The first full day of competition at the 12th IAAF World Athletics Championships in Berlin will be a busy one. On SaturdaY nearly 2,000 top track and field athletes from 212 national associations around the world compete in 16 different disciplines in and around Olympic Stadium.
The first gold medal to be handed out will be in the men's 20-kilometer race walk, which will get under way Saturday morning. Berlin 2009 volunteer Miriam Thiesen says everything is ready.
"The last days have been very, very busy, but we can manage that. So everything is organized very well and yeah, it works. It works quite well. Yeah, it is good fun," Thiesen said.
Two other gold medals are also up for grabs on Day One, including the men's shot put and the women's 10,000-meter run. Several events in the women's heptathlon will also be contested, including the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200-meters.
The women will begin qualifying in the 3000-meter steeplechase, triple jump, 400-meters and pole vault.
The men compete in preliminary rounds of the hammer-throw, shot put, 100-meters, 1500-meters, and 400-meter hurdles.
News