BERLIN (GER) - With help of www.istaf.de.
The 70th Internationales Stadionfest (ISTAF) on 11th September 2011, have already 48,500 tickets sold, a figure that has already topped last year's gate of 46,512 and is creeping ever closer to the magic 50,000. 29 medal winners from Daegu have signaled their intention to compete.

   Among the superstars will be two-fold world champion Yohan Blake of Jamaica, victor in the 100 meters and part of the winning 4x100m relay team. In the 100m dash over Berlin's speedy blue surface he will be up against his compatriot Michael Frater, another member of the record-busting 4x100 team, and Kim Collins (St Kitts and Nevis), who took bronze in the 100m. Meet record 9.86 by Maurice Greene and Asafa Powell will be under threat.

The world champions competing at the ISTAF will include 19-year-old Kirani James of the Carribean Island of Grenada, winner of the 400 metres at Daegu against the fastest man over the distance this year, Jermaine Gonzales of Jamaica.

In the 400 metres two of the runners from the winning US 4x400 relay team, Sanya Richards-Ross and Francena McCorory will be joined by twice bronze medallist Anastasiya Kapachinskaya (Russia). Over 800 metres, silver medallist Caster Semenya from South Africa (1:56.35) will once again pit her talents against third-placed J.J. Busienei of Kenya (1:57.42).

The anniversary ISTAF meeting will also mount a re-run of the high jump finals in Daegu: world champion Jesse Williams (USA, 2.35m) will again meet the Russian Aleksey Dmitrik, and bronze medallist Trevor Barry (2.32m) of the Bahamas.

Lining up against each other at the ISTAF will be the world's best throwers. The women's javelin event will be another tussle between Russian world champion Maria Abakumova, world record holder and Olympic gold medallist Barbora Spotakova (Czech Republic) and the German Christina Obergföll.

Shot-put world champion David Storl is up against Daegu runner-up and furthest thrower this year Dylan Armstrong (Canada) and Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski (Poland).

Local hero and world champion Robert Harting will want to hurl the discus further than silver medallist Gerd Kanter (Estonia) and his nemesis from Poland, Piotr Malachowski.

Silver medallist in the hammer, Betty Heidler, will be hungry to set the record straight between her and ISTAF world champion Tatyana Lysenko (Russia). Other contenders include Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland and Kathrin Klaas from LG Eintracht Frankfurt.

In what is arguably the most dramatic discipline in athletics, the pole vault, Mecklenburg native Martina Strutz will be looking to build on her run of achievements. In Daegu she set a new German record of 4.80m, taking the silver medal. At the ISTAF she will be hoping to fend off challenges from the 3rd-placed vaulter in Daegu, Svetlana Feofanova (Russia), and the Polish contender Monika Pyrek.

The Internationales Stadionfest dates back to an event held in 1921 in Berlin's Grunewald Stadium. The meeting in its current form was first hosted in 1937. This year's edition of the event has already sold more advance tickets than were sold last year.

Picture by Ales Graf, www.graf.cz.