IAAF World Championships: Day 3 highlights in London

Day three highlights for the IAAF World Championships on Sunday:

Day three highlights for the IAAF World Championships on Sunday:

Women's 100m semi-finals and final

Elaine Thompson may lack the charisma of her fellow Jamaican Usain Bolt but she looks set to dominate the sprints like he has done. The 25-year-old is the hot favourite to add world gold over 100m and looked in good shape in her heat. Bitter rival Dafne Schippers will hope to put one over her and set herself up nicely for defending her 200m world crown which the Jamaican isn't contesting. American Tori Bowie, Ivory Coast's 2013 double sprint medalist Murielle Ahoure and her compatriot Marie-Josee Ta Lou could also figure in the mix.

Men's 110m hurdles heats

America's 2012 Olympic champion and world record holder Aries Merritt sets out on what could be a remarkable fairytale as he faces his first global competition since undergoing a kidney transplant in 2015. The 31-year-old narrowly failed to make last year's Olympic team but is a serious contender here having won well at last month's London Diamond League meeting -- the same stadium where he won the Olympic gold. However, he faces a tough challenge to win world gold in the shape of Jamaica's Olympic champion Omar McLeod. The Jamaican is hoping not only for the title but also Merritt's record. "I am going after it. I didn't get it (at the Jamaican Championships), but I am going for it next time," said McLeod after setting the world's fastest time this season in June.

Men's shot put final

US duo Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs, the top two from the Rio Olympics last year, seem set for another top-of-the-podium battle. The Americans own the top nine marks in the world in 2017, half a metre clear of their nearest challenger. Olympic bronze medallist Tom Walsh of New Zealand headed qualification with a massive season's best of 22.14m, with Germany's David Storl, world champion in 2011 and 2013 and silver medallist two years ago, also showing good form.

Women's pole vault final

Qualification saw American Jennifer Suhr, gold medallist at the London Olympics, crash out after three no jumps. That has left the path clear for Olympic and European champion Ekaterina Stefanidi, the Greek having topped qualification with 4.61m to underline her season credentials - unbeaten in seven outdoor meetings. Also in the running could be American Sandi Morris, the Olympic silver medallist who cleared 5m at the end of last season.

Women's heptathlon

Belgium's Olympic champion Nafi Thiam trails Germany's Carolin Schafer by 22 points going into the second day of competition in the heptathlon. The Belgian will look to up the ante in the long jump, javelin and 800m.

from pulse.ng - Nigeria's entertainment & lifestyle platform online