World Outdoor Championship Sprint Preview

Following his performance in Stockholm last week, it looks like Tyson Gay’s groin strain won’t stop him from competing at full strength in the World Outdoor Championships in Berlin this month. That sets up the long-awaited sprint duel between Gay and Usain Bolt, who are co-favorites in both the 100 and 200.

Gay owns the 2009 world-leading times in both sprint events. He ran the 100 in 9.77 seconds in July and the 200 in 19.58 in May. Bolt is second on both lists but he ran into the wind to post times of 9.79 in the 100 and 19.59 in the 200. With the two elite runners pushing each other in the Berlin finals, it won’t be surprising if one or both world records are broken – by either runner. The two could compete a third time if they anchor their respective countries’ 4 x 100 relay teams.

The men’s 400 should also be a two-man race for the gold, between Jeremy Wariner and LaShawn Merritt. Merritt has the world’s three fastest times this year; Wariner owns the fourth and fifth best times. Wariner edged Merritt to win the 2007 World Championship, while Merritt prevailed last year in Beijing, with Wariner second. The pair will likely remain on top in Berlin before they join forces to lead the favored U.S. squad in the 4 x 400 relay.

On the women’s side, the 100 meters could be another U.S. vs. Jamaica battle, with three Jamaicans among the favorites, along with American Carmelita Jeter (assuming these women all run in the 100, as opposed to the 200). Jeter enjoyed strong success this spring, tailed off a bit, then ran a personal best 10.92 in London in late July. Kerron Stewart tops the world lists, running a personal best 10.75 in Rome on July 10 to defeat Shelly-Ann Fraser. Two weeks earlier, however, Fraser ran her season’s best, 10.88, to edge fellow Jamaican Stewart. Fraser and Stewart finished 1-2 in Beijing. But don’t count out two-time defending World Champion Veronica Campbell-Brown, although her season’s best is “only” 10.96, or an up-and-coming Kelly-Ann Baptiste of Trinidad, who posted a 10.94 effort in June.

Many women are in the hunt to medal in the 200, but the favorite to win her third consecutive World Outdoor title is American Allyson Felix. The Beijing silver medalist ran a world-leading 21.88 on July 31. Medal contenders – again assuming these sprinters choose to run the 200 – include veteran Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie from the Bahamas, who first ran in the World Outdoor Championships in 1995. She owns the second (22.23) and third (22.32) fastest times in the world this year. Two-time defending Olympic champ Campbell-Brown has a season’s best of 22.37.

Despite a third-place finish in the 2008 Olympics, American Sanya Richards is a solid favorite in the 400. She has five of the world’s seven top times this year – all of which resulted in victories – including a world-leading 49.23 on July 3. The 2005 World Championship runner-up is seeking the greatest victory of her career. Other contenders should include Russia’s Antonina Krivoshapka, who’s second in the world this year at 49.29, as well as sixth (49.71), although she lacks Richards’ big-meet experience. Beijing silver medalist Shericka Williams of Jamaica has topped out at 49.98 this year while Beijing gold medalist and 2007 World Champion Christine Ohuruogu of Great Britain has only managed a 51.14 while batting a hamstring injury. If Ohuruogu is healthy, however, she should be Richards’ strongest challenger.