Today is August 18th. The last big meet on the circuit was in London back on August 5-6th. The World Championships are STILL a week and a half away – starting August 27th. Can someone tell me why we have such a LONG break before the World Championships? We’re looking at a 3 week break with no track and field, smack dab in the middle of the European Circuit – the heart of the sport’s most visible time of the year! We’re talking about a marketing fiasco of the highest order. I’m not sure how you sell the general public on watching your World Championships when your athletes are on…

The 400 hurdles is an event where we are fortunate enough this year to have very solid and strong fields on both the men and women’s sides. Several veteran athletes, some great young talent, and a couple of hurdlers looking for redemption.   Women’s 400 Hurdles         World Record 52.34 Yuliya Pechonkina RUS Meet Record 52.42 Melaine Walker JAM 2009 Gold 52.42 Melaine Walker JAM   2011 Best   52.79 Kaliese Spencer JAM   53.29 Zuzana Hejnova CZE   53.31 Lashinda Demus USA   53.56 Melaine Walker JAM   53.68 Vania Stambolova BUL   53.75 Natalya Antukh RUS This event has all the elements necessary for an…

Ah the deuce. Taking place as it does near the end of the meet, it is somewhat difficult to predict. Sometimes athletes are tired by the time the deuce rolls around, as it’s often the second half of a double. Sometimes injuries come into play. There’s the opportunity to become a double winner for some, and the redemption factor for those that lost earlier in the week. All of those things should come into play in Daegu, as we have two races with some outstanding players that I believe are going to follow the script – historical scripts that may surprise some.   Men’s 200 Meters        …

I know that this is the event that many have been waiting for, but I wanted to wait until the drama of the recent drug positive played out a bit before previewing both this race and the 200. While the news of Steve Mullings (JAM) positive test is extremely disappointing, I will wait until the Anti Doping Process has run it’s course before commenting further on those circumstances. Right now the World Championships deserves our attention, and it is in that vein that I take a look at the 100 meters.     Women’s 100 Meters         World Record 10.49 Florence Griffith Joyner USA Meet Record 10.70…

The hurdles are always exciting and there should be no shortage of excitement in Daegu. Heading into the World Championships, we have two events that each have four athletes capable of taking to the podium – unfortunately only three get that privilege!   Men’s 110 Hurdles         World Record 12.87 Dayron Robles CUB Meet Record 12.91 Colin Jackson GBR 2009 Gold 13.14 Ryan Brathwaite BAR   2011 Best   12.94 David Oliver USA   13.00 Liu Xiang CHN   13.04 Dayron Robles CUB   13.08 Jason Richardson USA   13.12 Aries Merritt USA   13.15 Dwight Thomas JAM This is one of those rare moments when a…

The 800 meters will be exciting in Daegu. On the men’s side because of the presence of World Record holder David Rudisha. On the women’s side because the event is potentially wide open.      Men’s 800         World Record 1:41.01 David Rudisha KEN Meet Record 1:43.06 Billy Konchella KEN 2009 Gold 1:45.29 Mbulaeni Mulalaudzi RSA   2011 Best   1:42.61 David Rudisha KEN   1:43.13 Abubaker Kaki SUD   1:43.15 Asbel Kiprop KEN   1:43.83 Nick Symmonds USA   1:43.99 Yuriy Borzakovskiy RUS   1:43.99 David Mutua KEN The MAN in this event for the past two seasons is WR holder David Rudisha (KEN). Last year…

The Metric Mile, is one of the showcase events in the sport, and lately one of those hard to predict events. In large part because of the tendency for milers to get “tactical” in the big meets as opposed to simply “racing”. I don’t see an end to that trend on either the women or men’s sides in Daegu. That said, let’s take a look at the Metric Mile.     Women’s 1500         World Record 3:50.46 Qu Yunxia CHN Meet Record 3:58.52 Tatyana Tomasova RUS 2009 Gold 4:03.74 Maryam Jamal BRN   2011 Best   4:00.33 Maryam Jamal BRN   4:00.97 Kalkaden Gezahegn ETH   4:01.02…

OK. Time for the fun to begin. I’m going to start with the 400 meters because there’s been so much activity there lately. Athletes in and out, up and down, and generally nearly unpredictable. Which is why I’m starting with this event – it’s got to be easier after this! Men’s 400         World Record 43.18 Michael Johnson USA Meet Record 43.18 Michael Johnson USA 2009 Gold 44.06 LaShawn Merritt USA   2011 Best   44.61 Kirani James GRN   44.65 Rondell Bartholomew GRN   44.68 Tony McQuay USA   44.69 Jermaine Gonzalez JAM   44,74 Kevin Borlee BEL   44.74 LaShawn Merritt USA This has been…

Wow, it’s almost here – The World Championships. The biggest track and field event of the year – much anticipated after a year off from global championship competition. With 19 days left until the start of the meet, and only a handful of smaller meets left this week, it’s time to try and make sense of what’s gone on so far this season and guess/speculate/prognosticate on what may transpire in Korea. Before jumping into event predictions – sure to take up most of the next two weeks – I thought I would take a look at the state of the U.S. squad. Sort of general overview of how the U.S.…

With the close of the London meet, there are only a handful of small meets left until the opening of the World Championships on August 27th. This was it for any “big” tests until Daegu – and the final day gave us a few things to ponder, as a group of American athletes stepped up and asked to be counted.  Chief among them being the place of Sanya Richards Ross (USA) among the 400 meter hierarchy. As recently as earlier this week when I put the 400 meter poll up on this site, Sanya was no where near being considered a factor for Daegu – I almost didn’t put her…