Under the patronage of German President Horst Köhler .. Berlin hosts the elite showdown .
“Bolt and Gay” and the battle of the era for the title of fastest man in the world .
Qatari runner Francis settles for a respectable finish, while Al Karni did not fall short .
Qatari duo Kemboi and Abdullah to compete in the 10,000m tomorrow .
Four colourful medals to be awarded today
Under the patronage of Horst Köhler, president of the Federal Republic of Germany, and in the presence of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and a host of senior German and international figures led by Secretary General Lamine Diack, president of the IAAF, and Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic Stadium yesterday hosted the official opening ceremony of the 12th World Championships in Athletics, hosted by the German capital 
Berlin from 15-23 August, with the participation of 213 countries represented by (2,000) male and female athletes who will compete with strength, honour and high spirit in (47) races and events to win (138) colourful medals to be distributed among the world’s champions of both sexes..
A simple ceremonial programme .
The official opening ceremony began with a parade of flag-bearers lining up on the outer track of the Olympic Stadium, followed by the German national anthem performed by a large choir, who
enthusiastically sang the anthem together with the audience present .. A youth artistic troupe then performed a musical dance show.
German president declares the opening .
German President Horst Köhler then declared the championship’s official opening with enthusiastic remarks, praising the choice of Berlin to host the world’s youth, and wishing everyone success in the sporting competitions and the happiest of times in Germany and its capital, Berlin ..
Today, the battle of the era .. the title of fastest between Bolt and Gay .
The world and speed enthusiasts have a date today with the “clash of the era”, the exciting race between Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, the world record holder and winner of the Olympic treble in Beijing, and his American challenger Tyson Gay, the reigning world champion from the last edition in Osaka 2007. The duel between Bolt and Gay at the German World Championships will span 3 rounds, with the second set to be the 200m and the third and final the 4x100m relay.
Everyone has been waiting around 12 months for today’s race, as the two runners have never met at the peak of their form. In 2007, Gay had the final word in the 200m, at a time when Bolt had not yet reached full maturity, while last year the Jamaican hurricane imposed himself brilliantly and swept past all his rivals, including Gay, who was denied a place in the final by injury, as Bolt set three world records in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.
Bolt will be a strong favourite to claim the world title given his absolute dominance over the distance and the ease with which he wins it, particularly in the closing metres where he dominates and eases off his speed, to the extent that many experts expect he could break the 9.60-second barrier with great ease should he complete the race at the pace he starts it.
Despite his late start to preparations for the new season due to a car accident injury and surgery in April, Bolt achieved good results, with his only rival this season being the weather conditions, which did not help him much in setting records. After the wind helped him record 9.93 seconds for the first time in 2009 back in March, Bolt won in Toronto in the rain with a time of 10 seconds, then the wind assisted him at the Ostrava meeting to clock 9.77 seconds, then 9.79 seconds in the rain and bitter cold in Paris, followed by 9.91 seconds at the London meeting, and 9.86 seconds at the Jamaican championships in late June. Bolt finished second in his heat with a time of (10.03 seconds), while American runner Gay topped his heat with a time of (9.98 seconds), confirming his good preparation and high level of focus .
Four medals to be awarded today .
Competition in the global challenge continues today, with Berlin’s Olympic Stadium hosting “4” exciting finals starting in the morning
with the women’s 20km race walk, where Russia’s Olga Kaniskina, the world and Olympic champion, appears to have strong chances of retaining her title, as does New Zealand’s Valerie Vili, the world and Beijing 2008 champion in the shot put, and Ukraine’s Natallia Dobrynska, the Beijing champion in the heptathlon.
A good performance from Francis in the heats, but .
On the Qatari front, Qatari runner Samuel Francis had to settle for “fifth place in the second-round heats of the 100m, clocking a time of ( 10.20 seconds), while Jamaican runner Asafa Powell topped the heat with (9.95 seconds) to qualify for the final. Francis had put in a good performance in the morning’s first-round heats, topping his eighth heat with a time of (10.21 seconds)
Al Karni benefited from the experience .
Meanwhile, promising Qatari runner Mohammed Al Karni benefited from taking on the elite in the 1500m, in his first international outing at a senior World Championships, finishing 11th in his heat with a time of (3:50.5), which was certainly a useful experience for the promising runner and Arab and junior champion in the 1500m .
Tension was the hallmark of the race .
Qatari runner Samuel Francis, competing for the first time at a senior World Championships .. said that the race had been tense, with several false starts and warnings issued to everyone, which contributed to the runners’ nerves being on edge, and that this was of course no excuse for his performance .. adding that he hoped his times would improve in the future ..
Olympian Suleiman: “We had hoped for better from Francis” .
Olympian Mohammed Suleiman, manager of Qatar’s national team, said that runner Francis had not succeeded in qualifying for the 100m final, noting that he had been a strong candidate for a better result but started tensely, finishing fifth in a time of (10.21 seconds), below his usual level .. Regarding the participation of promising runner Mohammed Al Karni, Suleiman said his participation was aimed at giving him a dose of international experience to get used to the atmosphere of world-class competition, stressing that the Berlin experience would feed into his future development .
Kemboi and Abdullah in the 10,000m tomorrow .
Tomorrow brings the exciting challenge of the 10,000m, featuring Qatar’s duo of runners Nicholas Kemboi and his teammate Abdullah Hassan, alongside a constellation of seasoned long-distance runners led by the formidable Ethiopian Bekele and his group of African rivals from Kenya, Eritrea and the Maghreb countries .
World star Bolt to Al Sharq Sports
The Gay showdown is not a war .
World star Bolt described today’s race against his American rival Gay as merely a sporting duel that would not stray from its sporting course, saying that his main goal at the Berlin World Championships was the world titles, not world records, and said “My main goal is to win the world title, that’s what’s missing from my collection and what I’m seeking to achieve. As for the records, I already hold them, and I don’t think the time will be right to improve them unless circumstances demand it, because the competition won’t be easy against the elite sprinters”.
Bolt said “I think I’ll be faster than Gay, I’m ready and I know what I need to do to become world champion, I’ve trained well and improved a lot on my slow starts, if things go the way I want then no one will be able to beat me”, adding “I can’t wait to face Gay, I have all the respect for him (…) but for me, we’re going to run a race in athletics, not fight a war” in reference to comments by Gay, who had stated that he was “physically and mentally ready for this duel”.
Bolt affirmed that he wanted to make his mark on the history of athletics, but rejected the notion that he could not currently be beaten, noting that he might have a bad day and fail to win.
Gay said “The world record is the only figure fixed in my mind right now. I believe we can achieve 9.60 seconds, that’s my goal”, noting that the blue track of Berlin’s Olympic Stadium would determine the fastest runner of all time”.
Since recovering from the injury that forced him to miss the final in Beijing, Gay has returned to the track stronger than ever. He opened the season by clocking 19.58 seconds in the 200m, the best time of the year, followed by 9.75 seconds with wind assistance (+4.3) at the US trials, then 9.77 seconds at the Rome meeting, before clocking 9.79 seconds at the Stockholm meeting, also with wind assistance (+2.6).
However, there remains a major question mark over Gay’s physical fitness. At both the London meeting, where he clocked 20 seconds in the 200m, and at Stockholm, he suffered thigh pain that forced him to withdraw from the 4x100m relay in Cottbus last Saturday. Gay, however, insisted that his injury was not serious.
Berlin’s first gold goes to Russia’s Borchin
Russia’s Valeriy Borchin won gold in the 20km race walk at the 12th World Championships in Athletics, which got under way yesterday in Berlin The promising young Russian, Borchin (22), the Beijing 2008 Olympic champion, covered the distance in a time of 1:18:41, while the silver went to China’s Wang Hao, the Olympics’ fourth-placed finisher (1:19:06), and Mexico’s Eder Sánchez (1:19:22). Only one Arab competed in the race, Tunisia’s Hassanine Sebei, the Arab champion, who finished 19th (1:22:52) out of a field of 50 competitors
Doha 2010 promotional pavilion opens .
The Qatari promotional pavilion for the World Indoor Championships “Doha 2010” was launched yesterday
amid great interest from the fan entertainment zone in the forecourt of Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. The pavilion offers a range of publications and souvenir gifts to promote Doha’s hosting of the World Indoor Championships in Athletics 2010 .
Scenes from the heart of Berlin .
– Berlin’s Olympic Stadium saw a remarkable public turnout yesterday that filled the masterpiece stadium’s stands to capacity, as everyone enjoyed the outstanding displays by the world’s greatest champions amid ideal arrangements and preparations by the organisers and security and safety supervisors, in line with Germany’s high-quality standards .
Berlin’s weather yesterday was excellent, which contributed to the huge public turnout, who thoroughly enjoyed the opening day’s competitions and cheered the champions on with great warmth and enthusiasm .
= The championship is receiving distinctive coverage at both European and global levels, with Berlin witnessing a huge media presence covering the event, while German newspapers compete to devote extensive space on their front pages in celebration of the major event, following the exceptional city’s success with the 2006 Germany World Cup alongside extensive television coverage of the global challenge .
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