Compiled by Mark
Butler
20 July 1998
With most of the final entry forms now submitted to the IAAF, here is a brief look at
30 men and 30 women who will be contending for titles in Annecy. As with the senior World
Championships, we can expect successes by athletes from all around the world. The
traditional powers are evident: United States sprinters, Kenyan and Ethiopian runners,
European and South African throwers and jumpers. Two winners from Sydney are back to
defend their titles.
On paper, the Chinese look particularly strong. Many of the youngsters who clocked
sensational times at last year's Chinese National Games are among the entries. Whether
they can repeat that form in France is a moot point, but remember it was at the World
Junior Championships of 1990 and 1992 that we saw the first signs of China's emergence as
an athletics superpower.
