Aspetar has been privileged over the past few years to provide medical cover for athletes attending such prestigious events as:

·      The FINA Swimming World Championship.

·      The Men Handball World Championship.

·      The AIBA World Boxing Championship.

·      The UCI Road World Cycling Championship.

This time – here in Qatar – we have the pleasure in welcoming The World Championship in Athletics Track and Field. Our experienced and professional medical staff (of 350 personnel) are once again ready to protect the health of these World class athletes. This has presented the Aspetar Sports Medicine Journal a fantastic opportunity for bringing to you a targeted topic of science and sports medicine in Track and Field.

Together with our two guest editors, Dr. Paul Dijkstra and Dr. Milena Tomovic, we bring experts in the field from around the World. Paul is an expert in Track and Field - he served as a Chief Medical Officer for UK Athletics during the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympics. Milena is representative of a new generation of sport and exercise medicine specialist, with knowledge and passion for the sport.

I would like to thank our two guest editors, Dr. Dijkstra and Dr. Tomovic for their outstanding work on this Targeted Topic, which we hope brings value to our readers.

I would particularly like to draw your attention to an aspiring interview with the Heptathlon Gold Olympic medalist Thiam Nafissatou. If there is a such thing as a profile of an Olympian athlete for the 21st century, she is the model for young people to aspire to.

Nebojsa Popovic MD PhD

Editor-in-Chief