Athletics: ...And here are the headlines for 1999

Independent writers play the prediction game

HAVING CLEANED up at the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games, Britain's athletes face the more stringent test of a global event this season, in the form of the International Amateur Athletics Federation World Championships in Seville.

Marion Jones, the US sprinter who won all 21 of her races last season, is likely to contest four world titles, the 100m, 200m, the sprint relay and the long jump.

Jones, who won a third share of the $1m (pounds 609,750) on offer to those athletes completing the IAAF Golden League sequence unbeaten, could claim the whole amount for herself in the designated 200m event.

The two outstanding world male athletes, Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia and Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco, have not had their best events included in next season's schedule, and could give Jones a clear run as they concentrate on maintaining their grip on the middle distances. Daniel Komen of Kenya is the man capable of pushing Gebrselassie at 5,000m and 10,000m.

The World Championships offer Britain's European and Commonwealth heptathlon gold medallist, Denise Lewis, the chance to underline her position as No 1, while Jonathan Edwards and Ashia Hansen could make it a British double in the triple jump.

How close will Iwan Thomas, the Commonwealth, European and World Cup 400m champion, get to the Olympic and world title-holder, Michael Johnson? Or will Mark Richardson realise his full potential over one lap? The London Marathon, on 18 April, also promises performances to remember as the Irish title-holder, Catherina McKiernan, takes on the Olympic 10,000m champion, Fernanda Ribeiro of Portugal, who is due to run her first marathon.