More Gold for the USA?

Day 7 of the IAAF World Championships has many opportunities for the USA to add to its gold medal haul. Finals are held in four events that Americans are figured as having chances to win: the men’s shot put, long jump and 4x400 relay and the women’s 200 meters. But victory is not assured; challengers for the titles come from familiar rivals such as Jamaica, Canada and Australia.

Maybe the bigger draw is Usain Bolt’s return to the track in the qualifying rounds of the men’s 200 meters. If an angry Bolt is more dangerous than the playing-to-the-crowd one, we could be in for some great running.

All this plus the finals in the women’s 5000 meters and javelin throw, semis in the women’s 800, an America’s female hurdlers and relayers start their journeys to the finals.

Schedule, start lists and results
LIVE results and live blog

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

11:35 PM tonight local time
TV coverage on CBC

5:00 AM tomorrow
Live webcasts at UniversalSports.com and CBC.ca/sports/olympics

5:30 AM tomorrow
IAAF Radio (free)

6:00 PM tomorrow
TV coverage on Universal Sports

Event by event (all times Eastern)...

Morning session

9:00 PM – Women’s Hammer qualifying, group A
The top 12 will qualify to the final, with a mark of 71.00 or better doing it automatically. This group includes some medal favorites in Zhang Wenxiu (China), Tatyana Lysenko (Russia) and Kathrin Klaas (Germany). America’s Jessica Cosby and Amber Campbell stand a decent chance of qualifying, while Canada’s Heather Steacy a bit less so.  Martin Bingisser previews the competition at his blog.

9:20 PM – Women’s 100m Hurdles heats
The first four in each heat plus the next four fastest will qualify to the semifinals, meaning that just 15 out of the 39 entrants will be eliminated.
Heat 1 – America’s Kellie Wells is the class of this heat. Vonette Dixon (Jamaica) and Nikkita Holder (Canada) should get through too.
Heat 2 – Sally Pearson (Australia) is the gold medal favorite; Derval O’Rourke (Ireland) tends to come up big for the championship meets.
Heat 3 – Tiffany (Ofili) Porter, the American-turned-Brit, is a possible medal contender.
Heat 4 – America’s Danielle Carruthers should lead this heat, along with Phylicia George, one of Canada’s biggest breakthroughs of the year.
Heat 5 – North American veterans Dawn Harper (USA) and Perdita Felicien (Canada) are the best here.

9:30 PM – Men’s Triple Jump qualifying
The top 12 will qualify to the final, with a mark of 17.10 meters or better doing it automatically.
Group A includes heavy favorite Phillips Idowu (Great Britain), along with young American hopefuls Christian Taylor and Will Claye.
Group B includes Alexis Copello (Cuba), also figured as a medal threat, as well as the USA’s Walter Davis, who probably needs his best effort of the year to get to the final.

10:10 PM – Men’s 200 meters heats
The first three in each heat plus the next three fastest will qualify to the semifinals.
Heat 1 – The old-timers’ hero of the 100, Kim Collins (St. Kitts & Nevis), isn’t as good at the 200, so Walter Dix (USA) should have almost a walkover.
Heat 2 – Usain Bolt. What, there are other guys in this heat? I guess I should mention Bryan Barnett (Canada), who might be able to get through.
Heat 3 – Doc Patton (USA) and Jaysuma Saidy Ndure (Norway) should lead this one.
Heat 4 – Christophe Lemaitre (France) and Marvin Anderson (Jamaica) are the top seeds.
Heat 5 – Nickel Ashmeade (Jamaica) is the only man besides Bolt to break 20.00 this year. American Jeremy Dodson is here as well, more famous now for other things than running.
Heat 6 – Not as strong a heat; Alonso Edward (Panama) and Jared Connaughton (Canada) are the top entrants.
Heat 7 – Mario Forsythe (Jamaica) is here, along with Arkansas’ SEC champ Marek Niit (Estonia).

10:35 PM – Women’s Hammer qualifying, group B
World record holder Betty Heidler (Germany) is a strong favorite to win. Previous world record holder Anita Wlodarczyk (Poland) should qualify. NCAA runner-up Jeneva McCall (USA) is a long shot to make the final.

11:10 PM – Women’s 4x400 Relay heats
The first two in each heat plus the next two fastest will make it to the finals.
Heat 1 – Team USA should qualify easily. Ukraine and Belarus will probably battle for second.
Heat 2 – Russia should win. Brazil, Cuba and Canada will fight for the other qualifying spot.
Heat 3 – Jamaica is the best here, and Great Britain should get the next place.

Evening Session

6:00 AM – Men’s Shot Put final
This is a wide-open affair, with any of six or seven men capable of winning. The USA has numbers on its side as all four American entrants qualified to the final—Christian Cantwell, Reese Hoffa, Adam Nelson and Ryan Whiting. Canada’s Dylan Armstrong is the 2011 world leader, and is noted for his ability to peak at the right time. Tomasz Majewski (Poland) and Andrei Mikhnevich (Belarus) have won global titles in the past.

6:10 AM – Women’s Javelin final
For the last several years, the javelin has been a three-way battle between Christina Obergfoll (Germany), Barbora Spotakova (Czech Republic) and Maria Abakumova (Russia). Expect more of the same.

6:20 AM – Men’s Long Jump final
The favorite here is Australia’s Mitchell Watt, whose only shortcoming this year was a third place when he bruised his heel. Defending champion Dwight Phillips (USA) had a huge seasonal best in the qualifying round, showing that he’s not over the hill quite yet. It’s hard to tell what NCAA champion Ngoni Makusha (Zimbabwe) can do as he hasn’t jumped since winning that title back in June. The other USA finalist, Will Claye, is not expected to figure for a medal.

6:25 AM – Women’s 800 meters semifinals
This is another of those brutal three-semi setups, where only the top two in each heat plus the next two fastest will get through to the final.
Heat 1 – Britain’s Jenny Meadows is a great competitor in championship races and looks to do well here. Yuliya Rusanova (Russia) barely got through the heats, but is still a dangerous runner. The USA’s Maggie Vessey is an up-and-down runner, but if she’s up she can qualify.
Heat 2 – Russian champ and 2011 world leader Mariya Savinova is the runner to watch. America’s Alysia (Johnson) Montano could get through with a good run.
Heat 3 – Kenia Sinclair (Jamaica) is the best runner in this heat, but Caster Semenya (South Africa) will get the attention. American Alice Schmidt is capable of qualifying to the final.

6:55 AM – Men’s 200 meters semifinals
Semifinalists are yet to be determined. Bolt will be here and all eyes will be on him.

7:25 AM – Women’s 5000 meters final
Four Kenyans, three Ethiopians. Does anyone else stand a chance? 10k champ Vivian Cheruiyot is also the defending champ at 5k, but Meseret Defar could make a difference. The USA has two finalists in Lauren Fleshman and Amy Hastings.

7:55 AM – Women’s 200 meters final
Three Americans, three Jamaicans. It’s not even worth asking if anyone else has a chance. Carmelita Jeter (USA) tries to finish off a sprint double, Allyson Felix (USA) and Veronica Campbell-Brown (Jamaica) try to avenge losses in other events, and USA champion and 2011 world leader Shalonda Solomon tries to get some respect.

8:15 AM – Men’s 4x400m Relay final
For the first time in about 20 years, the USA might have to fight to win this race. Both Jamaica and South Africa broke 3:00.00 in the semifinals, and neither used the entirety of their A-team. Jamaica rested Jermaine Gonzales and South Africa rested L.J. van Zyl. The USA also left its 400 hurdlers in reserve, and Angelo Taylor is generally seen as the second-strongest leg the Americans have after LaShawn Merritt. Belgium has a pair of 400 finalists in the Borlee brothers but lack the depth to make a run at the gold.