Peaty, Sjostrom lend star power to World Championships

DOHA : Adam Peaty's return to the global stage and Sarah Sjostrom's bid to burnish her record medals haul will give the World Championships in Doha a vital boost at a meeting many of the top swimmers have chosen to sit out.

Breaststroke king Peaty has carried British swimming on his shoulders for a decade but the three-times Olympic champion has been sorely missed on the world stage in recent years.

Peaty skipped last year's championships in Fukuoka during a mental health break and missed the 2022 meeting in Budapest with a broken foot.

However, the 29-year-old is set to take the plunge in the heats for the 100 metres breaststroke on the opening day of competition on Sunday.

World record holder Peaty has dominated the 100 breaststroke like no other, winning three world titles and back-to-back Olympic golds in the event at Rio and Tokyo.

He has designs on a "three-peat" at the Paris Games six months from now, and Doha may offer clues as to whether he still has what it takes.

China's Qin Haiyang, who claimed an unprecedented hat-trick of 50, 100 and 200 breaststroke titles at Fukuoka, is skipping Doha but Peaty will have a fight on his hands against world silver medallists Nic Fink, Nicolò Martinenghi and Arno Kamminga.

In addition to Qin, Doha will be missing a slew of other champions from Fukuoka with the Paris Olympics just around the corner.

American great Katie Ledecky has given up the chance to add to her six successive world titles in the 800 freestyle, while Lilly King and Ryan Murphy are also missing from the U.S. team's slimmed-down roster.

The U.S. will have Kate Douglass defending her 200 medley title and Hunter Armstrong bidding to back up his 50 backstroke gold.

"I don't know quite what to expect overall but I would