World Athletics Championship from Aug 25

Osaka, Japan -- The preparations for the World Athletics Championship beginning this weekend have been completed.

Roughly 2,000 athletes from a record 203 member federations will take part in these championships, held every two years and last hosted by Japan in 1991 (Tokyo). There will be gold medals handed out in 45 events and a worldwide television audience of some 6.5 billion is expected to tune in over the course of the athletics extravaganza.

Only nine of the IAAF's 212 nations failed to enter for the Aug. 25-Sept. 2 championships. The United States and Russia are expected to dominate the medals tables.

Up for grabs is a $160,000 (18.5 million yen) cash prize for any athlete winning their event with a world-record performance

One of Ghana's brightest medal prospects comes in the men's long jump, where the 2006 Commonwealth Games and African Championships in Athletics gold medalalist Ignisious Gaisah will carry the hopes of a nation on his broad shoulders.

He won the silver in the 2005 World Athletics Championship in Helsinki.