Ariane Friedrich vs. Blanka Vlasic - World Championship head to heads

HIGH HOPES: Ariane Friedrich and Blanka Vlasic have a score to settle in Berlin

The women's high jump will be one of the most eagerly anticipated events for the home crowd in Berlin.

Croatia's Blanka Vlasic is the defending champion from Osaka and has sat on top of the world rankings for the past three years.

However she does have three quite pertinent defeats on her impressive CV - losing out to Belgium's Tia Hellebaut in Beijing last year, missing out on a $500,000 prize after defeat to Friedrich in the final Golden League meet of 2008 in Brussels before losing to the German again at the first Golden League of 2009 in Berlin.

Friedrich's jump of 2.06 metres was an emotional national record for the German and she is sure to draw further inspiration when she returns to the Olympic Stadium for the final on August 20.

But with Vlasic having jumped 2.05m in Doha in May, this is bound to be a tight contest. Bulgarian Stefka Kostadinova's world record of 2.09m isn't out of the question either.