Athletes set sights on glory, as Doha beckons

In exactly one month all eyes will turn to the outstanding setting of the Aspire Dome which will host the 13th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics in Doha, Qatar. IAAF takes a look at what Doha has to offer.

With no World Championships or Olympic Games this year, the three-day competition which runs from 12 to 14 March 2010 will be the most sought after athletics event of the year aside, that is, the newly created IAAF Diamond League and the IAAF World Challenge.

A number of defending champions from the previous edition of Valencia 2008 will be in the spotlight and in particular three-time World Indoor champion Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia who will take part in her first Championships since she no-heighted at last summer's World Championships in Athletics in Berlin.

Isinbayeva famously bounced back from her first major championship defeat with a 5.06 World record clearance in Zürich five days after Berlin and has repeatedly declared that Doha will mark her redemption time.

The Russian queen opened her indoor season with a World leading 4.85 in Moscow last week.

However, Isinbayeva seems to have learnt her lesson and she will not underestimate opponents and especially reigning World champion Anna Rogowska of Poland who set an Indoor national record of 4.81 on Wednesday in Bydgoszcz.

The defending World Indoor bronze medallist and Isinbayeva's training partner, Fabiana Murer has also opened her season on a high equalling her indoor PB and South American record 4.81 with a clear win in Stuttgart. She should be in the mix for a step on the podium in Doha.

Another defending champion who will aim at regaining her spot on top of the world is sprint hurdler Lolo Jones.

After her World Indoor title in Valencia two years ago, her first global medal of all sorts, the American dramatically fell to the floor a few metres from the line as she was headed to win the Beijing Olympic title.

An early season injury then prevented her from fairing well at the US Trials which ruled her out of last year's Berlin World Championships.

Jones opened her season with a second place finish in Glasgow followed by consecutive wins in Karlsruhe and Dusseldorf, the latest in her fastest time of the year at 7.85. Jones will have to finish in one of the top two positions at the US championships to qualify for Doha.

However the fastest time of the year so far belongs to Canadian Priscilla Lopes-Schliep who medalled at both the Beijing Olympic Games and Berlin World Championships.

Lopes-Schliep clocked 7.82 to win in Stuttgart last week and will be keen to do well in Doha as she didn't have the best of lucks in Valencia two years ago.

A clear medal contender, the Canadian champion fell in the first round and lost all chances of making it through the second round.

It will be all the more interesting to watch Croatia's Blanka Vlasic defend her World Indoor title in Doha, a city which has traditionally marked her summer season debut. Not only has Doha been a source of success for Vlasic it has also been the setting for six outdoor World record attempts at 2.10 (three in 2007 and three in 2009).

This year the Croatian superstar already started with a bang as she cleared her highest ever indoor mark at 2.06 in Arnstadt last week.

With the World Indoor record standing at 2.08, it is highly possible that the Doha spectators will be treated to yet another World record attempt next month.