. “I want to see if I can do it again,” says the 30-year-old.
The challenge of running three distances fulfills me.
In Tokyo she did it “quite well”: Hassan won gold over 5,000 and 10,000 m and bronze over 1,500 m and was the first athlete to win three medals in the same games over these three distances.
In Budapest she could write athletics history again. Your triple start program falls under the “sporty” category: On the first Saturday (19.08.2023) the first round over 1,500 m (from 1:15 p.m.) is scheduled for the morning, before it is already over 10,000 m (8:55 p.m.) in the evening the first title goes. Sunday (semi-finals 1,500 m from 5:05 p.m.) and Tuesday (final 1,500 m at 9:30 p.m.) could be followed by the second coup before the 5,000 m: 1st round on Wednesday (11:10 a.m.), final on the second Saturday (8:50 p.m.). ).
Karsten Warholm – Can only be stopped by “eleventh hurdle”.
Climate protectors like to paralyze road traffic or airports as a sign of protest. Since the Diomand League meeting in Stockholm in early July, 400m hurdles have also been on the list. Ten meters from the finish line, activists lined up with a banner, forming what Frenchman Wilfried Happio put it, “an eleventh hurdle”.
World record holder and Olympic champion Karsten Warholm, who didn’t have to chase through the banner on lane eight, reacted more irritably and spoke of the “impossible behavior” of the demonstrators: “They prevent athletes from working who have been preparing for these races for months. That’s worse Style.”
In Budapest, Warholm could probably only stop an eleventh hurdle. After Eugene’s disappointment when the Norwegian, stricken by injuries, missed out on the final, the two-time champion (2017, 2019) has found his footing again. If he pushes through, it should be gold.
Bence Halász – Hungary’s hope with Bayern Munich love
Hungary is allowed to host the world title fights for the first time. The Hungarian fans have never been able to celebrate outdoor World Championship gold. Hammer thrower Bence Halász is arguably the host nation’s best hope for a top spot on the podium. The potential is definitely there. Bronze at the 2019 World Championships in Doha and silver at the European Championships last year in Munich: The 26-year-old has been playing in the concert of the big boys with the heavy hammers for a long time.
Incidentally, the Hungarian used the last European Championship to fulfill a very personal dream. In the Olympic Stadium, Halász not only attracted attention with his 80.92 m silver throw, but also with a poster that he presented after the triumph: “Thomas Müller – please give me your jersey!” was to read on it. The request of the Vice European Champion did not go unnoticed by the professional soccer player from FC Bayern Munich. Müller contacted Halász on Instagram and sent the Hungarian a signed jersey.
“A dream come true! Maybe it’s just as exhilarating a feeling as when I won the silver medal at the European Championships in Munich!” Halász wrote on Instagram and published the pictures of the Müller jersey. If the hammer thrower wins gold in his home country, Halász rather than Bayern Munich jerseys could be in demand there.
