Five Gold Medalists will be crowned today - the second day

Dinesh Weerawansa reporting from Russia

MOSCOW, Aug. 10 - Sunday's second day of the 14th IAAF World Championship at Luzhniki Stadium in the Russian capital would see the crowning of five gold medalists, following the opening day's finals of women's marathon and men's 10,000m.

But the hosts Russia suffered a crucial blow even before the start of the opening day's events today as Yuliya Zaripova, the London 2012 Olympic Games champion and reigning World Champion in the women's 3000m Steeplechase, was forced to withdraw from the 2013 IAAF World Championships due to an injury.

The five finals to be worked off on Sunday are men's 20km race walk, women's long jump, women's discus throw, women's 10,000m and that all-important men's 100m final which would determine the fastest man of Moscow 2013 World Championship, scheduled for 11.20 p.m. Sri Lanka time.

Injuries to some of the key world class sprinters would make things even more easy for the world record holder and reigning Olympic champion Usain Bolt to make his dream come true after being disqualified due to a false start at the 2011 World Championship in Daegu. Hence, the Jamaican sprint merchant would make every effort to pocket that elusive World Championship double which is missing from his rich haul of medal collection.

The most interesting qualifying round events scheduled for Sunday morning will be women's 100m. The top 16 will advance to the semi-finals scheduled for Monday night, which also include the final to decide the fastest woman in Moscow 2013.

Defending champion Carmelita Jeter of USA has had an erratic season, which was threatened by a mid-season injury sustained in Shanghai. The 33-year-old Daegu 2011 gold medallist has since recovered and returned to sub-11 territory in the heats of the 100m at the IAAF Diamond League in London last month, but then withdrew from the final as a precaution.

If Jeter makes it on to the podium in Moscow, she will emulate Jamaican Merlene Ottey's record as a four-time medallist in the 100m at the World Championships. In case she retains the title, Jeter will become only to second woman in the history to win back-to-back World Championship 100m gold medals. But in a high-quality year for the event, Jeter's season's best of 10.93 puts her just 10th on this year's world list. No fewer than 12 women have broken the 11-second barrier this year. To date, 2000 is the only season with more sub-11-second sprinters when 13 women dipped under the mark. Jeter's wildcard entry means that the US will have four women in the event, but such is USA's depth, they will be missing Barbara Pierre, who has clocked 10.85 this year. The top three at the US championships were English Gardner, Octavious Freeman and Alexandria Anderson, all of them smashing their personal bests and running well below 11 seconds. All of them have the ability to run times that will challenge for medals, but their relative lack of experience at major championships could come into play.

Leading the season's best performers in women's 100m is double Olympic gold medallist and 2009 World champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce with a performance of 10.77 seconds. The Jamaican is a reliable championship performer too and it will be a surprise if she doesn't feature on the podium, but in her last race before Moscow, she was beaten by Blessing Okagbare.

The Nigerian has developed a habit of causing upsets, having beaten Fraser-Pryce recently in London where she twice broke the African record: first with 10.86 in the 100m or 200m at the World Championship history, but Okagbare could well end that lead run. Ivory Coast's Murielle Ahoure si another sprinter who could set that record.The US-based 25-year-old took the silver medal at the 2012 World Indoor Championships and then made the finals of the 100m and 200m at the London 2012 Olympic Games. She is also gaining a reputation as a solid performer, defeating Allyson Felix in Rome and Fraser-Pryce in Monaco, albeit both races being over 200m.

Trinidad and Tobago's Kelly-Ann Baptiste took bronze in Daegu two years ago and is even faster this year, having broken her own national record with 10.83 in Port of Spain.

All but one 100m final in the history of the World Championships has featured at least one European sprinter. Bulgaria's Ivet Lalova, the sole European representative in the Daegu 100m final, leads the charge again this year. Ukraine's Mariya Ryemyen and 2010 European champion Verena Sailer also have high hopes of lining up in the final.The sad exit of defending women's 3,000m steeple chase champion Zaripova will upset Russia's hopes for a record gold haul in the championship history. "Two days ago Zaripova injured her take-off leg after hitting the barrier during practice," commented Zaripova's coach Alexei Melnikov via a Russian athletics federation statement yesterday.

"She has seriously hurt her knee and has torn the inguinal (groin) muscles. She will undergo detailed medical testing but it's already clear that the season for her is over. It's a big disappointment for Yulia and all of us as she had a reasonable chance of a very successful performance in Moscow," the statement from the host federation said.

Zaripova had shown the form that made her the favourite to add another gold medal to her collection by winning the World University Games 3000m Steeplechase title last month, and the Russian 1500m title in 4:02.56 two weeks ago.

Earlier this week, Russia's Yury Borzakovsky, the 2004 Olympic 800m champion, also withdrew from the championships that start on Saturday and run until 18 August, due to illness having suffered a serious fever last week.