Who are the biggest stars, what are their chances and how will Great Britain fare in Tokyo? All your questions about the World Athletics Championships answered
The action kicks off at 11.30pm BST Friday night (7.30am local time) with the men’s and women’s 35km race walk. But do not worry about having to mainline caffeine for the next nine days to watch Noah Lyles, Keely Hodgkinson, Mondo Duplantis and Faith Kipyegon go for gold. All the track finals will be staged in the evening in Tokyo, between 11am and 2.30pm BST, and be shown on the BBC in the UK. The championships end on Sunday 21 September.
Four years ago in Budapest, Great Britain won a record-equalling 10 medals, including golds for Josh Kerr in the 1500m and Katarina Johnson-Thompson in the heptathlon. That success was fuelled by relay medals and UK Athletics are hoping for a repeat. The big favourite is Hodgkinson in the women’s 800m and the Olympic champion could be joined on the podium by her room-mate and training partner, Georgia Hunter-Bell. Kerr, in the 1500m, and Matthew Hudson-Smith, in the men’s 400m, also believe they can win gold.
Brutally hot and humid. At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, World Athletics moved the marathons to Sapporo due to heat concerns. This time around the unseasonably hot weather has forced them to push back the start time for the women’s race on Sunday and the men’s on Monday to 7.30am local time (from 8am). But with temperatures about 35C (95F), expect slow times and plenty of runners to pull out. Britain’s Emile Cairess, who was fourth in Paris, could sneak a medal.
