The preliminaries are done and now it’s time for the main event! The World Championships are about ready to begin and it’s crystal ball time. Although I’m not sure how well a crystal ball is going to work for this meet with so few sure things heading into Moscow.

But this is the fun part, so I have to give it a try. I’ll start with the sprints, hurdles and relays – the speed events. Of all the events these are generally the least predictable as the margin for error is small and this time around we’re dealing with a lot of unknown entities as a lot of top talent is missing for various reasons.

For example, missing from last year’s Olympic men’s 100 final are Yohan Blake, Tyson Gay, Ryan Bailey and Asafa Powell – to injury and suspensions. That’s half the final and takes out 3 of the 4 fastest men in history! Injuries also took away potential finalists Walter Dix, Bryshon Nellum, Michael Frater, Liu Xiang, Sanya Richards Ross and have hampered Carmelita Jeter & Aires Merritt – and these are just the headline names.

The speed events have taken some hits this year, but at the same time a lot of new talent has come to the fore – especially among the women. Brianna Rollins, English Gardner, Delilah Mohammed, Blessing Okagbare, and James Desoulu, are just a few of the  “new” challengers headed to Moscow.

What does it all mean?