The World Track and Field Championships begin on Saturday in Budapest, Hungary. 

Below, we preview the women’s field events.

High jump

As a senior at Bishop Gorman (NV) High School in March of 2016, Vashti Cunningham won gold in the high jump at the World Indoor Championships. Since then, Cunningham has remained the U.S.’s best high jumper, but she has never won another World title. 

That could change next week, as Cunningham is one of the favorites and has the world’s third-best clearance at 2.00 meters this year.

Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who turns 22 next month, has the best jump this year, clearing 2.02m indoors in February. She won the silver medal at the World Championships in Eugene and the bronze at the Olympics in 2021.

Australia’s Eleanor Patterson, the reigning World champion, is also in the field, as is her countrymate, Nicola Olyslagers, who won the silver medal at the Olympics in 2021.

Others who should be in medal contention include Ukraine’s Iryna Gerashchenko, who was fourth at last year’s World Championships and at the Olympics in Tokyo two years ago; Italy’s Elena Vallortigara, the bronze medalist at the 2022 World Championships, and Serbia’s Angelina Topic, who turned 18 last month, have both cleared 1.97m this year.

Pole Vault

Katie Moon, an Ohio native, is the favorite in this event. She is the defending Olympic champion and last year’s World champion. Moon won the USATF Outdoor Championships last month with a jump of 4.90 meters, which is the best in the world this year.

New Zealand’s Eliza McCartney has the world’s second-best jump this year (4.85m), while Slovakia’s Tina Sutej has the third (4.82m indoors). McCartney was the bronze medalist at the 2016 Olympic Games as a 19-year-old, but she sustained an achilles tendon injury that forced her to miss the Olympics in 2021 and at worlds last year. Sutej, meanwhile, was fourth at the World Championships in 2022 and tied for fifth at the Olympics two years ago.

American Sandi Morris, the silver medalist at last year’s World Championships and at USAs in July, is in the field, too. The U.S. contingent also includes Hana Moll, a recent high school graduate who’s heading to the University of Washington and finished third at USAs. 

Long Jump 

Malaika Mihambo, the two-time reigning World champion and 2021 Olympic champion, sustained an injury last month, forcing her to miss this year’s championships. That means the field is wide open, with a few women having legitimate shots to win their first Worlds title.

The U.S. has three women vying for medals: Tara Davis-Woodhall, who won the USATF Outdoor Championships last month; Jasmine Moore, a seven-time NCAA champion at the University of Florida who turned professional last month shortly before finishing third at USAs; and Quanesha Burks, a former University of Alabama standout who was second at USAs.

Jamaica’s Ackelia Smith, 21, the reigning NCAA Outdoor champion at the University of Texas, has the world’s best jump this year at 7.08 meters, which she produced at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships in May. Great Britain’s Jazmin Sawyers and Serbia’s Ivana Vuleta are two others to watch.

Triple Jump

Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas is the clear favorite in this event. Rojas set the world record of 15.67 meters at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and she has won the past three World Championship titles. She has the longest triple jump in the world this year at 15.18m, too.

American Jasmine Moore, who is also entered in the long jump field, has a legitimate shot at a medal in the triple jump. The former University of Florida star has the world’s second-longest mark this year (15.12 meters), which she produced to win the NCAA Indoor Championships in March. Moore also won NCAA Outdoors at 14.78m and finished third at USAs last month in 14.19m.

The other U.S. women in the field are Tori Franklin, who won USAs last month and won the bronze medal at last year’s World Championships, and Kenturah Orji, who was second at USAs and sixth at last year’s championships in Eugene.

Cuba’s Leyanis Perez Hernandez and Liadagmis Povea, Ukraine’s Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk and Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts are medal contenders, as well.

Shot Put

The U.S. has two of the top shot putters in the world in Chase Ealey and Maggie Ewen, who are first and fourth in the world rankings, respectively. Ealey became the first American women to win a World shot put title last year, while Ewen won the U.S. Outdoor Championships last month.

China’s Gong Lijiao, the Olympic gold medalist in 2021, is in the field as well. She was second at last year’s World Championships after winning the gold in 2017 and 2019.

Other contenders for medals include Canada’s Sarah Mitton, who was fourth at last year’s World Championships; Jamaica’s Danniel Thomas-Dodd, who is ranked sixth in the world; and Portugal’s Auriol Dongmo, who was fourth at the Olympics in 2021 and fifth at last year’s World Championships.

Adelaide Aquilla and Jalani Davis are the two other Americans in the field. They were second and third, respectively, at worlds last year. Aquilla, a former Ohio State standout, won the NCAA Outdoor title in 2022 and the NCAA Indoor title this year. 

Davis, meanwhile, is a versatile athlete who won the NCAA indoor weight throw title in March while competing for the University of Mississippi.

Discus Throw

American Valarie Allman, a former Stanford All-American, is the favorite in this event. She won the discus at the Olympics two years ago and finished third at last year’s Worlds meet. She also won the USATF Outdoor Championships last month, and she has the world’s best throw (70.25 meters) this year.

China’s Feng Bin, the reigning Worlds gold medalist, is in the field, as is Croatia’s Sandra Perkovic, the silver medalist at last year’s Worlds meet. Perkovic won the gold medal at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics as well as the 2013 and 2017 Worlds meets.

Jorinde Van Klinken of the Netherlands and Kristin Pudenz of Germany, who are ranked third and fourth in the world, are medalist contenders, too. Van Klinken, a former University of Oregon star, won the discus and finished second in the shot put at the 2022 and 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships in June. She also set an NCAA indoor shot put record (19.57m) in February.

Pudenz, meanwhile, was the silver medalist at the Olympics in 2021. She is one of the most experienced throwers in the field, having turned 32 in February and competed in numerous major meets.

Hammer Throw

Brooke Andersen, a San Diego native and former Northern Arizona star, had a breakthrough in winning last year’s World Championship hammer title. She is the favorite to repeat this year, as she has the world’s leading hammer throw this year at 80.17 meters. That mark is the third-best all-time. Anderson won the event at USAs last month, too.

Four other Americans are among the world’s best hammer throwers, too: DeAnna Price, the gold medalist at worlds in 2019 and a second-place finisher at USAs; Janee’ Kassanavoid, the bronze medalist at worlds last year,  was third at USAs; Annette Nneka Echikunwoke, a former University of Cincinnati star who has represented Nigeria at some international meets; and Jillian Shippee, who set a personal-best (74.93) in finishing fourth at the USA Championships. 

The field also includes some decorated throwers such as Canada’s Camryn Rogers, who was second at last year’s World Championships; China’s Wang Zheng, the silver medalist at the Olympics in 2021 and a three-time World medalist in 2013, 2017 and 2019; and Poland’s Anita Wlodarczyk, the world record holder (82.98m) and Olympic champion in 2012, 2016 and 2019. She's also a four-time World champion (2009, 2013, 2015 and 2017).

Javelin Throw

Japan’s Haruka Kitaguchi is ranked first in the world and has the longest throw this year at 67.04 meters. She was third at last year’s World Championships, too.

Still, Kitaguchi is not a guarantee. The field includes Australian teammates Kelsey-Lee Barber and Mackenzie Little.

Barber was the bronze medalist at the Olympics in 2021 and a World champion in 2019 and 2022, while Little was fifth at last year’s championships. Little is second and Barber fourth in the world rankings.

Maggie Malone and Ariana Ince are the two U.S. throwers competing. They were second and sixth at last month’s USATF Outdoor Championships. Malone competed at the Olympics in 2016 and 2021. She broke the American record (67.40m) at a meet in July 2021, but Kara Winger broke that mark last year. Ince, 34, is a veteran who set a personal-best (64.38m) at a meet in September 2022.

* Tim Casey is a contributing writer to MileSplit and FloTrack