Women's field event preview for the 2022 World Athletics Championships

World Athletics Championships 2022 event by event preview for women's field events.

For the first time in history the United States is hosting the World Athletics outdoor championships held in Eugene, Oregon from July 15 to July 24.

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RESULTS

High Jump: 

Yaroslava Mahuchik starts as the favourite in Eugene three years after winning the world silver medal in Doha 2019 with a world under 20 record of 2.04m. The 20-year-old Ukrainian high jumper won the world indoor gold medal in Belgrade with 2.02m beating Australia’s Eleanor Patterson despite the problems to reach the Serbian capital following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. She spent three days getting to Serbia after fleeing from Ukraine.  

Mahuchik won three consecutive Wanda Diamond League competitions in Eugene with 2.00m, Rabat with 1.96m and Paris with 2.01m. 

The athlete coached by former hurdler Tetyana Stepanyuk also won the European Indoor gold medal in Torun and the Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo. 

Mahuchik will take on 2014 Commonwealth Games champion Eleanor Patterson from Australia, who won the world indoor silver medal in Belgrade setting a PB of 2.00m and won the Wanda Diamond League competition in Stockolm with her outdoor seasonal best of 1.96m.

Patterson’s compatriot Nicola Olyslagers (née McDermott) will be looking to win her second global medal after claiming the Olympic silver medal in Tokyo. Olyslagers won the Continental Tour Gold competition in Turku clearing a seasonal best of 1.96m. 

Elena Vallortigara from Italy won the National title in Rieti last June equalling the second best performance with 1.98m and placed second in Turku with 1.94m. 

Yuliya Levchenko, who won the world silver medal in London 2017, showed improving form in the Wanda Diamond League circuit by placing third in Paris with 1.95m and second in Stockolm with 1.93m. 

Iryna Gerashchenko placed fourth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021 with 1.98m and fifth at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade 2022 with 1.92m. The Ukrainian jumper won her first Diamond League competition at last year’s Prefontaine Classic in Eugene beating Vashti Cunningham in the jump-off. 

Cunningham won her first world indoor title in Portland in 2016. The daughter of NFL legend Randall Cunningham won the US outdoor title in Eugene with 1.93m and the Continental Tour Gold competition with 1.96m in Walnut. 

Pole vault: 

Olympic silver medallist Katie Nageotte will clash against her training partner Sandi Morris. Both US pole vaulters train In the same training group in Atlanta under the guidance of former 6.04m performer Brad Walker. 

Morris won her second world indoor gold medal in Belgrade last March with 4.80m beating Nageotte (4.75m). 

Morris cleared a world-leading mark of 4.82m to win the US title at Hayward Field and is unbeaten in 11 competitions, including three Diamond League meetings in Birmingham with 4.73m, Rabat with 4.66m and Rome with 4.81m. 

Nageotte secured the third qualifying spot for the World Championships in Eugene with her seasonal best of 4.65m, but she opted to retire from the competition due to a tightened achilles tendon on her take-off leg. Her injury problem affected her preparation to the US Championships. The 31-year-old vaulter no-heighted in Rabat and placed fourth in Rome with 4.60m. 

Gabriela Leon won the NCAA title with 4.60m and qualified for the World Championships in Eugene by clearing the same height at the US Championships. 

Ekaterini Stefanidi is chasing he third world medal after winning the world gold in London 2017 and bronze in Doha 2019. The Greek star holds a 20-18 in her head-to-head competitions against Morris. The 2016 Olympic champion set a seasonal best of 4.65m in Austin and in Birmingham Diamond League meeting. 

World Indoor bronze medallist Tina Sutej from Slovenia broke the national record by clearing 4.80m in Rouen and won he world indoor bronze medal in Belgrade with 4.75m. The 33-year-old Slovenian vaulter won the Continental Tour Gold competition with 4.65m in Ostrava and holds the second-best mark among the entrants with her 4.72 clearance in Velenje.

Roberta Bruni improved her own Italian record to 4.71m in Barletta and placed second at the Diamond League meeting with 4.66m in Rome on the same day when she graduated in Agricultural Science at the University.  

Long jump: 

Malaika Mihambo won gold medals in the women’s long jump at the European Championships in Berlin 2018, at the World Championships in Doha 2019 and at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021. The German jumper started the Diamond League season with a winning leap of 7.09m in Birmingham. She held the lead in the world seasonal list until 9 July when Australia’s Brooke Buschkuehl (née Stratton) set an Oceanian record of 7.13m in Chula Vista (California). Mihambo set the second best German performance in history and the 12th best performance in history with 7.30m when she won the world title in Doha three years ago.  

Mihambo has won five of her seven competitions this year including Hengelo (6.65m) and the German Championships in Berlin with 6.85m but she placed second to Maryna Beck Romanchuk in Rome with 6.79m and fifth In Stockolm with 6.72m. 

Beck Romanchuk won in Rome with 6.85m and at the Golden Roof Challenge in Innsbruck with a seasonal best of 6.86m and placed second in Stockolm with 6.76m. The Ukrainian jumper won the world silver medal in Doha, the European indoor gold medal in Torun 2021 and the world indoor silver medal in the triple jump in Belgrade 2022. 

European Indoor bronze medallist Khaddi Sagnia won her first Diamond League competition at the Prefontaine Classic improving her PB to 6.95m last May. 

Two-time world indoor silver medallist Lorraine Ugen from Great Britain won the Diamond League competition in Stockolm with 6.81m. 

Ivana Spanovic won her second world indoor gold medal with a world indoor lead of 7.06m in front of her home fans in Belgrade last March, but she was not able to reproduce the same form during the summer and jumped an outdoor seasonal best of 6.66m.

The other athletes to watch are world and Olympic bronze medallist Eze Brume from Nigeria, who leapt to a seasonal best of 6.92m in Berne, Quanesha Burks, US champion with a wind-assisted 7.06m in Eugene, Larissa Iapichino, who set the world under 20 indoor record with 7.06m and won the Italian title in Rieti with 6.64m, and Ghana’s Deborah Acquah, who set a seasonal best of 6.89m. 

Tara Davis won in Chula Vista last week with a wind-assisted 7.24m and a legal 7.03m, and Monae Nichols, second in the Californian meeting with 6.97m, will not compete in Eugene, as they finished outside the top three at the US Championships. 

Triple jump: 

Yulimar Rojas is aiming to become the first three-time women’s triple jump world outdoor champion. The Venezuelan star won her first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo breaking the world record with 15.67m in 2021 and her third world indoor gold medal in Belgrade last March with an outright world record of 15.74m. 

Rojas took part in just two competitions this summer producing 14.83m in the triple jump and 6.83m in the long jump. Her main goal is to jump over the 15 metres barrier for the 21st time in her career and break the championships record held by Inessa Kravets with 15.50m since the 1995 edition held in Gothemburg. 

The fiercest rivals for Rojas are Shanieka Ricketts from Jamaica and Patricia Mamona from Portugal. Ricketts won the 2019 Diamond League final in Zurich beating Rojas with 14.93m and placed second in the World Championships final in Doha. The Jamaican jumper has won eight of her nine competitions this season, including at the Doha Diamond League meeting with a wind-assisted 14.82m and two Continental Tour Gold meetings in Bermuda (14.15m) and Turku (14.35m). She set her seasonal best of 14.52m in Kuortane and a PB of 14.98m in Doha last year. 

Mamona won the European titles outdoors in Amsterdam 2016 and indoors in Torun 2021 and the Olympic silver medal in Tokyo improving her national record to 15.01m. 

Thea Lafond is aiming to become the first athlete from Dominica to win a world medal. Lafond finished fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade. During the summer season she claimed her first Diamond League competition in Rabat with 14.46m and set a seasonal best of 14.53m in Savona. 

Maryna Beck Romanchuk won the world indoor silver medal in the triple jump in Belgrade in her second triple jump competition since 2013. 

The line-up also features two-time Commonwealth Games champion and this year’s world indoor bronze medallist Kimberly Williams from Jamaica, Keturah Orji, US champion this year with the second best performance in the world this year with 14.79m, Tori Franklin, second at the US Championships with 14.59m, and Jasmine Moore, NCAA indoor and outdoor champion in the long and triple jump, 20-year-old Pan American Under 20 champion Leyanis Perez Hernandez from Cuba and Liadagmis Povea, who finished fifth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. 

Women’s shot put: 

Chase Ealey is aiming to become the first US athlete to win the world outdoor title in the women’s shot put. Ealey won the world indoor silver medal this year with 20.21m and leads the world seasonal list with her PB of 20.51m set at the US Championships in Eugene. She is undefeated in her seven outdoor competitions and won her three Diamond League competitions in Doha (19.51m), Oslo (20.13m) and Stockolm (20.48m). 

The US team also features Adelaide Aquilla, second on the world list with 19.64m, Jessica Woodard, third at the US Championships with 19.40m, and reigning Diamond League champion Maggie Ewen, who placed second in Doha with a seasonal best of 19.32m. 

Two-time defending world champion Gong Lijiao will aim at an unprecedented seventh medal in her eighth consecutive appearance at the World Championships. The Chinese shot  putter won a domestic competition with 18.40m in her only competition this season. 

China will be also represented by Song JJiayuan, who is ranked second on the world list with her PB of 20.38m set in Shanghai on 16 June. 

The only other shot putter able to  go beyond the 20 metres barrier is Sarah Mitton, who set the Canadian record with 20.33m at the National Championships. 

Three top contenders for a medal are Auriol Dongmo from Portugal, who won the world indoor gold medal with 20.43m, Jessica Schilder from the Netherlands, who set the national record with 19.68m at the Dutch Championships in Apeldoorn, and Danniel Thomas Dodd from Jamaica, who won the world silver medal in Doha 2019. 

Discus throw: 

Valarie Allman is looking to add the world title in the women’s discus to the Olympic gold medal won last year. Allman has improved the US record three times and taken her North American record to 71.46m moving up to 15th on the world all-time list. 

Allman improved her own continental record by 30 cm, setting the best throw in the world for almost 30 years. She won three consecutive Wanda Diamond League in Birmingham (67.85m), Eugene (68.35m) and Paris (68.68m), the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Walnut (69.46m) and the US title in Eugene with 66.92m. Allman holds nine of the top 10 throws in the world this year and threw beyond the 68 metres barrier in five of her eight competitions. 

Allman will take on Sandra Perkovic, who won two world titles in Moscow 2013 and London 2017. The Croatian thrower, who also won two Olympic gold medals in London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016 and five European titles, beat Allman in the Oslo Diamond League with 66.82m. Perkovic leads 11-8 in her head-to-head clashes against Allman. 

Kristin Pudenz from Germany will be bidding to win another global medal after placing second at the Olympic Games in Tokyo with her previous PB of 66.86m. Pudenz has improved her lifetime best twice to 66.94m an 67.10m in 2022. 

The other major contenders for a medal are three-time European bronze medallist Shanice Craft from Germany, Yaime Perez from Cuba, Olympic bronze medallist in Tokyo and world champion in Doha three years ago, Feng Bin from China, who placed fifth at the World Championships in Doha, Rachel Dincoff, who improved her PB to 65.46m, Jorinde Van Klinken from the Netherlands, who won two NCAA titles in the Hayward Field Stadium and the European Under 23 gold medal in Tallin 2021, Rio 2016 Olympic silver medallist Melina Robert Michon, who won two world medals (silver in Moscow 2013 and bronze in London 2017). 

Hammer throw: 

A new world champion will be crowned at Hayward Field. Olympic finalist Brooke Anderson won the US title with 77.96m in Eugene last month and has won five of her six competitions this year. She has moved up to fourth place on the world all-time list with 79.02m and threw over the 77 metres barrier in five competitions in 2022. 

Anderson’s compatriot Janee Kassanavoid set her PB of 78.00m in Tucson last May and placed second at the US Championships in Eugene with 76.04m. 

Camryn Rogers from Canada will return to Hayward Field where she won the NCAA title last month setting a national and a collegiate record of 77.67m. 

Malwina Kopron carries the Polish medal hopes. Kopron won the bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and silver at the 2017 World Championships and set a seasonal best of 75.08m in Chorzow. 

Sara Fantini, the daughter of former Olympic shot put finalist Corrado Fantini, is chasing another global final one year after finishing 12th at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Fantini improved the Italian record three times this year with 74.38m in Lucca, 74.86m in Samorin and 75.77m in Madrid. 

The other top contenders are Luo Na, who set a seasonal best of 74.47m, Krista Tervo, Finnish record holder with 74.40m, and Katrine Koch Jacobsen, Danish record holder with 74.22m in Samorin this year. 

Four-time world champion and three-time Olympic gold medallist Anita Wlodarczyk has been forced to end her season after sustaining a muscle injury while she was chasing down a thief, who had broken into her car. 

Defending world champion DeAnna Price has withdrawn from the World Championships after contracting covid.  

Javelin throw: 

None of the three Olympic medallists from last year features in the world top 20 list. 

Christin Hussong from Germany ranks fourth in the world seasonal list with 64.87m. She won the European gold medal in Berlin 2018 and the Diamond League Trophy last year. 

Kelsey Lee Barber from Australia won the world title in Doha and the Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo but she is ranked 64th in the world seasonal list with 61.40m. Liu Shiying claimed the world silver medal in Doha and won the Olympic title and is in the Chinese team in Eugene, but she has not competed yet this year. 

China’s Liu Huihui has reached the podium in the past three editions of the World Championships, but she is 67th in the world list with 57.43m. 

Two-time US champion Maggie Malone set the world lead with 65.73m at the Harry Jerome International track Classic but she made three fouls at the US Championships. However, Malone has been selected for the US team, because just two of her compatriots met the standard for the World Championships. Kara Winger won the US title in Eugene with 64.26m setting the fifth best performance in the world list. Winger finished fifth at the World Championships in Doha and set a PB of 66.67m in 2010. Ariana Ince placed second at the US Championships with 60.43m to make the team for the World Championships.

A possible surprise could come by Greek 19-year-old Elina Tzengko, who won the gold medal at the European Under 20 Championships in Tallin and the silver at the World Under 20 Championships in Nairobi last year. Tzengko set a Greek under 23 record of 65.70m at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava. 

The other top contenders are Haruka Kitaguchi, who won the 2013 world under title and her first Diamond League competition in Paris with 63.13m this year, Asian Championships silver medallist Annu Rani from India (63.82m), 2015 Panamerican Games champion Liz Gleadale (63.33m) and Mackenzie Little, who placed eighth in the Olympic final in Tokyo in 2021. 

Heptathlon: 

Nafissatou Thiam from Belgium will aim at winning her second world title one year after her second consecutive Olympic gold medal in Tokyo. 

The 27-year-old Belgian star won her first world title in London 2017, two consecutive Olympic gold medals in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021, the European gold medal in Berlin 2018 and the world silver medal behind Katarina Johnson Thompson in Doha 2019. 

Thiam has not taken part in any heptathlon competition this year, but she won the Belgian title in the long jump with 6.63m. She also finished second in the 100m hurdles in 13.50 and equaled her PB of 24.37 in the 200 metres. 

Another Belgian combined events specialist Noor Vidts won the world indoor title in the pentathlon in Belgrade last March. She has not competed in any heptathlon competition this outdoor season, but she took part in individual events, clocking 13.33 in the 100m hurdles.  

Olympic silver medallist Anouk Vetter from the Netherlands is in the form of her life and won the Hypo meeting in Goetzis with a world leading score and Dutch record of 6693 points. In the Austrian meeting Vetter set a lifetime best of 59.81m in the javelin throw. 

Anna Hall and Kendall Williams carry the US hopes. Hall won the US Combined Events Championships with 6452 points in Fayetteville and and the NCAA Championships with 6385 points in Eugene. Indoors she won the South Eastern Championships with her lifetime best of 4618 points and the NCAA Indoor Championships with 4586 points. The 21-year-old versatile athlete also placed second in the 400m hurdles in 54.76. 

Williams won the world indoor silver medal in the pentathlon in Belgrade last March and placed fifth at the 2019 World Championships in Doha 2019 and at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021. Williams won the world under 20 title in the 100m hurdles in Eugene 2014 and three NCAA heptathlon titles in 2014, 2016 and 2017. 

Johnson Thompson will defend her world title won in Doha, where she set the British record and the best score at the World Championships since 2007. The British withdrew from the World Indoor Championshiips in Belgrade before the 800 metres and placed seventh at the Hypo meeting in Goetzis with 6174 points. 

European Under 23 champion Adrianna Sulek from Poland won the world indoor silver medal in Belgrade. During the outdoor season the Pole won her first heptathlon competition in Bydgoszcz with 6290 and placed second in Goetzis with a PB of 6429 points. Last month she won the Polish Championships with 6423 points. 

20 km walking race: 

Three-time world champion Liu Hong from China will defend her title won in Doha three years ago. The Chinese walker will be looking to become the first four-time world champion in a race walking event. She has reached the podium at every major global championships she has contested since 2009. 

Qieyang Shije will chase her second consecutive world medal after finishing second in Doha in 2019. The 31-year-old Chinese walker leads the World Athletics Walking Tour Standings after winning the 35 km in Dudince, the 10 km in Madrid and the 20 km in La Coruna. She will double up in the 20 and 35 km in Eugene with the goal to become the first woman to win medals in two walking distances in the same edition of the World Championships. 

Ma Zhenxia will seek another medal after winning the 20 km at the World Athletics Walking Race Championships in Muscat. 

The other athletes to watch are Commnwealth Games champion Jamima Montag from Australia, who set the Oceanian record with 1.27:57 last February, European champion Maria Perez from Spain, Kimberly Garcia from Peru, who set the national record in La Coruna last May with 1:28:38, and Glenda Morejon, who became the fastest teenager in history over 20 km when she clocked 1:25:29 in La Coruna in 2019.   

35 km walking race: 

World 20 km silver medallist Qieyiang Shije set the Asian record of 2:43:06 this year in the 35 km in Dudince. Kimberly Garcia finished second in the Dudince race setting a South American record of 2:43:19. 

Glenda Morejon won the 35 km at the World Race Walking Team Championships in Muscat on her debut over this distance. 

China’s Li Maocuo won the 50 km world silver in 2019 and finished second to Morejon in Muscat and third in Dudince. 

Ines Henriques won the inaugural 50 km world title in Doha 2019. The 42-year-old Portuguese walker will make her 10th appearance at the World Championships.  

4x100 relay: 

Jamaica starts as the big favourite for the world 4x100 title one year after the Olympic triumph in Tokyo. The Caribbean team features the two fastest women in the world in history (Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce and Elaine Thompson Herah) and this year’s Jamaican champion Sherika Jackson. They will be joined in the team by 4x100 relay Olympic champion Briana Williams, Kemba Nelson, a graduate at the University of Oregon, and Ramona Burchell. 

Olympic 200m bronze medallist Gabby Thomas had to settle with eighth place in the 200m at the US Championships in 22.47 after an injury, but she was selected in the 4x100 relay. Thomas will be joined by US 100m champion Melissa Jefferson, Aleia Hobbs and Twanisha Terry, Celera Barnes and under 20 sprinter Tamari Davis. 

Great Britain will try to repeat the podium position one year after winning the bronze medal at the Olympic Games. The British team will be formed by Dina Asher Smith, Darriyl Neita, Imani Lansiquot, Asha Phillip, Ashleigh Nelson and Bianca Williams. 

Switzerland will chase a medal after placing fourth at the World Championships in Doha and at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Swiss 100m and 200m record holder Mujinga Kambundji will be joined by Olympic finalist Ajla Del Ponte, Geraldine Frey, Sarah Atcho and Natasha Kouni. Switzerland clocked 42.13 in the final test in the Stockolm Diamond League meeting, missing the national record by 0.08. 

Germany also fields a strong team featuring Rebekka Haase, Alexandra Burghardt, Tatjana Pinto and Gina Luckenkemper. The other team fighting for a spot in the final are the Netherlands, Poland and Italy. 

4x400 relay: 

The US team has won six of the past seven world titles and is set to continue its dominance. Last year they triumphed at the Olympic Games with a dream team formed by Allyson Felix, Sydney McLaughlin, Athing Mu and Dalilah Muhammad. The athletes named for Oregon 2022 are the top three finishers of the US Championships Talitha Diggs, Kendall Ellis and Lynna Irby, 2019 world championships fourth placer Jadeline Jonathas, Jaide Stepter and Kailyn Whitney. 

The Jamaican team will be formed by Stephanie Ann MCPherson, who won the world 4x400 title in Beijing 2015, Olympic fifth placer Candice McLeod and NCAA Finals second placer Charokee Young. 

Poland won silver medals at the World Championships in Doha 2019 and at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021. The Polish team is formed by Natalia Kaczmarek and Anna Kielbasinska, who set PBs of 50.16 and 50.28 this year, 2018 European champion Justyna Swiety Ersetic, and Iga Baumgart.

British champion Victoria Ohuruogu (younger sister of 2008 Olympic champion Christine Ohuuogu) will lead a strong British team. 

The Netherlands finished sixth in the Olympic  final with a strong team featuring Femke Bol and Lieke Klaver. 

The other teams who can fight for a spot in the final are Canada (fourth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo) and Bahamas with Shaunae Miller Uibo, Italy, World Relay champions Cuba and Olympic finalists Belgium. 

Mixed 4x400 relay: 

Dominican Republic will chase another global medal one year after finishing second to Poland at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Olympic 400m silver medallist Marileidy Paulino leads a very strong team that also features Fiordaliza Cofil, who clocked 50.38 this year, Ibero American champion Lidio Feliz, who clocked 44.64 this year, and Alexander Ogando, who set his PBs of 44.68 in the 400m in Chorzow and 20.03 in the 200m in Paris. 

The US team won the inaugural title in the mixed 4x400 setting a world record of 3:09.34 in Doha 2019. Sprint legend Allyson Felix has been included in the mixed relay in her final appearance at the World Championships after finishing sixth in the 400m at the US Championships. Felix will go for the 18th medal of her career at the World Championships. The US mixed relay team also features 400m world leader Michael Norman. 

Jamaica could fight for a medal after finishing third in Doha three years ago. 

The Netherlands features Femke Bol, Liemarvin Bonevacia, Lieke Klaver and Ramsey Angela. 

The other top contenders are Great Britain, Belgium featuring the Borlée brothers, who finished fifth in Tokyo, Italy and Brazil, who finished first and second in the World Relays last year.