Osaka is finally ready for the world track and field championships after two years' preparations as the 11th edition of the world's third largest sports event opens Saturday at the Japanese city's Nagai Stadium.

 

The meet will be broadcast to an estimated audience of 6 billion people in over 190 countries and regions, with 85 percent of the competition available on free-to-air television, said Lamine Diack, president of the world's athletics' governing body IAAF.

 

"Only the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup are bigger than the IAAF world championships in terms of global reach and impact," Diack said.

 

It's the second time for Japan to host the world championships. Tokyo staged the event in 1991 when Carl Lewis smashed the men's 100m record and lost to Mike Poweel in the long jump.

 

Tokyo was also where Michale Johnson won the first of his record nine gold medals and Japan won its first-ever world medals.

 

One of the most shining stars that will show up in Osaka will be Chinese star Liu Xiang. The 2004 Olympic champion and world record holder in the men's 110m hurdles will be looking to pick up his first world gold as a stepping stone toward defending his Olympic title next year in Beijing.

 

Osaka is lucky place for Liu, who has won consecutive Grand Prix titles here.

 

Jamaica's Asafa Powell, who holds the world men 's 100m record of 9.77 seconds, will also be looking to end a world championships drought and earn his first global title.

 

But he is expected to meet tough challenge from American Tyson Gay, who has the best times of the year in both the 100m and 200m.

 

World and Olympic 400m champion Jeremy Wariner of the United States ran on the Nagai Stadium last May, he and coach Clyde Hart have been confident of winning the title.

 

In the women's 5,000m, two Ethiopians will battle it out. Tirunesh Dibaba, the two-time defending champion, will renew her rivalry with Meseret Defar, who bettered the world record with 14:16.63 earlier this season.

 

In the Helsinki worlds two years ago, Dibaba completed a 5,000-10,000 double, including outkicking Defar for the 5,000m title.

 

Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva, the world record holder in the women's pole vault, is a hot favorite to retain her title here, although a change in coaches and tweking of her technique has left her short of her world mark of 5.01 meters set in Helsinki.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 23, 2007)