Athletics: Second City's finest aim to make point for Britain

Britain's bid for the outdoor World Athletics Championships may have ended in embarrassment, shifting from 2003 to 2005 to no-time-soon amid the Government's U-turns over Wembley and Picketts Lock, but this weekend the city of Birmingham intends to make a point on behalf of the sport by hosting the ninth World Indoor Championships in style.

Given the location, it is inevitable that the weight of expectation normally resting on home athletes should feel especially heavy for three of the Second City's finest ones – Mark Lewis-Francis, who will seek at least to equal his 60 metres bronze-medal winning performance at the last world indoors, Daniel Caines, who is defending his world 400m title, and Ashia Hansen, the world indoor record holder for the triple jump who finished last season as European and Commonwealth champion.

Lewis-Francis was a relieved young man at the world trials two weeks ago after claiming the second 60m place behind Britain's leading sprinter this season, Jason Gardener. The 20-year-old held off the challenge of Britain's outdoor European champion, Dwain Chambers, by one-hundredth of a second to ensure he did not have to sit in his backyard and watch the world going by.

On paper, the former world junior champion is outside the first rank of favourites, given his best this season of 6.57sec. The two United States sprinters, 21-year-old Justin Gatlin and Terence Trammell top the rankings with 6.45 and 6.46 respectively, while Gardener has clocked 6.49.

Much will depend for Gardener, twice European indoor champion and national record holder with 6.46, on how well he has responded to treatment on a troublesome hamstring in the past week, a problem that saw him cancel plans to prepare in Tenerife alongside his new training partner, Colin Jackson.

For Jackson, this weekend in the National Indoor Arena marks the end of an illustrious hurdling career in which he has won every title except the Olympic one. His chances of leaving the sport with one final gold look far from certain, given the form of his US rivals Allen Johnson and Terence Trammell, who head this year's rankings with 7.39sec and 7.42 respectively. Jackson's best this year is 7.51, although he clocked 7.49 in Karlsrühe two weeks ago before being retrospectively disqualified for a false start in the heats. Cuba's Olympic champion Anier Garcia, with a 2003 best of 7.47 is also in the mix.

Jackson's coach, Malcolm Arnold, reckons his man needed to gain another tenth of a second in speed to be within striking range of what he describes as "the usual suspects". But the 36-year-old has trained well in Tenerife, and has never wanted to win more.

Although Jackson won the world indoor title in 1999, the only defending champion Britain boasts from Lisbon two years ago is Caines, the law graduate from the leafy avenues of Solihull. He has the best three 400m times recorded this year, topped by the 45.75 he produced in Birmingham last month, but has been reticent recently amid reports that he has a knee injury.

Caines must be at his best to deal with a field that includes the US champion, Tyree Washington, returning to the sport after the best part of two years out, Daniel Batman, who set an Australian record of 45.98 behind the Briton last month, and Spain's David Canal, who has a 46.02 timing to his credit this season.

A bruised heel has hampered Hansen's preparations for the Championships, although her coach, Aston Moore, is cautiously optimistic about her chances.

"She's healthy," he said, before correcting himself. "She's relatively healthy. Her heel is still a bit of a problem but we are managing it. It limits the amount of work you can do. But she's no worse than she was before the Norwich Union grand prix."

That sounds like reasonable news for Britain, given that Hansen won there in her season's best of 14.71m after having pain-killing injections in her problematic foot. Like Caines, however, she will need to be at the top of her game to win against challengers including Romania's Adelina Gavrila, who has a 14.76 to her credit this year, Russia's 2001 bronze medallist Tatyana Lebedeva and Italy's former Cuban Magdelin Martinez, who has reached 14.61 this year. Bulgaria's Olympic champion Tereza Marinova is also competing after returning from an Achilles tendon injury.

Britain's hopes of a gold in the men's triple jump look healthy, but far from certain. Since last month's victory over Christian Olsson, the 23-year-old Swede who beat him to the European title, Edwards has been replaced at the top of the 2003 lists by the surprise winner of the US Trials, Tim Rusan, who bettered the Briton's mark of 17.44cm by 1cm.

While middle distance events will centre around Haile Gebrselassie's return to the arena where he broke the world two miles record last month, Britain's Kelly Holmes and Jo Fenn have medal possibilities at 1500m and 800m respectively.

High-fliers: Six to follow at the World Indoor Athletics Championships

Svetlana Feofanova (Russia)

This 22-year-old Muscovite clearly regards it as obligatory to break the world record when pole vaulting in Britain. She raised the indoor mark to 4.76m in Glasgow on 2 Feb, and added another centimetre at Birmingham on 21 Feb. Now has a big point to prove in regaining the record from Dragila.

Stacy Dragila (United States)

The 31-year-old Olympic champion from Auburn, California, has had her position as the world's best pole vaulter challenged by Feofanova in the past year. After regaining the world indoor mark in Boston last month with 4.78 m, she said: "I'm really looking forward to going head-to-head with Svetlana."

Tyree Washington (US)

World's fastest 400m runner in 2001 (44.28sec) lost two seasons through asthma, injuries and personal troubles ­ he had to testify at a murder trial that saw his sister and her boyfriend jailed for 25 years to life. Talked his way into US Trials without qualifying mark, and, in borrowed kit, won.

Anier Garcia (Cuba)

The Olympic high hurdles champion has already won this event once, in 1997, and although more suited to 110m rather than 60m, his indoor form this season, with wins in Lievin, Karlsrühe and Linz, indicate he will make life very hard for the leading Americans Allen Johnson and Terence Trammell, not to mention home hope Colin Jackson.

Tim Rusan (US)

Surprised everyone except himself by winning the US Trials triple jump in 17.45m, the furthest recorded in the world this season and one centimetre beyond the mark achieved by Britain's Jonathan Edwards. "I knew I had a jump like this in me," said Rusan. Edwards, and European champion Christian Olsson, are wondering if he has another.

Maria Mutola (Mozambique)

This former footballer has won all but one of the last five World Indoor 800m titles ­ she took silver in 1999 ­ and after training in South Africa with Britain's Kelly Holmes, she will seek to extend that astonishing record. Slovenia's European indoor champion Jolanda Ceplak, Austria's Steffi Graf and Britain's Jo Fenn will seek to resist her.

Schedule

Today

9.0: Women: Pentathlon 60m hurdles

9.0: Women: Triple jump qualifying group A

9.15: Women: 200m first round

9.50: Men: 200m first round

9.50: Men: Shot put qualifying

10.0: Women: Pentathlon High jump

10.15: Women: Triple jump qualifying group B

10.35: Men: 3,000m first round

11.0: Men: Pole vault qualifying group A

11.15: Women: 60m first round

11.30: Men: Long jump qualifying group A

11.50: Men: 60m first round

12.40: Women: 800m first round

12.45: Men: Long jump qualifying group B

1.0: Men: High jump qualifying group A

1.10: Women: 400m first round

1.15: Women: Pentathlon Shot put

4.0: Men: 60m semi-final

4.0: Women: Pentathlon Long jump

4.18: Women: 60m semi-final

4.35: Men: 400m first round

5.0: Men: Pole vault qualifying group B

5.07: Women: 200m semi-final

5.15: Men: Triple jump qualifying group A

5.19: Men: 200m semi-final

5.20: Men: High jump qualifying group B

5.31: Men: 1500m first round

6.0: Men: 60m final

6.10: Women: 60m final

6.25: Men: 800m first round

6.50: Men: Triple jump qualifying group B

7.0: Men: Shot put final

7.08: Women: Pentathlon 800m (final event)

7.21: Women: 3,000m first round

Tomorrow

8.30: Women: Pole vault qualifying group A

9.0: Men: Heptathlon 60m

9.25: Women: Shot put qualifying

10.0: Men: Heptathlon Long jump

10.0: Women: High jump qualifying

10.50: Women: 800m semi-final

11.15: Women: 60m hurdles first round

11.15: Women: Long jump qualifying group A

11.35: Women: Pole vault qualifying group B

11.55: Men: 60m hurdles first round

12.15: Women: High jump qualifying

12.30: Women: 4x400m relay semi-final

12.45: Men: Heptathlon Shot put

12.55: Men: 4x400m relay semi-final

1.0: Women: Long jump qualifying

2.30: Men: Heptathlon High jump

2.55: Men: Long jump Final

4.10: Men: Pole vault Final

4.40: Women: 1500m semi-final

4.20: Women: 60m hurdles semi-final

5.0: Men: High jump final

5.05: Men: 60m hurdles semi-final

5.05: Women: Triple jump final

5.30: Women: 400m semi-final

5.40: Men: 400m semi-final

5.55: Men: 800m semi-final

5.55: Women: Shot put final

6.10: Men: 1500m final

6.20: Women: 200m final

6.30: Men: 200m final

6.40: Women: 3,000m final

Sunday

10.30: Men: Heptathlon 60m hurdles

11.30: Men: Heptathlon Pole vault

1.30: Women: High jump final

1.40: Women: Long jump final

2.50: Women: 400m final

2.50: Women: Pole vault final

3.05: Men: 400m final

3.25: Women: 800m final

3.40: Men: 800m final

3.55: Women: 1500m final

4.07: Men: Triple jump final

4.10: Men: 3,000m final

4.25: Women: 60m hurdles final

4.40: Men: 60m hurdles final

4.55: Men: Heptathlon 1,000m (final event)

5.15: Women: 4x400m relay final

5.35: Men: 4x400m relay final