The countdown to Daegu is on and for the next several weeks each meet, each performance, will be scrutinized for clues to what may happen at the big event. The Paris Diamond League meet tomorrow will certainly provide an opportunity to begin to put things into focus, as it is loaded with potential medalists. Having recently put together my list of potential U.S. medalists I will be looking very closely at events that will have an effect on our medal hopes at Worlds. Here are some events that I will watching closely in Paris.   Men’s 200 There has been much talk about Usain Bolt’s level of fitness this year…

It’s hard to talk about Tyson Gay without having the U.S. 4×1 being brought up. After all, Tyson has been involved in the most successful unit’s we’ve put on the track for the better part of the last half decade. So, between talking about Tyson and with Worlds less than two months away, it seems an appropriate time to discuss our potential relay fortunes in Daegu. So I will take this opportunity to give my two cents on personnel and how I see us fairing at Worlds in the four relay events.   Men’s 4×1 Here is where the impact of the loss of Tyson Gay will be felt. Having…

Since June 24th, the question that I have been asked the most is: what do you think is going to happen with Tyson Gay? Because June 24th was the day that Tyson pulled out of U.S. Nationals due to injury. It’s not the first time an athlete has pulled out of a meet because of injury, but I can’t remember when a “DNS” has caused such a stir. Not even when it was announced that Michael Johnson wasn’t going to be competing at the ‘97 Nationals was there this much interest. And Johnson’s withdrawal was on the heels of the ‘96 Olympics where Johnson won the 200/400 double – the…

With the team selected for Daegu, it’s time to start looking at where our medals our. So following is my first Medal Watch List of 2011. My final list of 2010 can be found here for comparison. As you can see the list has already undergone some major renovation since the end of the 2010 season, and with nearly two months to go until Daegu I’m sure there will be more changes. As always the list is composed of those individuals that I feel have the potential to step onto the medal stand at the World Championships. As we know, however, much happens during a meet as intense as Worlds.…

With most rosters for Worlds now in the books, every major get together between now and mid August will be looked at in terms of the World Championships. Who’s hot and who’s not? How do those with byes look? Who looks title worthy and who seems to be coming up out of the shadows? Lausanne was our first post Nationals snapshot, and with the lenses focused on Daegu there were some interesting performances.   Teddy Tamgho (FRA) Tamgho was undefeated until New York. Then in the horrid conditions there he managed only 15.55m (51’ 0..25”) and 7th place. Leaving some to wonder if there was some sort of problem with…

Sanya Richards Ross just brought up an age old issue when it comes to the U.S. Trials system – that it should be changed to ensure we send our best to major competitions. In some ways the sport has already been in agreement. After all, the IAAF went to the bye for World champions because of Michael Johnson’s injury status in 1997. Johnson was injured and unable to compete in our selection meet for the World Championships, and to ensure his competition the IAAF created the bye for World champions that allowed Johnson to compete in Athens. Since then all World champions have been assured a place in the subsequent…

I know I said I was going to recap the field events from Nationals, but I think I will do that in a Preview to Worlds. Mostly because I’m hoping we get a few more athletes in better position, as right now we have a lot of “B” qualifiers and athletes without qualifying marks. And today we are getting back on track, so to speak, with the next stage of the Diamond League – Lausanne. Before that starts, however, I did want to touch on something that I’ve written about before. I’ve gotten a lot of questions about Tyson Gay and his injury, as I’ve mentioned before. And I’m still…

The pickings have been very slim in our medal hunt in events above 400 meters. While the relative drought goes back even further, since the start of the New Millennium we’ve only had four individuals pick up hardware in a Major – Goucher (‘07, 10,000), Flanagan (‘08, 10,000), Rowbury (‘09, 1500), and Lagat (‘09, 1500/5000).  It’s been a rough ride when we’ve had to go more than one lap around the track. On the bright side, two of those individuals picked up medals in the last Major – Berlin – and I do believe that that may have been the start of some serious improvement in our middle and long…

Before I start my recap of the hurdle events, let me say that the U.S. sprint hopes got a potential boost with the announcement yesterday that Lashawn Merritt will be allowed to use his bye to the World Championships. This move was sorely needed in my opinion, both to show that USATF is actually trying to work towards accomplishing something in Daegu, as much as to simply indicate that it is capable of doing the right thing for our athletes. The key here is that Merritt will only have about a month to get race sharp as he will not be eligible to begin competing until July 27th – exactly…

The National Championships ended a couple of days ago now and I’ve been running it back over in my mind, and the DVR, a few times.  Upon further review it was one of the most interesting meets we’ve had in a while. So much so that I’m going to recap it in parts – because there was a lot that went on. At the conclusion, I will put out my first “Medal Watch List” of the year – a list that I will adjust during the summer lead up to the World Championships. I’m going to start with a recap/analysis of the sprints. Partly because they have traditionally been our…