World Championships 2023: Hodgkinson v Mu, Lyles v Knighton - the key rivalries in Budapest
Last updated on .From the section Athletics
| World Athletics Championships 2023 |
|---|
| Venue: Budapest Dates: 19-27 August |
| Coverage: Watch live on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, BBC Sport website and app; listen on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds; live text on evening sessions. |
Rivalries can define sports, athletes, eras.
They are often the prism through which historic sporting events are followed, enjoyed and remembered.
That is likely to prove the case when the World Championships begin in Budapest on Saturday, as athletics' biggest names and rising stars battle for global supremacy.
There will be no shortage of gripping contests to add extra intrigue across the 10 days of competition.
BBC Sport takes a look at the key battles.
Keely Hodgkinson v Athing Mu v Mary Moraa (women's 800m)
Keely Hodgkinson arrives in Budapest as one of Great Britain's strongest gold medal hopes.
Last year, in a thrilling race in Eugene, the Olympic 800m silver medallist missed out on the world title by eight hundredths of a second to American Athing Mu - who also beat her to gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
With both athletes still just 21, their rivalry could define the event for years to come.
This season, Hodgkinson has defended her European indoor title and set a new British record time of one minute 55.77 seconds among her successes.
It has been a rather different year for Mu, who did not compete for 11 months following her world gold.
She finally began her season eight weeks before this year's championships, taking victory in 1:58.73 at the New York Grand Prix, but that remains her only 800m in 2023 after choosing to instead race over 1500m at the US trials.
The only athlete to beat Hodgkinson this year is Kenya's Mary Moraa, who also denied the Briton Commonwealth gold last summer.
The 23-year-old world bronze medallist's erratic style of racing, varying her pace to frustrate her rivals, will be a significant challenge - as proven at the Lausanne Diamond League in June.
Noah Lyles v Erriyon Knighton (men's 200m)
Few appear capable of denying Noah Lyles a third successive world 200m title.
The 26-year-old continues to close in on Usain Bolt's long-standing world record of 19.19 set in 2009 after becoming the fastest American of all-time over the distance when he clocked 19.31 for gold in Eugene last year.
In taking bronze, at the age of 18, rising star Erriyon Knighton claimed his first major medal four years on from switching to athletics from American football.
There was a cold exchange between the pair at last year's US trials, after Lyles turned and gestured towards Knighton as he crossed the line a mere two hundredths of a second ahead of his compatriot.
In the post-race interview, Knighton did not stick around for long after listening to Lyles discuss his victory, stating he was "not finished" before walking off.
While Lyles did prevail again at the Worlds, Knighton, now 19, is already the fifth fastest athlete of all-time over 200m.
With an additional year of experience and conditioning behind him, his best of 19.72 secs ranks third this year, behind Lyles and Botswana's Letsile Tebogo, as he aims to move up the podium.
Perhaps the clearest measure of Knighton's potential is the fact sprinting legend and eight-time Olympic gold medallist Bolt did not go faster than the American's current Under-20 world record - 19.49 secs - until he was three years older.
