In a series of 11 posts TFI will preview all 49 events in the World Championships, which begin on Saturday, Aug. 19. Once all preview capsules have been posted they will be pinned on the TFI home page for easy reference.
DECATHLON
World Record: 9,126, Kevin Mayer (France), 2018.
Championship Record: 9,045, Ashton Eaton (US), 2015.
World Leader: 8,836, Leo Neugebauer (Germany).
RECENT GLOBAL CHAMPIONS
2022 World Championships: Kevin Mayer (France), 8,816.
2021 Olympic Games: Damian Warner (Canada), 9,018.
2019 World Championships: Niklas Kaul (Germany), 8,691.
2017 World Championships: Mayer, 8,768.
2016 Olympic Games: Ashton Eaton (US), 8,893.
SCHEDULE
August 25 (Day One): 100 Meters, 4:05 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time; Long Jump, 4:55 a.m.; Shot Put, 6:20 a.m.; High Jump, 12:30 p.m.; 400 Meters, 3:05 p.m.
August 26 (Day Two): 110-Meter High Hurdles, 4:05 a.m.; Discus, Group A, 5:00 a.m.; Discus, Group B, 6:05 a.m.; Pole Vault, 8:00 a.m.; Javelin, Group A, 1:05 p.m.; Javelin, Group B, 2:10 p.m.; 1,500 Meters, 3:25 p.m.
OUTLOOK
Leo Neugebauer of Germany had the meet of his life when he totaled a national and collegiate record of 8,836 points to win the NCAA Championships at his home facility at the University of Texas in early June. The question now is can he top, or at least come close, to that score in his encore performance in the World Championships? Neugebauer entered the NCAA meet with a personal best of 8,478 points that he had set in the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in late March, but American Kyle Garland of the University of Georgia was the pre-meet favorite. Garland had totaled a collegiate record of 8,720 points last year before coming within six points of the world record in the heptathlon at the NCAA indoor meet in early March. But Neugebauer had a 21-point lead on Garland after totaling 4,591 points on the first day of the NCAA outdoor meet and he followed that with a 4,245-point total on the second day to add 116 points to the collegiate record and leave him 206 points ahead of second-place Garland. Despite those heroics, Olympic champion Damian Warner of Canada and defending World champion and world-record-holder Kevin Mayer of France have been tabbed by many prognosticators as the two men who are most likely to battle for the title. It’s not difficult to understand why as they are both experienced at excelling in the high-pressure environment at global title meets. Warner totaled a Canadian record of 9,018 points to win the Olympic title in Tokyo in 2021 and the three-time medalist in the World Championships was in first place after the first four events of last year’s meet before he was struck down by a hamstring injury in his heat of the 400 meters at the end of day one. Mayer, a two-time Olympic silver medalist who set the world record of 9,126 points in 2018, went on to win his second World title with 8,816-point total that left him 115 points in front of silver medalist Pierce LePage of Canada at 8,701. LePage missed that personal best by a point in May when he totaled 8,700 points to win the decathlon in the Hypomeeting competition in Gotzis, Austria. Warner finished second with 8,619 points. Americans Zach Ziemek, Harrison Williams, and Garland each appear capable of medaling if things break right for them. Ziemek won the bronze medal in last year’s meet with a personal best of 8,676 points and Williams won the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships title in early July with a personal best of 8,630 points. Ayden Owens-Delerme of Puerto Rico and Lindon Victor of Grenada finished fourth and fifth in last year’s meet, but their decathlon totals from earlier this season were well below their personal bests of 8,532 and 8,550, respectively.
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HEPTATHLON
World Record: 7,291, Jackie Joyner-Kersee (US), 1988.
Championship Record: 7,128, Jackie Joyner-Kersee (US), 1987.
World Leader: 6,988, Anna Hall (US).
RECENT GLOBAL CHAMPIONS
2022 World Championships: Nafi Thiam (Belgium), 6,947.
2021 Olympic Games: Thiam, 6,791.
2019 World Championships: Katarina Johnson-Thompson (GB), 6,981.
2017 World Championships: Thiam, 6,784.
2016 Olympic Games: Thiam, 6,810.
SCHEDULE
August 19 (Day One): 100-Meter Hurdles, 4:35 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time; High Jump, 5:45 a.m.; Shot Put, 1:05 p.m.; 200 Meters, 2:30 p.m.
August 20 (Day Two): Long Jump, 3:50 a.m.; Javelin Group A, 6:00 a.m., Javelin Group B, 7:05 a.m.; 800 Meters, noon.
OUTLOOK
Based on what I know about Anna Hall and her zest for competition, I suspect the American was disappointed last week when defending World and two-time Olympic champion Nafi Thiam of Belgium withdrew from the meet due to Achilles tendon issues. But after digesting that news, I would have expected Hall to turn her attention back to the competition and performing as well as possible. Hall won the bronze medal in the World Championships last year with a personal best of 6,755 points while finishing behind Thiam (6,947) and the Netherlands’ Anouk Vetter (6,867). But she crushed that score with a winning 6,988-point total in the Hypomeeting competition in Gotzis, Austria in May to move to fifth on the all-time performer list. She then turned in a very business-like 6,677-point performance to win the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships title in early July. It was unnatural for Hall to not go all-out in each of the heptathlon’s seven events in the USATF meet, but her gloves will be off in the World Championships when she could become the fifth woman in history to top 7,000 points. Vetter, Noor Vidts of Belgium, and Katarina Johnson-Thompson of Great Britain are expected to be some of Hall’s biggest challengers. Vetter withdrew from the Hypomeeting on the second day of competition with what was called a slight Achilles tendon injury, but she set national records while finishing second to Thiam in the World Championships last year, as well as in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. Vidts finished fifth in the World Championships last year and totaled a personal best of 6,571 points to place fourth in the Olympics. Johnson-Thompson totaled 6,981 points in winning the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar. But she suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon several months before the Olympics and finished second behind Hall in Gotzis with a score of 6,556. Saga Vanninen of Finland and Sophie Weissenberg of Germany placed fourth and fifth in Gotzis with scores of 6,391 and 6,375, respectively. Adrianna Sulek of Poland placed third in Gotzis with a total of 6,480 points and finished fourth in last year’s World Championships with a national record of 6,672 points, but she will not compete this week as she recently announced that she is pregnant.
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