Recently-crowned men’s 100 metres world champion Yohan Blake will be the star attraction on Sunday at the ISTAF athletics meet and will be bidding at the very least to run the fastest ever 100m here.

While Blake’s star is on the rise one who’s star may be on the wane Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva — only sixth at the world championships — has decided to skip the meet citing a lack of form.

   There will be 11 world champions at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium - which hosted the 2009 world championships — and even without Jamaica’s sprint superstar Usain Bolt, compatriot Blake will be looking to underline his current 100m form.

   The 21-year-old, who profited from training partner Bolt’s false  start to win gold in Daegu, clocked 9.82secs in Zurich on Thursday and is looking to take the Berlin record of 9.86secs held by both Maurice Green, in 2000, and compatriot Asafa Powell, in 2006.

   At Zurich’s Diamond League meeting, Blake showed he still has plenty in his tank despite the exertions of Daegu when he clocked his personal best ahead of Powell and Walter Dix of the USA after an impressive last 20 metres.

   “After my success in Daegu and Zurich, I can really run relaxed here,” said Blake.

   Germany’s discus star Robert Harting is expecting plenty of noise from the crowd and the world champion is relishing attempting  to pass the 70m mark, despite struggling with a knee injury.

   “This is the competition I like the most after the world championships,” he told the Berliner Morgenpost.

   “I hope we get a big crowd who will make plenty of noise.

   There will be 33 medal winners from Daegu in the 17 events in Berlin.

   A premium of 50,000 euros is on offer for the athlete who sets a  world record in either the women’s hammer or the men’s 3,000 metres  steeplechase.

   Berlin’s Betty Heidler is the current record holder in the hammer and she will be looking to break her own mark of 79.42m having won silver in Daegu to Russia’s Tatyana Lysenko.

   The Internationales Stadionfest (ISTAF) is one of the world’s oldest meets, having first been held in Berlin in 1937 and organisers are hoping for a bumper crowd of more than 50,000 for the IAAF world challenge meet.