GERMAN MEETINGS: BERLIN – 74th ISTAF with world-class athletes from 39 nations – 20 medallists from Peking among the competitors

The 74th Internationales Stadionfest in Berlin (ISTAF) will see 148 athletes from 39 nations vying for supremacy in 15 star-studded disciplines. As in 2014 they will be introduced to the public against a backdrop of music, lights and pyrotechnics unique in the world of athletics meetings.

The ISTAF will again be televised in over 160 countries.The ISTAF will feature 20 medallists from the World Championships in Peking, among them five world champions. Competitors at the 74th edition of this long-established tournament will also include three Olympic winners and 14 world champions and 17 European champions from previous championships.

The athletes attending the ISTAF have a combined total of 117 medals earned at international competitions (Olympic Games, world championships and various continental championships). Of the 148 active athletes attending, 40 will be representing Germany, of which 25 are women and 15 men.

New Zealander shot putter Tom Walsh is furthest from home (18,000 km), long jumper Melanie Bauschke the nearest, living in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, close to the Olympic stadium. The youngest woman competing is the 18-year-old 2,000m steeplechaser Tigist Ketnet (Ethiopia),the youngest man 20-year-old 800m runner Timothy Kitum (Kenya). The oldest woman is the American hammer thrower Amber Campbell (34), the oldest man the middle-distance runner Bernard Lagat (41), also from the States.

The successful new "ISTAF 3.0" format introduced in 2014 will be continued and expanded this year. The ISTAF will be the first athletics meeting to have an LED perimeter board running round the entire arena as in a football stadium, enhancing a concept that combines world-class athletics with entertainment and event marketing. All five digital-media displays (the LED board, the display behind the starting blocks, the presentation podium and two LED screens) can be linked up to provide identical content. The LED displays will be given over to advertising for 80 percent of the time, with the remaining 20% providing the crowd with information and animated images.

All athletes competing in a given discipline will be introduced to the public on the centrally located LED podium, framed by flame cannons, fog machines, CO2 boosters and other effects. They will also jog into the arena from a tunnel in the infield, similar to the entry of sports teams before a match, to the strains of their own selected piece of music playing from concert-sized speakers.

Masters of ceremonies in the stadium will be ARD athletics expert Ralf Scholt and Tim Tonder and also the Berliner Karsten Holland.

Meeting Director Martin Seeber: "Our spectators can look forward to a tranche of stars fresh from the World Championships. In the pole vault, for instance, all five medallists from Peking are competing, in the discus all three, in the men's javelin and shot put two of the three medallists… -the list goes on. We're waiting with bated breath to see the reaction to the extra digital features. The LED technology is a real plus for our sponsors and improves the content on offer to the crowd. I'd like to take this opportunity, on behalf of all the partners and supporters, to thank our biggest sponsors, the Spielbank Berlin, Nike, DKB and Volkswagen.

"105 minutes of coverage on ZDF – Largest amount of TV air time for years

In Germany ZDF will be covering the ISTAF live from 17:00 to 18:45 – a record duration compared with recent years. The world's oldest and best-attended athletics meeting will be beamed live or at later times to televisions in over 160 countries. 7.5 kilometres of cables have been laid in the Olympic stadium and 35 cameras and 15 mobile editing and graphics units and outside broadcasting vehicles will be in operation.

The athletes to watch during the 74th Internationales Stadionfest (in chronological order):

Javelin (women) | Start 14:05 | Meeting record: 70.53 metres

This will be her fourth ISTAF and her first appearance as world champion: in Peking Katharina Molitor (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) nabbed a surprising gold medal with her last throw, a personal best distance of 67.69 metres. On Sunday she will be up against the bronze medallist Sunette Viljoen (South Africa), the fourth-placed Christina Obergföll (world champion in 2013) and the sixth placed javelin thrower Christin Hussong.

Shot put (women) | Start 14:35 | Meeting record: 20.98 metres

Second discipline, second world champion: after her triumph in Peking Christina Schwanitz is looking forward to the showdown in Berlin's Olympic stadium. She will be meeting up again with American Michelle Carter, who took bronze in the finals in Peking. Other rivals will be present in the form of the Chilean putter Natalia Ducoand Paulina Guba from Poland, who managed 9th and 11th place respectively. Two of the strongest up-and-coming Germans -Shanice Craft and Lena Urbaniak- will also be competing.

Hammer (women) | Start 16:05 | Meeting record: 79.59 metres

Following the withdrawal of Anita Wlodarczyk due to sickness, the women's hammer could turn out to be just as exciting as the German Bundesliga without Bayern Munich. While the Polish world champion and record holder struggles with 'flu, four finalists from Peking will be vying for medals on Sunday – Betty Heidlerand Kathrin Klaas from Germany and Alena Sobaleva(Belarus) and Amber Campbell(USA). Two other Berliners, Carolin Paeslerand Charlene Woithaare also among the line-up.

2000m steeplechase (women) | Start 16:05 | Meeting record: n.a.A

New meeting record is inevitable on Sunday because the shortened 2,000 metres steeplechase is making its ISTAF debut. And who can say that a German record will not be set? With the inclusion of the event Gesa Felicitas Krause, who took bronze in Peking and with it the first track medal for a German since 2001, has seen her wish come true. Gesa is keen to improve on her own (unofficial) German record, which currently stands at 6:15.52. By her own admission she lacks the strength at the end of the season for the full 3,000m distance. After the world championships final she will again be up against world-class athletes Virginia Nyambura(Kenya) and Ruth Jebet (Bahrain), who took gold in the 3,000m at last year's ISTAF.

Pole vault (men) | Start 16:40 |Meeting record: 6.05 metres

This year's ISTAF offers arguably the best pole-vault line-up ever! All five medallists from Peking are taking part. These are: surprise world champion Shawnacy Barber (Canada), runner-up Raphael Holzdeppe (Zweibrücken), world record holder Renaud Lavillenie (France) and the Poles Piotr Lisekand Pavel Wojciechowski, both of whom equalled Lavillenie's achievement in Peking and shared bronze. Other confirmations include the sixth and ninth-placed vaulters from Peking, Kevin Menaldo(France) and German Chiaraviglio(Argentina), and the 2013 ISTAF champion, Konstadinos Filippidis (Greece).

800m (women) | Start 17:05 | Meeting record: 1:54.99 minutes

Last year Maryna Arzamasova arrived in Berlin from Zurich with the European Championships gold medal. This year she's bringing the gold medal from the World Championships in Peking. The Belarus runner's final spurt was too much for the rest of the field. At the ISTAF she will be reprising her encounter with Morocco's Arafi Rababeand Poland's Joanna Jozwik, who took fourth and seventh place respectively in Peking. Another of her rivals over the two-lap race will be former World Champion Caster Semenya (South Africa).

Long jump (women) | Start 17:05 | Meeting record: 7.08 metres

The women's long jump has not beenon the ISTAF programme since Heike Drechsler, two-times Olympic champion and Athlete of the Year, was competing. Aged 39 at the time, Drechsler brought up the rear with a jump of 5.92m. No matter: the fans packing the Olympic stadium rewarded her with a standing ovation and chanting in unison. On Sunday Germany's best present-day long jumpers -Sosthene Moguenara, Lena Malkus and Berliner Melanie Bauschke-will be up against strong international competition from the Peking finals in the form of bronze medallist Ivana Spanovic(Croatia), fourth-placed Christabel Nettey(Canada) and fifth-placed Lorraine Ugen (United Kingdom).

800m (men) | Start 17:15 |Meeting record: 1:41.09 minutes

At first glance it seems a foregone conclusion that Adam Kszczot will win, the current European champion arriving at the ISTAF with the silver medal from Peking. In the World Championships he put in a strong finish to come second behind world record holder David Rudisha. Yet the ISTAF has attracted two other men who have a bone to pick -Mohammed Amanof Ethiopia, world champion from 2013, and Nijel Amos of Botswana. In Peking Aman was disqualified in the semi-final and Amos missed the finals by three hundredths of a second. Of the World Championships finalists the fifth and sixth-placed runners, Pierre-Ambroise Bosse (France) and Musaeb Balla (Qatar), will also be contenders. Whether Berliner Dennis Krügercan keep up when the going gets tough remains to be seen.

Shot put (men) | Start 17:20 | Meeting record: 21.61 metres

The men's shot put is shaping to be another rematch of the tussle in Peking. Five of the top eight putters from the World Championships are attending the ISTAF. They are: silver medallist David Storl, bronze medallist O'Dayne Richards (Jamaica), Tomas Walsh (New Zealand), Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski (Poland) and Admir Kolasinac (Serbia). All have hurled the shot further than 22 metres. Ryan Whiting (USA), current ISTAF record holder (21.61m), is also among the contenders.

Discus (men) | Start 17:35 | Meeting record: 70.60 metres

An ISTAF without Robert Harting is like Berlin without the Brandenburg Gate. The Olympic champion had hoped to make his first appearance since his cruciate ligament injury but it was not to be. On Tuesday, after conferring with his coach, he withdrew from the line-up. And yet the ISTAF public can still expect great things in the discus despite the absence of the three-times world champion. Alongside current world champion Piotr Malachowski (Poland) the field will include the silverand bronze medallists from Peking: Belgian Philip Milanovwas the surprise runner-up, setting a new national record with a throw of 66.90m, and Robert Urbanek, the second Pole on the podium, took the bronze medal (65.18m). Daniel Stahl of Sweden, 5th-placed in Peking, is also in the running. The two best German discus throwers currently in active service, Christoph Harting (8that the World Championships and the world's third-furthest thrower this year) and Martin Wierig (failed to make the finals in Peking), will be keen to show that they can improve on their recent performances.

110m hurdles (men) | Start 17:40 | Meeting record: 12.97 seconds

This year's quickest man over 100m hurdles was barred from competing in Peking, which is why Orlando Ortega will be wanting to demonstrate that he would have been the one to beat. The Cuban ran 12.94 seconds in Paris in July, four hundredths of a second faster than the man who won in Peking. But Ortega left Cuba for good in 2013 and is hungry to compete for his adoptive country of Spain. At the ISTAF he will be up against the speedy Jamaican Andrew Riley, American Kevin Craddock and Mikel Thomas of Trinidad & Tobago. Germans Matthias Bühler and Gregor Traber will be pushing them as much as possible.

100m hurdles (women) |Start 17:55 |Meeting record: 12.37 seconds

For Cindy Roleder, who dashed to her silver medal in Peking with a PB of 12.59 seconds, it will be another encounter with the European champion and fifth-placed runner in Peking, Tiffany Porter of the UK. The fastest woman over the distance this year, America's Sharika Nelvis(12.34 seconds), only managed eighth place in Peking and will be looking to improve in Berlin. Her compatriot and co-favourite for the World Championships title, Olympic victrix Dawn Harper Nelson, will be smarting from her fall in the semi-finals in Peking. Two other runners, Lolo Jones and Ginny Crawford, complete a quartet of American hurdlers.

5000m (men) | Start 18:05 | Meeting record: 12:50.55 minutes

Two personal bests and sixseason bests -that was the result last year, when the ISTAF resumed hosting the 5,000m distance after a break of five years. One of the contenders who turned in a PB last year was Richard Ringer, German champion over the distance. In the meantime he has pared his personal best down to 13:10.94 and made it to the World Championship finals in Peking. Richard will be doing his level best to stay with the Kenyans, Ethiopians and Americans as long as possible. They include Isiah Koech (Kenya, best time 12:48.64) and Bernard Lagat (USA, 12:53.60).

100m (women) |Start 18:25 |Meeting record: 10.78 seconds

The ISTAF anticipates a needle showdown in the 100m sprint. Four of the nine women starting have run under 11 seconds this year. They include Americans Jenebah Tamoh (season best of 10.93 seconds) and Barbara Pierre(10.92 secs), Michelle-Lee Ahyeof Trinidad (10.97) and Marie Ta Louof Ivory Coast (10.97). Three of the women from the fifth-placed 4 x 100m relay team will be representing Germany -Gina Lückenkemper, Rebekka Haase and the German champion Verena Sailer.

100m (men) |Start 18:35 |Meeting record: 9.82 seconds

Rounding off the day's proceedings, the supreme event of the competition, the 100-metre sprint, also features absolute top-class athletes. Five of the nine contenders have run under 10 seconds. In July Frenchman Jimmy Vicaute qualled the 11-year-old European record with a time of 9.86 seconds. His compatriot, four-times European champion Christophe Lemaitre (PB: 9.92 secs) is the only white sprinter to have run a sub-10-seconds 100 metres. Former world champion Kim Collins (St Kitts & Nevis) PB: 9.96 secs), the American Ryan Bailey (9.93 secs) and Isiah Young(9.99 secs) are the other quick men in the line-up. The host country is fielding twomembers of the 4 x 100m relay, Sven Knipphals and Aleixio Platini Menga. The German relay team took fourth place in Peking.

Advance ticket sales are ahead of last year's, with 55,000 seats sold so far.

55,000 tickets have been sold so far for the 74th Internationales Stadionfest. The organisers anticipate a final gate of up to 60,000 on the day (2014: 45,000). Like last year, prices start at 9.00 euros for seats in the upper tier. Seats with the best views level with the finishing line can be had for 39.00 euros.  

Ticket booths at the East Gate (Osttor) of the Olympic stadium open at 11.30am on the day.

Claus Frömming
Head of Communications
Internationales Stadionfest Berlin
Tel.: 030/30 111 86 13
Fax.: 030/30 111 86 20
c.froemming@istaf.de