Saturday 10th August is the opening day of the 2013 IAAF World Athletics Championships, and sees two gold medals up for contention, along with a host of preliminaries, and our first glance of the presumed star of the championships. Olympic 5000m and 10000m champion Mo Farah will be hot favourite to take the 10000m title on the opening night of the championships. The Somali-born star will have it tough however, as
five Ethiopians make the start lists, including Ibrihim Jeilan, who beat the adopted Englishman in the same event at Daegu two years ago. The team also contains legendary Ethiopian distance runner Kennenisa Bekele, who won gold at this event in the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games, as well as at 4 consecutive World Championships between 2003 and 2009. Whether the 31-year-old can recoup that form for Moscow is unknown, but he's certainly not one to be disregarded lightly. However, the first gold medal of the championship is going to come at the longest event. The women's marathon is likely to be yet another match-off between the Kenyans and the Ethiopians, with both nations contributing 9 athletes between them; 6 Ethiopians and 3 Kenyans. Edna Kiplagat defends her title from Daegu, but she's likely to come under pressure from team-mate Lucy Kabuu, and all 6 Ethiopians, presumably led by the fastest woman in the field Tika Gelana. The USA have one of the fastest PB's in the field; unfortunately it's held by 40-year-old Deena Kastor, the 2004 Olympic Bronze medallist, and former winner of the London Marathon, who's SB of 2.30.40 is still the fastest of the 3 American runners in the field. There's plenty around for those who aren't fans of distance running; Jamaican superstar Usain Bolt goes in Round 1 of the 100m, with the talent around him looking desperately thin
after a summer filled with high-profile doping suspensions. He's likely to come under pressure in the later rounds from the pantomime villain of the sprinting show Justin Gatlin, the
former drug cheat having
beaten Bolt earlier in the summer in Rome's Diamond League meeting. However, Round 1 should be fairly light-hearted; expect lots of posing, funny faces, and ridiculously over-confident interviews to put a smile on all our faces! In the field, the Men's Hammer Qualifying and the Women's Discus qualifying take place, while there'll be a chance to see Ashton Eaton commence his World Championship campaign in the Decathlon. Renoud Lavillenie will commence his attempt to add to his Olympic Gold, when the Frenchman competes in the Men's Pole Vault Qualifying, while there's also 800m Men's qualifying in the morning session, with Irish stalwart Mark English among a slew of young stars aiming to fill the gap left by David Rudisha's injury-based absence, while the Women's Long Jump Qualifying, and Round 1 of the Women's 100m and Women's 3000m Steeplechase also take place. All in all, an action-packed first day, capped off by the Opening Ceremony after the 10000m final. Don't miss it!