Allyson Felix, USA versus Jamaica Sprint Faceoff, and a Hurdles Showdown

Day 3 of the IAAF World Championships feature great sprint and hurdle finals. Allyson Felix attempts to win the first end of her double in the 400 meters. The men's 110m hurdles could be one for the ages, with the three fastest hurdlers of all time still in contention. Capping off the night is the women's 100 meters, which is expected to be a Jamaica-USA war, with Carmelita Jeter and Veronica Campbell-Brown as the favorites.

All that, plus the first day of the heptathlon, the men's hammer and pole vault finals, and the women's shot put final, where the USA has a real chance at its first-ever Worlds medal.

Schedule, start lists and results

How to watch

9:00 PM tonight
Live webcasts at UniversalSports.com and CBC.ca/sports/olympics

10:00 PM tonight
TV coverage on Universal Sports (tape-delay package)

12:30 AM local time tonight
Late night TV coverage on CBC (tape-delay package)

5:30 AM tomorrow
IAAF Radio (free)

6:00 AM tomorrow
Live webcasts at UniversalSports.com and CBC.ca/sports/olympics

5:30 PM tomorrow
TV coverage on Universal Sports (tape-delay package)

Event-by-event...

Morning Session

9:00 PM – Heptathlon 100m Hurdles
Britain's Jess Ennis is a great hurdler, capable of holding her own in the Diamond League. The only other entrant who has broken 13.00 is the USA's Hyleas Fountain, who is probably not in that form right now. Look for Ennis to take a big lead here.

Other notable heptathletes to watch are Russia's Tatyana Chernova, who could battle Ennis for the gold; Germany's Jennifer Oeser and Ukraine's Natallia Dobrynska, favorites for the bronze; and America's Sharon Day and Canada's Ruky Abdulai and Jessica Zelinka.

9:10 PM – Men's Discus qualifying, Group A
The top 12 in the q-round will go to the finals, with a mark of 65.50 meters or better doing it automatically. America's Jason Young and Jarred Rome are in this group, along with medal favorites Robert Harting (Germany), Virglius Alekna (Lithuania) and Gerd Kanter (Estonia).

9:40 PM – Men's Steeplechase heats
The first four in each heat plus the next four fastest will qualify to the finals.
Heat 1 – Kenya's Richard Mateelong is one of the medal favorites, and France's Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad has an outside shot as well. America's Billy Nelson and Canada's Alex Genest have a chance at getting to the final.
Heat 2 – Kenya's Ezekiel Kemboi is the class of this heat, and France's Bob Tahri is probably the next best. American Dan Huling will have to run very well to get out.
Heat 3 – Kenyan Brimin Kipruto narrowly missed breaking the world record earlier this year. The USA's Ben Bruce and Canada's Matt Hughes (the NCAA champ for Louisville) face an uphill battle to qualify to the final, but anything can happen in the steeple.

10:00 PM – Heptathlon High Jump
Britain's Jess Ennis is about the best high jumper in the competition, along with the USA's Sharon Day, a former NCAA high jump champion. Look for Ennis to extend her lead here.

10:30 PM – Men's 400m Hurdles heats
The top four in each heat plus the next four fastest qualify to the semifinals. There's not much drama expected here, as there are 34 entrants and only ten won't get out.
Heat 1 – Britain's Dai Greene is the best here.
Heat 2 – Top names here are Kerron Clement (USA) and L.J. van Zyl (South Africa). While both should qualify easily, we will get a sense of whether either of these two are ready to challenge for the gold medal.
Heat 3 – Angelo Taylor (USA) and Javier Culson (Puerto Rico) should lead the way.
Heat 4 – Bershawn "Batman" Jackson (USA) is head and shoulders above the rest.
Heat 5 – Bowerman Award finalist Jeshua Anderson (USA/Washington State) is stuck down in lane 1, but it shouldn't keep him from getting through comfortably.

10:30 PM – Men's Discus qualifying, Group B
The USA's Brett Morse is in this group, along with top throwers Piotr Malachowski (Poland) and Zoltan Kovago (Hungary).

11:20 PM – Women's 400m Hurdles heats
As with the men, the first four in each heat plus the next four fastest will qualify to the semifinals. These heats are a bit more filled out, but still there will only be fourteen athletes eliminated in this round.
Heat 1 – Medal favorite Kaliese Spencer is here, along with former Bowerman Award winner Queen Harrison (USA). Lane 1 features Benin's Bimbo Miel Ayedou, who I'm sure is actually quite intelligent.
Heat 2 – Zuzana Hejnova (Czech Republic), one of the medal favorites, should lead this heat.
Heat 3 – America's Lashinda Demus is the best runner in this heat.
Heat 4 – The best runner here is Vania Stambolova (Bulgaria), along with Jamaican age-group ace Ristananna Tracey.
Heat 5 – Defending champ Melaine Walker (Jamaica) runs here, along with the USA's Jasmine Chaney.

Evening Session

6:00 AM – Men's 110m Hurdles Semifinals
With this level of competitiveness, even semifinals will be thrilling. Remember, athletes who look ordinary in the semis almost never win the final. The first three in each heat plus the next two fastest will qualify to the finals, held later in the evening.
Heat 1 – World record holder Dayron Robles (Cuba) and former record holder Liu Xiang (China) are in adjacent lanes. America's Aries Merritt is likely to get through to the finals.
Heat 2 – If American star David Oliver wins this heat comfortably, then he's back in top form. If not, it does not bode well for the finals. The other American, Jason Richardson, is the hurdler who should give him the biggest push.

6:05 AM – Heptathlon Shot Put
The leading medal contenders of Ennis, Chernova, and Oeser are all relatively equal in this event. Natallia Dobrynska is much better than all of them, though, and can make up a lot of ground here.

6:15 AM – Men's Hammer Throw Final
Blogger and Swiss hammer champion Martin Bingisser picks Japan's Koji Murofushi to win, with Pavel Krivitski (Belarus) and Szymon Ziolkowski (Poland) in the next places. I'll trust his judgement, but I'll also mention Krisztian Pars (Hungary) as another medal possibility. You can see his full event preview at his blog.

6:25 AM – Men's Pole Vault Final
Renaud Lavillenie (France) is the heavy favorite for the gold, but this is the pole vault, where "s**t happens" is a way of life. Americans Jeremy Scott and Derek Miles have a chance at a medal, if not a big one.

6:30 AM – Women's 100 meters semifinals
These are brutal semis, with only the top two assured of qualifying (plus the next two fastest runners).
Heat 1 – Kerron Stewart (Jamaica) and Marshevet Myers (USA) stage an undercard battle between the two nations.
Heat 2 – Jamaicans Veronica Campbell-Brown and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price are the favorites to get through. Watch to see if Fraser-Price has regained the form that led her to gold in 2009.
Heat 3 – America's Carmelita Jeter has often come up short in big championship meets. She should get through to the finals easily—if anyone, such as Kelly-Ann Baptiste (Trinidad) gives her trouble, it's not a good sign.

7:00 AM – Men's 400 meters semifinals
Just like the women's 100 semis, these are tough, with only the top two in each heat plus the next two fastest getting through.
Heat 1 – LaShawn Merritt threw down the gauntlet in the heats, running the fastest 1st round time in world history.
Heat 2 – Kirani James (Grenada) is probably the best here, along with Chris Brown (Bahamas) and NCAA 4x400 hero Tabarie Henry (Virgin Islands). America's Jamaal Torrence will have to run the race of his life to get through.
Heat 3 – Jermaine Gonzales (Jamaica) and Rondell Bartholomew (Grenada) are the best runners in the race. The USA's Greg Nixon has an outside chance. All eyes will be on lane 7: can Oscar Pistorius qualify to the final?

7:35 AM – Heptathlon 200 meters
Ennis is again the best of the contenders in this event, and should add to her lead.

8:05 AM – Women's Shot Put Final
There really are two competitions to watch here. First is the battle for gold, which should be a slugfest between bitter rivals Valerie Adams (New Zealand) and Nadzeya Ostapchuk (Belarus). No one else is remotely close to their level.
The other battle is for bronze, and the USA actually has two throwers capable of winning that contest in Jillian Camarena-Williams and Michelle Carter. Their greatest challenge will probably come from Gong Lijiao (China). The USA has not won an Olympic/Worlds medal in this event in over 50 years.

8:05 AM – Women's 400 meters Final
Two big questions here for Allyson Felix. One, can she win the first leg of her quest for the 200/400 double? And if so, how hard will she have to work for it? There are several athletes who could push or even beat her: Amantle Montsho (Botswana), Ana Kapachinskaya (Russia), and even teammates Francena McCorory and Sanya Richards-Ross. Felix is obviously the favorite, but this should be a great race.

8:25 AM – Men's 110m Hurdles Final
The finalists are yet to be determined. Casual fans like the 100, but if you're a real track fan then you love the high hurdles. One mistake and things change in the blink of an eye.

8:45 AM – Women's 100 meters Final
The finalists are yet to be determined. In any case, prepare for a Jamaica – USA war.