Say discus, say Dietzsch. The German defending champion, now 39, sits atop the rankings this year with 68.06m and seems set fair for a vibrant defence of her title.

The only blemish on her season was when she travelled to Warsaw and came off second-best against the Czech Republic’s Vera Czechlova.

Czechlova has a mixed record in recent years. In the Athens Olympics she was fourth, at the last World Championships she captured bronze, but she slumped to seventh in the European championships.

The shock winner in Gothenburg was Russia’s Daria Pishchalnikova whose best this year of 64.15 only puts her 11th on the world lists. She was surprisingly beaten in the European Under-23 Championships by Kateryna Karsak, of the Ukraine.

Hot on the heels of Dietzsch are the two Americans, Suzanne Powell and Becky Breisch who own four of the five best throws this year. Powell beat Breisch to the US title and in Maui broke the 21-year-old national record when she sent the implement winging out to 67.67.

She was no better than fourth, however, in the PanAm Games, an event won by Cuba’s Yarelis Barrios who recently added the World Student Games title to her portfolio and could pose a threat to Dietszch.

Among those expected to make the final are European bronze medallist, Nicoleta Grasu (ROM), fifth in Helsinki two years ago, and China’s Taifeng Sun whose best of 64.98 came on home territory in Suzhou in June.

Osaka 2007 News Team/mb