The men’s 20 km walk is the first decision at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. Three more gold medals will be awarded in the evening. In addition, the heptathlon begins – and over 100 m men are the heats on the program. The first day of competition on Saturday (08/19/2023) at a glance. We keep you up to date in the live ticker on sportschau.de.
20 km walk men (start: 8.50 a.m.)
The first World Championship competition is all about gold: on Saturday morning the Chinese Zhang Jun, Toshikazu Yamanishi and Koki Ikeda from Japan as well as the Swede Perseus Karlstrom are among the favorites over the 20 km walk. Christopher Linke from Potsdam is at the start for the DLV. Last year, the 34-year-old gave up at the World Championships in Eugene, USA. In 2021 he finished fifth over this distance at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Can he surprise you again?
At the 2022 European Championships in Munich, Christopher Linke won silver over the 35 km walk.
“Top eight should be possible,” said the sports soldier on Friday (08/18/2023) in Budapest: “I’m not as fast as I’ve been in four years – despite my advanced age.” The expected heat could play into the German’s hands. “That actually suits me quite well. I have prepared myself for warm conditions,” said Linke, who has taken on the role of captain in the German team with sprinter Gina Lückenkemper: “Experienced athletes tend to like tough conditions, then it might not be quite as fast. I’m speculating a bit on that.”
Heptathlon (from 10.35 a.m.)
On the first day of the heptathlon, the athletes have to complete four disciplines: after the 100 m hurdles (10:35 a.m.) there is the high jump (11:45 a.m.), in the evening there is the shot put (7:05 p.m.) and the 200 m run (8:30 p.m.) on the program. World Champion and Olympic Champion Nafissatou Thiam from Belgium is ailing and Anna Hall from the USA takes a run-up for gold. How are the three German all-around athletes Carolin Schäfer (Frankfurt/Main), Sophie Weißenberg (Leverkusen) and Vanessa Grimm (Königstein) doing 26 years after Sabine Braun’s World Cup success in Athens? In the heptathlon, there could be bronze on extremely favorable terms, writes ARD athletics expert Frank Busemann in his all-around world championship oracle.
Sophie Weißenberg from Leverkusen gave up after the long jump at her World Cup premiere in 2022.
100 m men heats (from 12.35 p.m./7.43 p.m.)
The sprint stars around Fred Kerley handed in their business cards in the 100 m heats on the first day in the World Cup stadium. Julian Wagner from Erfurt goes into the World Cup for the DLV with a best time of 10.11 seconds. Reaching the second round in the evening would already be a success. Defending champion Kerley, his US teammates Christian Coleman and Noah Lyles and the year’s best Zharnel Hughes from Great Britain (9.83 seconds) should be able to take a more relaxed approach to the gallop on the way to the final on Sunday (7.10 p.m., live on sportschau.de). .
In Eugene last year, the USA celebrated a triple triumph in the 100m.
Shot Put Final Men (8:35 p.m.)
The great German shot put times are over for now; It’s been ten years since David Storl from Chemnitz won the World Cup in Moscow. There are no DLV athletes in Budapest. If everything goes smoothly in qualifying in the morning (10.30 a.m.), defending champion Ryan Crouser from the USA will be the big gold favorite in the final. Anything but a victory for the 30-year-old world record holder (23.56 m) would be a huge surprise.
World champion Ryan Crouser improved the shot put world record by 19 centimeters this year.
10,000m women (20:55)
The first running decision for women at the World Championships is the race over 25 laps of the stadium. Olympic champion Sifan Hassan from the Netherlands, who, like at the Tokyo Games, will also tackle the triple start in Budapest, and defending champion Letesenbet Gidey from Ethiopia should definitely be counted on in the fight for gold. The Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay has the fastest time this year in the block, 29:29.73 minutes at the end of June in Spain. Like last year, the DLV does not send any female runners into the race.
4x400m Mixed Relay (9:47 p.m.)
Jean Paul Bredau (Potsdam), Manuel Sanders (Dortmund), Skadi Schier and Alica Schmidt (both Berlin) form the German team in the mixed relay competition over 4×400 m. In the morning in the second heat (11.16 a.m.) there is a place among the top three required to move directly into the finals. Two of the eight places in the final are also awarded via the fastest-time rule. At the World Championships in Eugene last year, the Dominican Republic won gold ahead of the Netherlands and the USA.
The US squadron only finished third at the home game in Eugene.