Men's 20 kilometres walk, 8.50 CET

Japanese walkers have been hugely successful at this event in the last three global competitions, and that tradition looks likely to be continued in Budapest. Toshikazu Yamanishi won the 2019 world title, took bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and retained his world title in Oregon in 2022. Can he win three world titles in a row? Italy's Massimo Stano won the Olympic title, but switched to the 35km event at the 2022 Worlds, winning another gold. But will he stay at that distance in Budapest knowing it will not be included in the Paris 2024 programme? Meanwhile, always look out for Perseus Karlstrom of Sweden, double bronze medallist in Oregon.

Men's shot put 20.35 CET

New Zealand's Tom Walsh threw an Oceania record of 22.90m in the first round of the Doha 2019 world final, moving him to fourth on the all-time list. A golden opening statement. But in the final round Joe Kovacs of the United States threw 22.91m. Two throws later Kovacs' compatriot, the Rio 2016 champion and favourite Ryan Crouser, recorded 22.90m, moving ahead of Walsh through a better second-best throw. The 22.53m thrown by Brazil's Darlan Romani would have won every previous Olympic or world final. Since then Crouser has set a world record of 23.37m, retained his Olympic title and won world gold in Oregon. With all the main players still competing, are we due another mighty meeting?

Women's 10,000 metres 20.55 CET

Sifan Hassan of The Netherlands, the Olympic 5,000 and 10,000m champion, has taken a first step into marathon running but is training to do these two track events at Budapest. Having won the Doha 2019 title she missed out on a medal at the 2022 Worlds - which Hassan will turn up in Hungary? Gold in Oregon went to the Ethiopian who swiftly eclipsed Hassan's world record in 2021, Letesenbet Gidey. She will not give her title up easily.

Mixed 4x400m relay 21.47 CET

For the third successive World Championships there will be a mixed 400m relay event - something that also made its Olympic debut in Tokyo. Poland won the first Olympic title in front of the Dominican Republic and the United States. Last year it was another bronze for the US at the Worlds on their home track in Oregon, as the Netherlands took silver and Dominican Republic earned gold. Those three powers look likely to be on the podium this time around - but beware Poland.

Women's 20km walk 7.15 CET

Since Liu Hong won the world title in 2019, China's dominance of this event has been lessened, with Italy's Antonella Palmisano winning the Olympic title, where Hong earned bronze. Peru's Kimberly Garcia won at the World Championships in Oregon in 2022 as part of a 20km/35km double. She is the obvious favourite, and double 2022 world silver medallist Katarzyna Zdzieblo of Poland will also be to the fore.

Women's long jump 16.55 CET

Germany's Malaika Mihambo has won the last two world titles and the Olympic gold, although she missed a medal at the 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Istanbul, where a career-first 7.00m jump won gold for Britain's Jaz Sawyers. Italy's Larissa Iapichino took silver with a national record of 6.97m. But form is temporary, class is permanent, so don't rule out a third world gold for the German athlete.

Men's hammer throw 17.50 CET

Poland's Pawel Fajdek won an Olympic medal - bronze - at the third time of asking in Tokyo in 2021. But in the other global competitions, for him, it is a very different story. He will be seeking his sixth consecutive world title in Budapest. The man most likely to end that record is his fellow Pole, the Tokyo 2020 champion Wojciech Nowicki.

Bence Halasz, who won world bronze in 2019 and followed European bronze in 2018 with silver in Munich in 2022, could create the most important Hungarian moment of the World Championships.

Women's heptathlon  18.00 CET

Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium retained her Olympic title in Tokyo and regained her world title in Oregon, having previously taken silver behind Britain's Katarina Johnson-Thompson. The Belgian dominates the event, and in March 2023 she underlined her standing as she shattered the world pentathlon record at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Istanbul. But she will nevertheless have to be at the top of her game to win a third world title given the presence of Poland's Adrianna Sulek, who also beat the old world record by one point in Istanbul, and rising force Anna Hall of the United States, who won world bronze last year.

Men's 10,000m 18.25 CET

Will the pupil overtake the master? Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei is the world record holder in the 5,000 and 10,000m, and won world 10,000m titles either side of taking Tokyo 2020 gold at that distance. His compatriot and rival Jacob Kiplimo earned bronze behind him in Tokyo and Oregon. And this February he beat him to the 10km title at the World Cross Country Championships.

Men's 100m 19.10 CET

At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Marcell Jacobs of Italy, the ex-long jumper and surprise package, beat Fred Kerley of the United States, the ex-400m runner, to gold, 9.80 to 9.84sec. At the 2022 World Championships in Oregon, with the Italian injured, Kerley was the victor. Jacobs earned European indoor silver over 60m in March 2023, despite a hamstring niggle. Meanwhile, Doha 2019 world champion Christian Coleman of the US could be in the mix. Also watch out for Botswana's world under-20 record-holder Letsile Tebogo, who could make a breakthrough to become one of the world's top sprinters in Budapest. 

Men's triple jump  19.40 CET

Portugal's Cuban-born Pedro Pablo Pichardo, the Tokyo 2020 champion, will look to defend his title against the likely challenge of the two men who finished on the podium with him in Tokyo two years ago and Oregon last year - China's Zhu Yaming and France-based Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkino Faso. But a new wave of Pichardo's former compatriots are likely to challenge for medals - Jordan Diaz Fortun, Andy Diaz Hernandez and Lazaro Martinez.

Men's discus  20.30 CET

Kristjan Ceh of Slovenia, who missed an Olympic medal by one place in Tokyo as Sweden's Daniel Stahl took gold, earned a global title in Oregon last year with a Championship record of 71.13m. But 19-year-old rising star Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania, son of the double Olympic champion Virgilijus, took silver, and then beat Ceh to gold at the European Championships in Munich.

Men's 110m hurdles 21.40 CET

Grant Holloway of the United States will seek a third consecutive world title. His strongest opposition could be from fellow Americans. Trey Cunningham took silver behind him in Oregon, but Devon Allen could have pushed him even harder had he not been disqualified for reacting 0.001sec too quickly to the gun. Allen subsequently spent the season on the practice squad for NFL Super Bowl winners Philadelphia Eagles and signed a reserve/future deal with them in February, so should be free to concentrate again on his athletics.

Women's 100m  21.50 CET

Dizzying Jamaican performances are in prospect once again in the women's 100m. At 36, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the 2008 and 2012 Olympic champion, will defend her title. Her compatriots Elaine Thompson-Herah, the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 champion, and Shericka Jackson, the world 200m champion, will be eager to take it from her. But US sprinters Aleia Hobbs and Sha'Carri Richardson will hope to disturb the Jamaican force, as will Britain's 2019 200m world champion Dina Asher-Smith.

Men's high jump  19.55 CET

Mutaz Barshim of Qatar and Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi, friends and rivals, are eternally linked after deciding to share the Olympic title at the Tokyo 2020 Games. Last year Barshim retained the world title, with Tamberi fourth. What will happen this year? South Korea's Woo Sang-hyeok and Andriy Protsenko of Ukraine are medal contenders.

Women's discus throw  20.20 CET

At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Valarie Allman of the United States won the title, with Croatia's Sandra Perkovic, the London 2012 and Rio 2016 winner, finishing just outside the medals. Last year, however, the Croatian, now 32, took silver in Oregon in front of Allman before adding a record sixth European title. She isn't about to move over, but neither will the 2022 world champion Feng Bin of China.

Women's 1500m  21.30 CET

Kenya's double Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon will like her chances of retaining the world title she won in Oregon, especially now that Dutch runner Sifan Hassan, the 2019 world champion and Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist, is moving up the distances. But in Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia, who broke the world indoor 1500m record last year, and Britain's Tokyo 2020 silver medallist and 2022 world bronze medallist Laura Muir, she will have formidable opposition.

Men's 3,000m steeplechase  21.42 CET

After ending Kenya's long domination of this event by winning the Olympic title in Tokyo, Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco followed up by winning the world title in Oregon, and he will be favourite for another gold in Budapest. But Ethiopia's Lamecha Girma is just strides behind him, having won world silver in 2019 after finishing just 0.01sec behind Kenya's Conseslus Kipruto, and then finished second at the Olympics and Oregon Worlds. Can Girma finally have his day in Budapest?

Women's pole vault 19.30 CET

Katie Moon of the United States, an unexpected winner of the Olympic title in Tokyo, came through as an expected winner of the world title on the home ground of Oregon last year. But her compatriot, Sandi Morris, is still in pursuit of a world outdoor title having won the world indoor version twice. Morris has silver medals from the Rio 2016 Games and the last three World Championships, missing out on countback last year. Can she get that first outdoor global gold this time? Also watch for Britain's Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Holly Bradshaw and Nina Kennedy of Australia. 

Men's 1500m   21.15 CET

Norway's 22-year-old Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen finally got a world gold last year - but only in the 5,000 metres, as Britain's Jake Wightman earned an audacious victory over him in Oregon over the metric mile. Ingebrigtsen is fit again after early season illness, and has European indoor titles at 1500m and 3,000m to prove it. Game on.

Women's 400m  21.35 CET

Aged 21, Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain won the 2019 world title in 48.14sec, the third fastest time ever run behind the 47.99 set by Czech runner Jarmila Kratochvilova in 1983 and the 1985 world record of 47.60 run in 1975 by Marita Koch of East Germany. Koch's performance will have an eternal question mark given the doping regime that existed in her country at the time. Naser missed the Olympics and 2022 World Championships after serving a two-year ban for anti-doping whereabouts failures, but since February she has been back in action. Can she regain her title from the double Olympic and current world champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo of The Bahamas? Or will Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic, the Olympic and world silver medallist, step up?

Men's 400m hurdles  21.50 CET

Brazil's current world champion Alison Dos Santos is out with injury, but Norway's Olympic champion and world record holder Karsten Warholm, whose season last year was undermined by a hamstring injury, is back to full fitness. Meanwhile Rai Benjamin of the US, the second fastest man in history, is after gold, having finished second to Warholm at the Olympics and in the last two World Championships.

Men's 35km race walk  7.00 CET

Olympic 20km race walk gold medallist Massimo Stano of Italy won this event when it was introduced to the World Championship programme last year, and he would have strong chances of retaining the title if he doubles in Budapest. Japan's world 20km champion Toshikazu Yamanishi would challenge him if he opts to do the same. Perseus Karlstrom of Sweden will fancy his chances of adding to the bronze he won in this event last year.

Women's 35km race walk  07.00 CET

Peru's Kimberly Garcia won the inaugural world title at this distance last year, as well as the 20km version, and in both races was followed home by Poland's Katarzyna Zdzieblo in silver-medal position and Qieyang Shijie of China. Could history repeat itself?

Men's long jump  19.30 CET

Wang Jianan of China will seek to defend his world title - but the favourite will be Greece's Miltiadis Tentoglou, the Tokyo 2020 champion who took silver in Oregon. He will be keen to complete his gold medal collection having won Olympic, European, world indoor and European indoor titles. That said, watch out for the Cuban challenge through such talents as Tokyo 2020 silver and bronze medallists Juan Miguel Echevarria and Maykel Masso.

Women's hammer throw  20.15 CET

Brooke Andersen's chances of defending her Oregon title for the US may be dependent on how well Poland's Olympic champion and world record holder Anita Wlodarczyk has recovered from the serious thigh muscle injury she suffered in chasing down - and handing over to the police - someone who tried to steal her car. 

Women's 100m hurdles  21.25 CET

Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico was a towering Olympic champion in Tokyo. In Oregon last year, US-based Nigerian runner Tobi Amusan lowered the world record to 12.12sec in the semi-final before winning world gold in a wind-assisted 12.06. Americans Kendra Harrison, the former world record holder, and 2019 world champion Nia Ali could also loom large.

Men's 400m  21.35 CET

Michael Norman of the United States earned the world title his talents deserved last year, in a relatively slow 44.29sec. He will need to up his game - and he can - if Tokyo 2020 champion Steven Gardiner is fit to contest the title for The Bahamas this year, and if South Africa's world record holder Wayde van Niekerk, heading back to full fitness after the career-threatening knee injury he suffered in 2017, is in action. Watch out too for Britain's Matthew Hudson-Smith.

Women’s 400m hurdles 21.50 CET

At the Tokyo Olympics Femke Bol of The Netherlands took bronze as her American rival Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone bettered her own world record to win gold. Last year at the Worlds, the Dutch runner took silver, although she was almost half the straight adrift as McLaughlin-Levrone reduced the world mark for a fourth time to an unearthly 50.68sec. But Bol has been working on her own speed this year, having broken the world indoor 400m record.

Women's triple jump   19.35 CET

Yulimar Rojas has done it all. This 6ft 4in Venezuelan is the Tokyo 2020 gold medallist and world indoor and outdoor record holder. In Budapest she will seek a fourth consecutive world title and if she is fit it is hard to see anyone getting near her. If she is off the mark, however, Ukraine's fiercely competitive European champion Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk, the only other woman to better 15m last season, could take advantage, as could Jamaica's Shanieka Ricketts and Tori Franklin of the United States.

Women's javelin throw  20.20 CET

Kelsey-Lee Barber has been a consistent force since winning a surprise world title for Australia in 2019, taking bronze at the Olympics and retaining her world title in Oregon last year where she held off home thrower Kara Winger of the United States. Japan's Oregon bronze medallist Haruka Kitaguchi will be a medal contender again, as will China's Olympic champion Liu Shiying, who missed a world medal by one place last year.

Women's 200m  21.40 CET

This event could involve the super-achieving Jamaican trio of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson-Herah and defending champion Sharicka Jackson, whose victory in Oregon earned a first global title that is unlikely to be her last. Fraser-Pryce took silver last year, nine years after winning her only world title at the longer sprint. Thompson-Herah won the Olympic 100m/200m double at the last two Games, but was a little below par last year. Add into this mix Abby Steiner of the United States, who finished second in the world lists last year on 21.77, and Britain's 2019 world champion Dina Asher-Smith, now getting back to that form after injury problems. Look out too for double Olympic and world 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo of The Bahamas.

Men's 200m 21.50 CET

At 19, Erriyon Knighton of the United States is a stupendous rising talent who has shattered Usain Bolt's under-20 record and clocked 19.49, albeit unratified, to make himself the fifth fastest man in history. Last year he won bronze at the Worlds. But his compatriot Noah Lyles is at the peak of his powers, setting a US record of 19.31 to retain his world title in Oregon. Now he believes he is even faster. 

Women's marathon 7.00 CET

It's hard to know at this distance who will choose to contest world gold but if history is a guide the winner will be Kenyan or Ethiopian. Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya won the title in the steamy heat of Doha three years ago and has since run the second fastest marathon recorded. Will Ethiopia's Gotytom Gebreslase defend the title she won in a Championship record of 2:18:11 in Oregon, and will Israel's 34-year-old Lonah Salpeter seek to add to her world bronze from last year?

Men's pole vault  19.25 CET

As in the women's triple jump - if 23-year-old Mondo Duplantis of Sweden is fit the odds are stacked in his favour to retain the title he won for the first time in Oregon last year, having been beaten to it on countback at the Doha 2019 World Championships by the United States' defending champion Sam Kendricks. Such have been the towering achievements already of this amiable natural talent that the question asked when he competes is not so much "will he win?" as "will he improve on his world record?" Since February 2020 he has set six new world marks, taking the record from 6.16m to 6.22m. He shows no signs of stopping. But if all does not go to plan Chris Nilsen of the US, the world and Olympic silver medallist, will be ready to jump in.

Women's shot put 20.15 CET

Gong Lijiao of China arrived at the top of her event in winning the Doha 2019 world title and adding Olympic gold in 2021. But last year she had to settle for silver in Oregon as home thrower Chase Ealey took gold. The battle looks like being on again, with rising talents such as Jessica Schilder of The Netherlands also ready to claim a medal.

Men's 800m  20.30 CET

Kenya's Olympic champion Emmanuel Korir has strong chances of successfully defending the title he won last year. And don't rule out another medal for his highly experienced compatriot Ferguson Rotich who took world bronze in 2019 and Olympic silver two years later. Also look out for Canada's bronze medallist of last year, Marco Arop, and, if he manages to avoid the injuries that have recently plagued him, the hugely talented British youngster Max Burgin.

Women's 5,000m  20.50 CET

Sifan Hassan, who earned a memorable victory in the 2023 London Marathon on her debut at the distance, is nevertheless focusing on the world 5,000 and 10,000m this year, seeking to match her Tokyo 2020 double. At 30, will she still have what it takes to depose the Ethiopian who won this title last year, world indoor 1500m record holder Gudaf Tsegay? And will Kenya's 2017 and 2019 world champion Hellen Obiri, Olympic silver medallist and recent winner of the Boston Marathon, return to challenge?

Men's decathlon  21.25 CET

In between winning the decathlon world title in 2017 and regaining it in 2022, Kevin Mayer of France has had a dramatic time of it, bombing out of the 2018 European Championships after failing to record a single long jump distance, finishing that season with a world record of 9126 points, dropping out with an Achilles tendon injury after seven events of the Doha 2019 decathlon, then taking silver in the Tokyo 2020 Games to go with the one he won at Rio 2016. What will the 31-year-old's fortunes be this year? Will Canada's Tokyo 2020 champion Damian Warner, who had to drop out himself with injury at last year's Worlds, return to glory? Or will Germany's Niklaus Kaul, 2019 world champion and 2022 European champion, add further gold? Or will long jump marvel Simon Ehammer of Switzerland finally put it all together?

Men's 4x100m relay  21.40 CET

After years of US, and then Jamaican, domination in this event, this is more of an open competition. The United States have the talent to win the title they last held in 2019, havening finished second to Canada last year. But Italy will like their chances of repeating their shock win at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where the US failed to qualify for the final. That will depend on whether individual Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs can shake off his hamstring problems.

Women's 4x100m relay  21.50 CET

While Jamaican men's sprinting has been on the wane in the post Usain Bolt era, the women are moving from triumph to triumph. But after earning world gold and Olympic gold the 4x100m line-up was surprisingly beaten to the line in Oregon last year by a United States team showing better teamwork. It will be interesting to see what happens this time round, especially if Britain can call upon a fully fit Dina Asher-Smith.

Men's marathon  7.00 CET

Mosinet Geremew of Ethiopia won world silver in 2019 and 2022. Can he go one better in 2023? His colleague Tamirat Tola, should he decide to defend his title, showed highly promising form in finishing third at the London Marathon on April 23. Belgium's Bashir Abdi, bronze medallist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and in last year's World Championships, will most likely be another strong medal contender.

Women's high jump  20.05 CET

Yaroslava Mahuchikh fled the Russian bombardment of her native city of Dnipro last year and, after a six-day car journey, arrived in Belgrade, where she added the World Indoor Championship title to the world outdoor silver and Olympic bronze already collected. Last year in Oregon she missed out on gold on countback. Will Budapest be where this huge talent earns the outdoor global gold she deserves? Eleanor Patterson of Australia, who won the Oregon gold, will be aiming to stop her.

Men's 5,000m  20.10 CET

Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei is the Olympic champion, but he finished well down the field in Oregon as Norway's Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen won his first world title over 5,000m. If Ingebrigtsen doubles again in Budapest it will take some run to take his title away. 

Men's javelin  20.20 CET

Anderson Peters of Grenada failed to qualify for the Olympic final in 2021, but two years earlier he won world gold in Doha and last year he retained his title in Oregon, beating India's Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra into silver-medal position. Expect both to be challenging for gold again, along with Czech thrower Jakub Vadlejch, who won Olympic silver and world bronze. That said, if Johannes Vetter, Germany's 2017 world champion and 2019 bronze medallist can return to the form and fitness that allowed him to throw 97.76m in 2020, putting him second on the all-time list, things could look different.

Women's 800m  20.25 CET

Athing Mu of the United States and Keely Hodgkinson of Britain - two 21-year-olds at the top of the event. Two years ago in Tokyo Mu beat the Briton to Olympic gold by half a second. Last year in Oregon she did it again - but this time by just 0.08sec. Fingers crossed both are fit and ready. This is going to be almighty. But don't rule out the Kenyan who beat Hodgkinson to the Commonwealth title in Birmingham last year - Mary Moraa.

Women's 3,000m steeplechase  21.10 CET

The world champion of last year, Kenyan-born Norah Jeruto, representing Kazakhstan, has been provisionally suspended for doping. If that ban is upheld then it would open up the field for athletes such as the Ethiopian pair of Werkuha Getachew and Mekides Abebe, who took silver and bronze respectively in Oregon. The American pair of Emma Coburn, the 2017 world champion, and Courtney Frerichs, who has won 2017 world silver and Tokyo 2020 silver, will be looking to profit. Maybe a look-in too for Britain's Aimee Pratt.

Men's 4x400m relay  21.37 CET

After their shock defeat by Trinidad and Tobago at the 2017 World Championships, the United States have dominated this event globally, winning at the 2019 and 2022 Worlds, and at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Jamaica and Belgium, respective silver and bronze medallists at the last two Worlds, should be in the frame again, along with The Netherlands and perhaps Botswana.

Women's 4x400m relay  21.47 CET

With victories at the last three World Championships and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the United States have made this their signature event. Even without Allyson Felix, who retired last year with a total of 20 world medals including 16 golds, they have huge strength in depth. Talents include 400m hurdles world and Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Athing Mu and Abby Steiner so it is hard to see another winner. But they will be pushed by Jamaica, Britain and Poland.