Athletics: Ostapchuk stirs to challenge the champ

Nadzeya Ostapchuk. Photo / Getty Images

Valerie Vili's rival Nadzeya Ostapchuk, of Belarus, has thrown down the gauntlet in her battle to regain the No1 spot in the world in the shot put with an indoor record for her country last weekend.

Competing at the Belarus national championships in Mogilev, the 29-year-old was out to 21.70m, the third best all-time indoors in the world.

Her previous bests were 21.09m outdoors and 20.86m indoors. Ostapchuk is the last person to have beaten Vili in competition, at the World Athletic final in Stuttgart, Germany, in September 2007. Just 5cm separated them - Ostapchuk winning with 20.45m.

After a bronze at the Beijing Olympic Games and not competing at the world championships in Berlin last year, Ostapchuk has built up to face the New Zealander at the World Indoor Championships in Doha next month.

Ostapchuk has yet to win an indoor title, having finished second on three occasions, 2001, 2003 and last year, behind Vili's gold medal performance of 20.19m.

In 2004, Ostapchuk was seventh and in 2006 she was sixth. Vili competed at the 2004 world indoor championships, recording 18.22m, which did not advance her to the final.

After a fourth at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games the Belarusian won the world outdoor title in Helsinki in 2005 with 21.09m. Like Vili, Ostapchuk has been in the sport from an early age - collecting the world junior title in France in 1998.

So the stage is set in Qatar for another battle for world indoor supremacy.