Dominant Duplantis excited as worlds offers Tokyo a chance to cheer

TOKYO :Pole vaulter extraordinaire Mondo Duplantis won his first global title at Tokyo's National Stadium at the Olympics in 2021 and his bid for a fifth in five years will be one of the highlights of the 20th World Athletics Championships.

Postponements caused by the COVID-19 pandemic means the world's top athletes have been able to compete for medals at the Olympics or world championships every year since the delayed Tokyo Summer Games in 2021.

The global health crisis also meant the Japanese public were locked out of the $1.4 billion arena and the athletes largely confined to the athletes' village four years ago, leaving Duplantis, for one, feeling short-changed.

"It's like a bucket list place to compete at and to experience the culture of the city and whatnot, and I feel like we didn't get to experience that at the Olympics," the Swedish-American told reporters on Thursday.

"It was very strange for everybody, very apocalyptic almost in a way, and just really not enjoyable, honestly, and just scary. So I'm very excited to be here and we get to have a more real, true experience."

Middle distance running queen Faith Kipyegon, American shot putter Ryan Crouser and Moroccan steeplechaser Soufiane El Bakkali are also chasing a fifth straight global title at the championships, which run for nine days from Saturday.

Kipyegon has had an iron grip on the 1,500m title and in Tokyo is targeting an unprecedented double-double by also defending the 5,000m crown she won in Budapest at the last world championships two years ago.

Individual dominance in sport does not always sell tickets, however, and the most coveted of the 60,000 seats in the stadium will be for the men's and women's sprint finals, which are being held back-to-back on