World Athletics Championships Preview Capsules
Men's Sprints and Hurdles
In a series of 11 posts TFI will preview all 49 events in the World Championships, which begin on Saturday, Aug. 19. Once all of the preview capsules have been posted they will be pinned on the TFI home page for easy reference.
100 METERS
World Record: 9.58, Usain Bolt (Jamaica), 2009.
Championship Record: 9.58, Usain Bolt (Jamaica), 2009.
World Leader: Zharnel Hughes (GB), 9.83.
RECENT GLOBAL CHAMPIONS
2022 World Championships: Fred Kerley (US), 9.86 (-0.1 meters per second).
2021 Olympic Games: Marcell Jacobs (Italy), 9.80 (0.1).
2019 World Championships: Christian Coleman (US), 9.76 (0.6).
2017 World Championships: Justin Gatlin (US), 9.92 (-0.8).
2016 Olympic Games: Usain Bolt (Jamaica), 9.81 (0.2).
SCHEDULE
August 19: Preliminary Round: 6:35 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time; Heats, 1:43 p.m.
August 20: Semifinals, 10:35 a.m.; Final, 1:10 p.m.
OUTLOOK
Defending champion Fred Kerley of the U.S. was looking like the favorite in this event after winning his first three races of the season, including Diamond League contests in Rabat, Morocco and Florence, Italy. But a narrow loss to Akani Simbine of South Africa in a Diamond League meet in Chorzow, Poland on July 16 came a week after he had finished a disappointing fourth in the 200 in 19.86 seconds in the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships. Simbine has never won a medal in a global title meet, but he’s due after finishing fourth or fifth in the previous three World Championships and the past two Olympic Games. Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain and Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya rank first and second on the yearly world performer list with bests of 9.83 and 9.84, although it is worth noting that Omanyala’s time was run in Nairobi, Kenya, where the elevation of 5,441 feet (1,658 meters) aids performances in the sprints, hurdles, and jumps. Cravont Charleston and Christian Coleman finished 1-2 in the USATF meet on July 7, in a race in which Kerley did not have to participate because he was the defending World champion, but it remains to be seen if that pair’s typically strong starts will be enough to hold off other competitors better known for closing well. Noah Lyles, the two-time defending 200 champion, will need to get a better-than-normal start for him if he’s going to be in the hunt for a medal after finishing third in the USATF meet. Letsile Tebogo of Botswana is another potential medalist from Africa as he ran a season best of 9.93 while finishing a hundredth of a second behind Omanyala in a Diamond League meet in Monaco on July 21. Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs is entered in the meet, but he’s a huge question mark as he had a so-so indoor season in the 60 and his single 100-meter race outdoors resulted in a 10.21 clocking for seventh place in a Diamond League meet in Paris on June 9. Issam Asinga of Suriname ran a world U20 (under 20) record of 9.89 to win the South American Athletics Championships on July 28, but he was provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) last Friday after testing positive for a banned substance.
200 METERS
World Record: 19.19, Usain Bolt (Jamaica), 2009.
Championship Record: 19.19, Usain Bolt (Jamaica), 2009.
World Leader: 19.47, Noah Lyles (US).
RECENT GLOBAL CHAMPIONS
2022 World Championships: Noah Lyles (US), 19.31 (0.4).
2021 Olympic Games: Andre De Grasse (Canada), 19.62 (-0.5).
2019 World Championships: Lyles, 19.83 (0.3).
2017 World Championships: Ramil Guliyev (Turkey), 20.09 (-0.1).
2016 Olympic Games: Usain Bolt (Jamaica), 19.78 (-0.5).
SCHEDULE
August 23: Heats, 6:50 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time.
August 24: Semifinals, 2:20 p.m.
August 25: Final, 3:50 p.m.
OUTLOOK
Noah Lyles of the U.S. is the two-time defending champion and he ran the fourth-fastest time in history when he clocked 19.31 seconds to win the World title in Eugene, Oregon last year. But he got a scare in a Diamond League meet in London on July 23 when he was pushed to the line by 20-year-old Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, whose 19.50 clocking crushed the African record of 19.68 that had been set by Frankie Fredericks of Namibia while finishing second in the 1996 Olympic Games. Zharnel Hughes set a British record of 19.73 while finishing third in London, but he was left behind by Lyles and Tebogo in the last 50 meters of the contest. Erriyon Knighton and Kenny Bednarek placed 1-2 in the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships on July 9 in a race that Lyles was able to bypass because he was the defending World champion. The same pair had placed third and second, respectively, in the World Championships last year as part of a 1-2-3 American finish. Bednarek ranks sixth on the yearly world performer with a best of 19.82, but the man runs big in major meets, as evidenced by his silver medal in the Olympic Games in 2021. Alexander Ogando of the Dominican Republic placed fifth in this meet last year and he ran 19.99 in defeating Knighton in the Gyulai Istvan Memorial in Szekesfehervar, Hungary on July 18. But he was a distant fifth — in 20.14 — in London five days later. Olympic champion Andre De Grasse of Canada was slowed by a toe injury and two cases of COVID-19 last year and had not run well particularly well this season until he won the Canadian title in 20.01 on July 30. James Dadzie of Ghana, Courtney Lindsey of the U.S., and Tarsis Orogot of Uganda are ranked fifth, seventh, and eighth on the list of entries, but it remains to be seen if they can produce peak performances in Budapest after previously competing collegiately in the United States. Dadzie ran what was then a yearly-world leading time of 19.79 for Western Texas College in the Texas Tech Corky/Crofoot Shootout on April 29, but his fastest time since then is a wind-aided 20.15. Lindsey was the runner-up in the NCAA Championships for Texas Tech before running a personal best of 19.85 to edge defending World 100 champion Fred Kerley for third place in the USATF meet. Orogot has a best of 19.94 to go with a monster wind-aided mark of 19.60, but he was a well-beaten fifth for Alabama in the NCAA meet. NCAA champion Udodi Onwuzurike of Stanford ran 19.74 in the semifinals of that meet, but he will not compete for Nigeria due to an injury. Joseph Fanhbulleh of Liberia placed fourth in the World Championships last year after finishing fifth in the Olympic Games in 2021, but he has struggled with his consistency since he signed a professional contract in August of last year.
400 METERS
World Record: 43.03, Wayde van Niekirk (South Africa), 2016.
Championship Record: 43.18, Michael Johnson (US), 1999.
World Leader: Stephen Gardiner (Bahamas), 43.74.
RECENT GLOBAL CHAMPIONS
2022 World Championships: Michael Norman (US), 44.29.
2021 Olympic Games: Stephen Gardiner (Bahamas), 43.85.
2019 World Championships: Gardiner, 43.48.
2017 World Championships: Wayde van Niekirk (South Africa), 43.98.
2016 Olympic Games: van Niekirk, 43.03 WR.
SCHEDULE
August 20: Heats, 4:25 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time.
August 22: Semifinals, 3:00 p.m.
August 24: Final, 3:35 p.m.
OUTLOOK
Wayde van Niekirk of South Africa will be the sentimental favorite in this event as he enters the meet with a season best of 44.08 seconds and is unbeaten in five races. The 31-year-old van Niekirk set the world record of 43.03 in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro before winning his second consecutive World title in London in 2017. But he suffered two severe knee injuries later that year while playing in a charity tag rugby match and it has taken him years to get back to where he is. Stephen Gardiner of the Bahamas missed last year’s World Championships with a foot injury, but he won the Olympic title in 2021 and the World title in 2019, and ran a yearly world-leading time of 43.74 in the Gyulai István Memorial in Szekesfehervar, Hungary on July 18. Rusheen McDonald of Jamaica ran 44.03 to finish second behind Gardiner in that race, but he’s listed as an alternate in the 400 on his country’s roster because he only ran in the first round of that event in the national championships. Muzala Samukanga of Zambia became the 22nd man in history to break 44 seconds in the 400 when he ran 43.91 in the Botswana Golden Grand Prix meet in Gaborone, Botswana on April 29. But he has not raced since pulling up with a hamstring injury in the Diamond League meet in Chorzow, Poland on July 16. Defending champion Michael Norman of the U.S. withdrew from the meet on Tuesday after an injury-hampered season in which he was focused on trying to make the U.S. team in the 100. But the U.S. still has three capable entrants in Bryce Deadmon, Vernon Norwood, and Quincy Hall, who ran 44.22, 44.39, and 44.41, respectively, in the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships on July 8. Kirani James of Grenada has not had a great season by his standards, but he gave Norman a run for his money in the World Championships last year and has won gold, silver, and bronze medals in both the Olympic Games and World Championships during his illustrious career.
110 HIGH HURDLES
World Record: 12.80, Aries Merritt (US), 2012.
Championship Record: 12.91, Colin Jackson (GB), 1993.
World Leader: 12.94, Rasheed Broadbell (Jamaica).
RECENT GLOBAL CHAMPIONS
2022 World Championships: Grant Holloway (US), 13.03 (1.2 meters per second).
2021 Olympic Games: Hansel Parchment (Jamaica), 13.04 (-0.5).
2019 World Championships: Holloway, 13.10 (0.6).
2017 World Championships: Omar McLeod (Jamaica), 13.04 (0.0).
2016 Olympic Games: McLeod, 13.05 (0.2).
SCHEDULE
August 20: Heats, 7:05 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time.
August 21: Semifinals, 2:05 p.m.; Final, 3:40 p.m.
OUTLOOK
Grant Holloway of the U.S. can become the second man to history to win three consecutive titles with a victory in this race. American Greg Foster, who passed away earlier in the year, won the high hurdles in the first three World Championships that were held in 1983, ‘87, and ’91. Holloway deserves to be favored as he has won seven of eight finals this year and run 13.05 seconds or faster seven times, topped by a 12.98 victory in a Diamond League meet in Paris on June 9. His biggest challengers are expected to be Jamaicans Rasheed Broadbell and Hansle Parchment, and fellow Americans Daniel Roberts and Cordell Tinch. Broadbell handed Holloway his only defeat of the year in a Diamond League meet in Rabat, Morocco on May 28, but he has only run three finals this season, with his most recent race being his world-leading — and personal best — 12.94 clocking in the Jamaican Championships on July 9. Olympic champion Parchment’s season best of 13.12 is well off his personal best of 12.94, but I expect him to be in the hunt for a medal. Roberts has failed to advance out of the first round of the previous two World Championships, but a top-three or -four finish seems very possible as he has run 13.01 this year and defeated Tinch in the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships on July 9. Tinch has been a huge surprise this season as he was out of track and field for nearly three years before reviving his career at NCAA Division II program Pittsburg State University in Kansas during the indoor season. He then became the 24th man in history to break 13 seconds in the high hurdles with a 12.96 clocking in June. If you’re looking for someone else to break into the top five, your best bets might be quick-starting Shunsuke Izumiya of Japan, up-and-coming Sasha Zhoya of France, or fourth American Freddie Crittenden.
400 INTERMEDIATE HURDLES
World Record: 45.94, Karsten Warholm (Norway), 2021.
Championship Record: 46.29, Alison dos Santos (Brazil), 2022.
Yearly Leader: 46.51, Karsten Warholm (Norway).
RECENT GLOBAL CHAMPIONS
2022 World Championships: Alison dos Santos (Brazil), 46.29.
2021 Olympic Games: Karsten Warholm (Norway), 45.94 WR.
2019 World Championships: Warholm, 47.42.
2017 World Championships: Warholm, 48.35.
2016 Olympic Games: Kerron Clement (US), 47.73.
SCHEDULE
August 20: Heats, 5:25 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time.
August 21: Semifinals, 12:35 p.m.
August 23: Final, 3:50 p.m.
OUTLOOK
Karsten Warholm of Norway finished seventh in the World Championships last year while coming back from a hamstring injury he sustained in June, but it’s going to take a superb performance by someone to prevent him from winning his third World title. His season best of 46.51 seconds is the fourth-fastest time in history and he has also run 46.52, the fifth-fastest time ever, and 46.76, the ninth best. Rai Benjamin of the U.S., the silver medalist in the last two World Championships, as well as the Olympics, ran 46.62, the sixth-fastest time ever, in winning the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships on July 9. But he revealed at that time that he had been dealing with a hamstring issue that had severely limited his training since the middle of April. Alison dos Santos of Brazil is back to defend the title he won last year in Eugene, Oregon, but he sustained a knee injury earlier in the year and has only run one 400 — timing 44.73 — and one intermediate hurdle race — clocking 47.66 — this season. His 47.66 effort left him well back of Warholm (46.51) in the Herculis EBS Diamond League meet in Monaco on July 21, but he vowed then that he would be ready to successfully defend his title in Budapest. Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands was having a so-so season through early July, but he ran 47.26 in winning a meet in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia on July 20. CJ Allen of the U.S., Ludvy Vaillant of France, and Roshawn Clarke of Jamaica are the other men to have broken 48 seconds this season, with Allen having accomplished that feat five times after beginning the year with a personal best of 48.17. American Trevor Bassitt and Frenchman Wilfried Happio, who staged a superb homestretch duel for the bronze medal in the World Championships last year, will most likely need to better their season bests by a second or more to be in the hunt for a top-three finish this time around.