Day by day at the World Champs
The long-awaited 16th World Championships of athletics (track and field) gets underway tomorrow.
World record holder Usain Bolt begins his quest for another gold medal in the 100m as he says goodbye to active competition.
The Jamaica Observer guides its readers through the World Champs with a day by synopsis of events mostly involving local athletes.
Day One
A quartet of Jamaicans — Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Julian Forte and Senoj-Jay Givans — will commence their qualification for the men’s 100-metre final. In the men’s long jump Ramone Bailey and Damar Forbes, who is contesting his fourth World Championship, will attempt to leap past the qualification round into the men’s long jump final. Standout throwers at the youth and junior levels, Fedrick Dacres and Travis Smikle will begin their qualification for the men’s discus final. The men’s 100-metre, long jump and discus throw finals are all scheduled for day two.
Winner of the distance double at the last two Olympic Games and Worlds, Mo Farah, will look to take the first step to doing the same again and give the host nation their first gold as the 10,000 metres takes centre stage on day one.
Day Two
Jamaicans Yohan Blake, Julian Forte and Senoj-Jay Givans will try to join Bolt in the 100m final. However, Jamaica’s first medal of the championships might come from Fedrick Dacres, who is expected to make the final easily and challenge for the gold medal in the men’s discus throw.
Day two’s morning session will see O’Dayne Richards launch his qualification for the men’s shot put final. Jamaica’s Nathon Allen, Demish Gaye and Steven Gayle will start their bids for the men’s 400m semis and finals. Similarly, Kimberly Williams and Shanieka Ricketts in the women’s triple jump will begin their qualification jumps for the final.
Olympic champion Elaine Thompson commences her bid for a world title along with Simone Facey and Jura Levy in the opening rounds of the women’s 100 metres.
While Jamaicans will be cheering on all their athletes, it will all about one man, Usain Bolt.
Bolt is set to compete in his last 100m major championship final.
Day Three
Given that O’Dayne Richards makes it to the final of the shot put, he will be among the medal contenders on the evening of day three.
The opening heats of the 400m hurdles will feature the youth and junior champions Jaheel Hyde, Kemar Mowatt and Ricardo Cunningham or Andre Clarke. World Championships bronze medallists Shericka Jackson and Novlene Williams-Mills, along with Chrisann Gordon, will contest the opening round of the women’s 400m.
Omar McLeod, the Olympic champion, and his compatriots Ronald Levy and Hansle Parchment are expected to make it through the opening round and show their class in the semis in their bid for the 110m hurdles final on day four.
World record holder South African Wayde van Niekerk — providing he gets through the first round — will aim to reach the 400m final, but top billing on day three goes to the women’s 100m as Olympic champion Elaine Thompson goes head to head with Dafne Schippers. There will also be gold up for grab in the marathons and the heptathlon reaches its climax.
Day Four
Jamaica’s Ronald Levy is also tipped to make the 110m hurdles final and will be one of McLeod’s main challengers for the world title. Shericka Jackson, Chrisann Gordon and Novlene Williams-Mills will also be favoured to make the 400m final, which could have four Americans, three Jamaicans and one Bahamian.
Provided that Jamaica’s Kimberly Williams lives up to expectation and makes the triple jump final, she should be among the top-5 contenders as she tries to mine her first championship medal.
Yohan Blake, in his quest for the double, will contest the heats of the men’s 200m along with Rasheed Dwyer and World Championships silver medallist Warren Weir. Clive Pullen will see action in the triple jump, while the trio of Rhonda Whyte, Ristananna Tracey and Leah Nugent will attempt to progress three Jamaicans from the heats to the semis.
Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Allyson Felix will both aim to seal a place in the 400m final, while Jamaica’s Omar McLeod is tipped to add the 110m hurdles world title to his Olympic crown.
Day Five
If anyone from Jamaican trio of Nathon Allen, Demish Gaye or Steven Gayle make the 400m final, they’ll see action on day five.
Qualification for the women’s 200m and the women’s shot put will see Jamaicans in action. Sashalee Forbes, Simone Facey and Jodean Williams are down to face the starters in heats as they attempt to progress to the semi-finals. Daniel Thomas-Dodd and Gleneve Grange will be throwing in the women’s shot put.
World record holder and double Olympic champion David Rudisha will be unable to challenge for a third 800m world title due to injury, but Van Niekerk should be going for gold in the 400m and Renaud Lavillenie will resume his pole vault battle with Thiago Braz da Silva after famously losing out to him in Rio last year.
Day Six
Felix is expected to get the better of Miller-Uibo, Shericka Jackson, Novlene Williams-Mills and Chrisann Gordon in the 400m final. Mo Farah starts his 5000m bid in the heats, and Van Niekerk along with Jamaicans Yohan Blake, Rasheed Dwyer and Warren Weir will all look to seal their spots in the 200m showpiece.
If Jamaican Danniel Thomas-Dodd or Gleneve Grange surprisingly makes the women’s shot put final, they will throw for a medal in the evening session.
Kemoy Campbell in the 5000m and Aisha Praught in the 3000m steeplechase will bow into action in their respective heats on day six in order to qualify for the final.
Day Seven
The final of the 200m will seem strange without Bolt, but Van Niekerk will hope to ensure the headline event of day seven is still one to remember. Yohan Blake along with Botswanan’s Isaac Makwala will be his main challengers. Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad will aim to add the 400m hurdles gold to the silver she claimed in 2013. Jamaicans Rhonda Whyte, Ristananna Tracey and Leah Nugent will target medals of their own in the event.
Day seven could also see Jamaica’s Clive Pullen in action in the men’s triple jump — provided that he makes the final.
Natoya Goule and Kimmara McDonald in the 800 m and Kimberly Williamson in the high jump will see their first action on day seven of the championships.
Day Eight
World titles in the women’s long jump, men’s hammer throw and women’s 3000m steeplechase are all up for grabs on day eight, but the spotlight will be on the 200m with Torie Bowie, Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Dafne Schippers contending for the medals. Surprisingly, Olympic champion Elaine Thompson did not enter the event and Jamaica’s hopes of any medals lie in Sashalee Forbes, Simone Facey and Jura Levy making it to the final and producing huge lifetime bests.
If Aisha Praught makes the final of the 3000m steeplechase, then she will be in action on day eight.
Danielle Williams, Megan Simmonds and Yanique Thompson bow into action on day eight in the women’s 100m hurdles. Similarly, Kellion Knibb, Shadae Lawrence and Tarasue Barnett will see their first action in the women’s discus throw.
Day Nine
Farah will seek to secure 5000m glory, but the day in which seven golds are available is sure to be dominated by Bolt as he brings down the curtain on a glittering career in the 4x100m relay. Not to be outdone, Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson will lead Jamaica’s quartet of sprinters in the women’s 4 x 100m relay.
World champion Danielle Williams is expected to compete against world record holder Kendra Harrison and the world and Olympic champion Sally Pearson in the women’s 100m hurdles final.
The heats for the men’s and women’s 4 x 400m relays will also feature Jamaican quartets. Kemoy Campbell and Kimberly Williamson — on the condition that they made their respective finals in the men’s 5000m and the women’s high jump — could add to the list of Jamaicans on showcase on day nine.
Day Ten
The championships come to a close with seven more golds to be won. throw final on day ten.
In the relays, Nathon Allen, Demish Gaye, Steven Gayle and Rusheen McDonald are expected to challenge for a medal in the men’s 4 x 400m. On the women’s side, Shericka Jackson, Chrisann Gordon, Novlene Williams-Mills and Stephenie Ann McPherson or Anniesha McLaughlin-Whilby is the projected quartet to challenge the Americans for gold again, like in 2015.
Two-time world champion and reigning Olympic champion Caster Semenya will be very much the headliner in the women’s 800m, which could also feature Jamaicans Natoya Goule and Kimarra McDonald — if they make the final. In case Kellion Knibb, Shadae Lawrence or Tarasue Barnett pulled a surprise in qualification, then a Jamaican could be in the women’s discus.
Jamaica Observer’s Zaheer E Clarke contributed to this article.