The 2017 IAAF World Championships in London are right around the corner! Check out the breakdown of the men's 110m and 400m hurdles below, and stay tuned for a preview of the women's 100m and 400m hurdles arriving later today.
 

Men's 110m Hurdles

When:
August 6, 7:15 AM CT (heats)
August 6, 2:10 PM CT (semi-finals)
August 7, 3:30 PM CT (final)

Top International Contenders: Omar McLeod (Jamaica), Sergey Shubenkov (Russia), Ronald Levy (Jamaica), Garfield Darien (France), Antonio Alkana (South Africa), Andy Pozzi (Great Britain), Orlando Ortega (Spain), Johnathan Cabral (Canada)

Team USA: Aleec Harris, Aries Merritt, Devon Allen

2016 Olympic 110m Hurdles Final:


Photo credit: Kirby Lee, USA Today

PLACE	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	TIME	BACK IN 2017?
1	Omar McLeod	JAM	13.05	YES
2	Orlando Ortega	ESP	13.17	YES
3	Dimitri Bascou	FRA	13.24	NO
4	Pascal Martinot-Lagarde	FRA	13.29	NO
5	Devon Allen	USA	13.31	YES
6	Johnathan Cabral	CAN	13.4	YES
7	Milan Trajkovic	CYP	13.41	NO
-	Ronnie Ash	USA	DQ	NO

ANALYSIS:
One thing's for certain: It's a good time to be Omar McLeod. After enjoying the season of a lifetime that concluded with Olympic gold in Rio, the 23-year-old Arkansas alum made short work of his PR in the 100m hurdles by throwing down a new Jamaican national record and world lead, 12.90, at the end of June this year. That's tantalizingly close to the world record of 12.80 set by Aries Merritt, who will race alongside him for his first shot at an international medal since the 2015 World Championships in Beijing. Just days after he secured bronze there, Merritt was sidelined by a rare genetic disorder that required a kidney transplant. Eager to compete for another Olympic medal, Merritt mounted a furious comeback campaign in 2016, but fell just short of earning a berth in fourth place at the Olympic Trials.

Now, Merritt's season's-best mark of 13.09 is tied for fourth worldwide with France's Garfield Darien, and teammate Devon Allen is right behind him in fifth (13.10). The Oregon football and track and field alum also took fifth in Rio, and will be on the hunt for his first world podium spot. The 2013 bronze medalist and 2015 world champion, Russia's Sergey Shubenkov, is entering the competition hungry for another title. Last year, his petition to compete as a neutral athlete in the Olympics was denied by the IAAF in the wake of Russia's state-sponsored doping scandal. Despite the setback, Shubenkov doesn't appear to have lost any speed; he ran the second-fastest time in the world this year (13.01). Jamaica also has a legitimate shot at landing another countryman on the podium in Ronald Levy, who ran a personal-best 13.05 this season en route to taking down McLeod in Paris.

​After his runner-up finish at the 2017 USATF Outdoor Championships, Merritt told reporters that he's the healthiest he's been in years:

Men's 400m Hurdles

When:
August 6, 5:05 PM CT (heats)
August 7, 2:20 PM CT (semi-finals)
August 9, 3:30 PM CT (final)

Top International Contenders: Kyron McMaster (British Virgin Islands), Yasmani Copello (Turkey), Karsten Warholm (Norway), Mamadou Kasse Hann (France), Kemar Mowatt (Jamaica), Jaheel Hyde (Jamaica), Javier Culson (Puerto Rico), Jack Green (Great Britain)

Team USA: Kerron Clement, Eric Futch, Michael Stigler, TJ Holmes

2016 Olympic Men's 400m Hurdles Final:


Photo credit: James Lang, USA Today
 

PLACE	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	TIME	BACK IN 2017?
1	Kerron Clement	USA	47.73	YES
2	Boniface Mucheru Tumuti	KEN	47.78	NO
3	Yasmani Copello	TUR	47.92	YES
4	Thomas Barr	IRL	47.97	YES
5	Annsert Whyte	JAM	48.07	NO
6	Rasmus Mägi	EST	48.4	YES
7	Haron Koech	KEN	49.09	YES
-	Javier Culson	PUR	DQ	YES

ANALYSIS:
Anchored by only a handful of veterans, the field for the men's 400m hurdles is dominated by the next generation and helmed by one particularly meteoric talent. As the only hurdler to venture under 48 seconds this season, 20-year-old Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands is entering uncharted territory in his first-ever senior-level world championships. The progress he's made in the past year is remarkable, to say the least. Almost exactly a year ago, he grabbed a world junior bronze medal in the 400m hurdles with his first sub-50 performance (49.56), and soon he'll be settling into blocks next to the reigning Olympic champion, Kerron Clement. A seasoned international competitor, Clement owns two Olympic golds and one silver, four world titles, and two NCAA titles. At 31 years old, he hasn't shown any signs of slowing down -- Clement owns the second-fastest time in the world this year, 48.02, and the fastest PR in the field, 47.24.

Armed with confidence and a brand-new adidas contract, Eric Futch is riding a wave of success this season that saw him sweep his second-consecutive NCAA title and charge to first at the USATF Outdoor Championships in a new PR of 48.18. Futch won't be the only greenhorn on Team USA this year -- Michael Stigler and TJ Holmes also ran big-time PRs (48.26 and 48.44, respectively) to punch their tickets to London amid a stacked field that included Olympians Byron Robinson, Johnny Dutch, Bershawn Jackson and others. Their bids on the global stage will be challenged by experienced racers like Yasmani Copello of Turkey, who grabbed bronze at the 2016 Olympic Games with a personal-best time and national record of 47.92. Norway's young gun, Karsten Warholm, will be another one to watch. The 21-year-old reset his PR in 48.25, a national record, a month before winning the 2017 European U23 Championships in July.

At the 2017 USATF Outdoor Championships, ​Futch explained how he approached his race differently a year after finishing fifth at the Olympic Trials: