Three more days until the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar! Here is the women's sprints preview.

Women’s 100m

Reigning Champion: Tori Bowie

2019 Diamond League Champion: Dina Asher-Smith

Event Schedule: Sep. 28 (First Round); Sep. 29 (Semi-Final and Final)

Analysis:

Any suggestion that the women’s 100m would be a two woman race in Doha between Jamaicans Elaine Thompson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was silenced after Brit Dina Asher-Smith beat Fraser-Pryce in the Diamond League final on Sep. 6. 

While a gulf exists between the two Jamaicans and the rest of their World Championship competitors on time alone-- Thompson and Fraser-Pryce hold matching 10.73 world leads, with Asher-Smith next in line at 10.88-- that margin obscures the fact that this is truly a three woman race for gold in 2019.

After failing to medal at the 2017 World Championships in the encore to her 100m-200m gold sweep at the Rio Olympics, the 27-year-old Thompson has put herself in position to stand atop the podium again with a world lead and two Diamond League victories this summer. The one knock on Thompson is she hasn’t come close to that 10.73 in subsequent races, but that can mostly be attributed to racing conditions and a focus on the 200m. She hasn’t lost a 100m since May, although she did not compete in the Brussels final three weeks ago.

Fraser-Pryce’s rejuvenation has been one of the stories of the season in her comeback from childbirth in 2017. The 32-year-old five-time 100m global champion has looked like the Fraser-Pryce of old in 2019, as she’s run 10.7 on three occasions. She has a truckload of medals that give her an experience edge in Doha. The Jamaican lost her Worlds tune-up in the Diamond League final to Asher-Smith, but her strong start and overall body of work proves she’ll be very hard to beat with hardware on the line.

Asher-Smith is playing with house money in the 100m as she’s the favorite for gold in the 200m. But two golds are better than one, and her win in Brussels must have been a huge confidence boost. Working against the 23-year-old, however, is the fact that she’s never beaten Thompson in the 100m and is just 1-3 lifetime against Fraser-Pryce. Toppling both in Doha will require her to be better than her 10.85 personal best in the final.

The three names above represent the first level of contenders, but they aren’t the only ones. Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josée Ta Lou won silver in the 100m and 200m in 2017, and she’s been a consistent performer all season, including her win at the Prefontaine Classic in June. Ta Lou’s 10.85 last year was tied with Asher-Smith as the fastest in the world for 2018.

The Americans present a couple sleepers who are plenty capable of outperforming their modest entry times. U.S. champion Teahna Daniels has only run 10.99, but her last five races have all been run into a headwind. The perpetually injured English Gardner has a meager 11.16 best this year, which she’ll easily eclipse if healthy in Doha. Gardner has a 10.74 lifetime best, but it’s a mystery what form she’ll be in at these championships since she didn’t race post-USAs.

There’s also defending champion Tori Bowie, who has looked totally out of her element so far in a sluggish season to date. Her 11.09 season’s best doesn’t portend to her winning a medal in Doha, but perhaps a woman of her caliber can flip the script.

The Netherlands’ Dafne Schippers is one more name to keep tabs on. Although she has had a down season with only an 11.04 season’s best, the 27-year-old has medalled in this event at the last two world championships.

My Podium Picks: GOLD: Elaine Thompson SILVER: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce BRONZE: Dina Asher-Smith

Women’s 200m

Reigning Champion: Dafne Schippers

2019 Diamond League Champion: Shaunae Miller-Uibo (Not Competing)

Event Schedule: Sep. 30 (First Round); Oct. 1 (Semi-Final); Oct. 2 (Final)

Analysis:

This event has lost much of its intrigue with three-time 200m Diamond League champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo choosing to skip it for the 400m. A friendlier schedule could have prevented such a glaring error, but I’m sure all of Miller-Uibo’s competitors are thrilled that a 21.74 performer will not line up next to them.

After finishing second behind Miller-Uibo in the Zurich final on Aug. 29 in 22.08, well ahead of Elaine Thompson in third, Dina Asher-Smith is the gold medal favorite even despite losing to Thompson earlier in the season. Asher-Smith proved she can turn it on for the championships by blasting a 21.89 last summer at Euros, a time she’ll need to win here. Her 22.08 best is only fourth-fastest in the world this year, but her doing it just a month before Doha showed she’s trending up.

Of course, Asher-Smith isn’t a lock for gold with Thompson, Blessing Okagbare and two-time reigning champion Dafne Schippers sure to factor prominently in the outcome. Thompson is a 21.66 performer who has run 22.00 this season, second-best in the world. Her ceiling is higher given the superior personal best, but Asher-Smith has beaten her two out of three tries this season.

The Nigerian Okagbare put herself on the map with a stunning 22.05 win at Pre in June over Thompson and Asher-Smith. Her downfall is that she hasn’t been nearly as strong since; the 30-year-old was a distant sixth in the Diamond League final in 22.62.

Schippers holds the championship record via her 21.63 breakout performance in 2015. The Dutchwoman will look to become only the second woman to win three straight 200m world titles, the other being Allyson Felix. But Schippers has only run 22.45 this year and was fourth in Brussels behind Asher-Smith and Thompson. A three-peat in Doha would be a truly stunning achievement.

Since the 200m comes after the 100m, the event tends to be a chaotic battle of attrition for the world’s best sprinters. If any of the above names falter, women like Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, U.S. champion Dezerea Bryant, reigning silver medalist Marie-Josée Ta Lou and Switzerland’s Mujinda Kambundji could be there to pick up the pieces. Fraser-Pryce is a former 200m world champion whose start makes her a contender.

My Podium Picks: GOLD: Dina Asher-Smith SILVER: Elaine Thompson BRONZE: Dezerea Bryant

Women’s 400m

Reigning Champion: Phyllis Francis

2019 Diamond League Champion: Salwa Eid Naser

Event Schedule: Sep. 30 (First Round); Oct. 1 (Semi-Final); Oct. 3 (Final)

Analysis:

The women’s 400m final is slated to be just the fourth ever match-up between 2016 Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo and 2017 World silver medalist Salwa Eid Naser and their first meeting of 2019.

And what a battle it should be.

The 25-year-old Miller-Uibo enters with a slight edge given her undefeated record over the last two seasons and her incredible 21.74 200m speed, but these women both had spectacular seasons worthy of gold. Naser, 21, ran a 2019 best of 49.17 that was not far off the 49.05 that Miller-Uibo dropped way back in April. Her lone loss in the 400m since 2018 is to the Bahamian.

It’s likely that both would have faster marks coming in if they had raced each other this year, but 2019’s first sub-49 second clocking will have to wait until they meet on Oct. 3. With Miller-Uibo ripping that 21.74 on Aug. 29 in Zurich, she foreshadowed something very quick over 400m, likely better than her 48.97 personal best. Naser hasn’t gone sub 49 seconds yet, but beating Miller-Uibo for gold will surely require her to do so. At a 49.08 PB, she’s close.

With the gap these two have created between them and the rest of the field, it would be a massive surprise to see someone break them up atop the podium, but Jamaican Shericka Jackson and U.S. champion Shakima Wimbley at least have a shot. Jackson ran her 49.78 personal best earlier this year and she holds two bronze medals from previous global championships. Wimbley has run 49.52, but she’s questionable after going down with an injury earlier this month.

U.S. champion Kendall Ellis is another name to watch, as the rookie pro beat Wimbley and Phyllis Francis in Paris on Aug. 24. Ellis has run 49.99.

A defending champion doesn’t usually qualify as a sleeper, but Francis is exactly that after the American managed just a 50.76 season’s best so far in 2019. She caught lightning in a bottle to win gold two years ago, but lightning isn’t known to strike twice in the same spot. Her fifth place finish in the U.S. 200m was at least an encouraging sign for her speed.

My Podium Picks: GOLD: Shaunae Miller-Uibo SILVER: Salwa Eid Naser BRONZE: Shericka Jackson