LIVE

|

RACES

|

RESULTS

|

ENTRIES

|

SCHEDULE

|

INTERVIEWS

|

MEDALS

|

PICKS

|

CONTEST

The last few weeks of track headlines have made it easy to forget that we’re a week away from the World Championships.

 

The month of August got off to a wild start with doping accusations threatening to tarnish performances for the last 10 years, and even worse, rumors of a governing body that turned its back while cheating became permissible. While the IAAF vehemently denies any wrongdoing, it’s hard to ignore two of the world’s most renowned anti-doping scientists saying that our sport exists in the dark ages compared to the testing practices of cycling, which has itself been severely damaged by drugs. 

 

With the doping madness still fresh in our minds, the Nick Symmonds v. USATF dispute over the definition of “official” team functions and questions of revenue sharing between the national governing body and its athletes has left Symmonds off the World Championship team and increased the discussion about athlete rights. 

 

The six-time US 800 champion is the third-fastest American ever and a World Championship silver medalist, but his fight to change the status quo will be remembered much longer than any of his accomplishments on the track. That fight has only just begun. 

 

As the clock ticks ever closer to Beijing, my thoughts have not been focused on the competition that awaits next week. Somehow, who finishes where on the podium has seemed trivial compared to the deep-rooted issues that will continue long after the book is written on the 15th IAAF World Championships. 

 

But I’m ready to give myself a break. I’ve been excited about attending my first World Championships since the day I was hired over a year ago, and I don’t want a little ugliness in the sport to change that now, even if I’ve found myself questioning my own allegiance at times. 

 

No matter the rumors, politics, or cover-ups, the best athletes in the world will convene next week in the Bird’s Nest to battle for coveted medals and the glory of entire nations. 

 

Here are my top five storylines heading into the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing: 

 

1. Can Genzebe Dibaba pull off the historic 1500/5000 double?

No one has been more dominant than the 24-year-old Ethiopian in 2015. Genzebe Dibaba will enter the World Championships undefeated across all distances this season, with her shining moment being the 3:50.07 1500m World record she set in Monaco. 

Genzebe Dibaba broke the 22-year-old 1500m World record on July 17th

In addition to her 1500 glory, Dibaba has shown remarkable ability in the 5,000m. After setting the indoor 5000 World record in February (14:18.86), Dibaba lowered her PR to 14:15.41 on July 4th at the Paris Diamond League, which made her the fourth-fastest woman ever in the distance. More importantly though, Dibaba beat 2015 World leader and fellow Ethiopian Almaz Ayana handily in Paris by more than seven seconds, establishing herself as the favorite in Beijing. 

 

Her attempt for the unprecedented 1500/5000 double at Worlds was initially denied by the Ethiopian Athletics Federation, who strangely only selected Dibaba for the 5,000m at Worlds just four days after her record-breaking 1500m. 

 

However, just one week later, the Dibaba double was back on the table as her coach confirmed on July 28th that the Ethiopian would run both events in Beijing. The stage is now set for one of the greatest athletic achievements in track and field history. 

 

No woman has ever won both events at the World Championships (although Tatyana Dorovskikh won the 1500/3000 in 1987), and for Dibaba to become the first she will have to do so while managing a busy racing schedule. The 24-year-old will run three rounds of the 1500 (on Days 1, 2, & 4) and two rounds of the 5000 (on Days 6 & 9), which is certainly a heavy workload, but not impossible. 

 

In 2007, Bernard Lagat accomplished the double in Osaka with two days between each 1500 round, and three days between the 5000 prelim and final. Lagat only ran on consecutive days once in 2007, with the 1500 final and 5000 prelim on August 29th and August 30th, respectively. 

 

Similarly, Dibaba will only run on consecutive days one time in Beijing, and it’s only in the first two rounds of the 1500. The Dibaba Double seems inevitable. 

 

2. Will Justin Gatlin dethrone Usain Bolt?

Justin Gatlin must be thrilled that the last few controversies in the sport haven’t involved his name at the top of the headlines, because the 33-year-old has been the most controversial man in track and field for the last two years.

Love him or hate him, no one can deny that Justin Gatlin will be tough to beat in Beijing

Gatlin, who has served two doping bans in his career, has been the source of speculation and constant ridicule as he continues to run faster than he ever has at an age when many are on the decline. People tend to raise an eyebrow when a convicted doper starts running fast, and when you tack on the age-factor you get Justin Gatlin. 

 

No one has come close to Gatlin in 2015, and he enters Beijing far and away the favorite to win gold in both the 100 and 200, events in which he has run PRs of 9.74 and 19.57 this season. If he is able to win both titles at Worlds, ten years after he won both at the 2005 World Championships, Gatlin will no doubt be the headliner once more as people get feisty when cheaters stand atop a podium. 

 

Gatlin’s dominance combined with World record holder Usain Bolt’s struggles during most of 2015 made the idea of Gatlin sweeping the 100/200 at Worlds seem inevitable, or at least that was until Bolt showed a semblance of his true ability by running 9.87 in London on July 24th. 

 

The six-time Olympic gold medalist and eight-time World champ has been made out to be the only man capable of stopping Gatlin, as he is the last person to beat the American and the owner of 9.58 and 19.19 PRs. His win in London, albeit in a race lacking Gatlin, was his first sub-10 of 2015 and the first time this season that Bolt actually looked something like the Bolt of old.  

 

While others freely accepted the notion that Lightning Bolt is back and ready to take on evil, er I mean Gatlin, I’m not so sure. The 28-year-old Jamaican hasn’t run faster than 9.77 since the 2012 Olympic Games, while Gatlin has run 9.78 or faster on four different occasions in 2015. I understand that Bolt is a gamer who has always shown up when it counts, but I believe the gap in fitness is too great for him to make up in the 100.

It’s a similar story in the 200, as Gatlin ran 19.57 at USA’s, while Bolt has yet to break 20 this season. The Jamaican was certainly not in fighting condition when he was running so poorly in the 200 earlier this season, but I have no reason to believe he can beat Gatlin in the half-lapper in Beijing either. 

 

With a convicted doper threatening to take over the throne from the World’s Fastest Man, the sports world will watch as a symbolic fight between good and evil unfolds in the Bird’s Nest. Whether you believe Gatlin is running dirty or not, no matchup holds as much weight in 2015 as the one between these two men. 

 

3. Mo Farah And The Quest To Remain Unstoppable

Mo Farah knows how to deal with stress. 

 

Sweeping the 5K/10K at the last two global competitions (’12 OG, ’13 WC) will teach a person stress management, but that strain pales in comparison to the summer that the 32-year-old Farah has endured in 2015. Although never directly implicated in the NOP doping allegations that broke in early June, Farah had to answer a litany of speculative questions in the last few months and even allowed for 20 of his past blood samples to be revealed. Such is the lengths Farah has gone to prove his innocence. 

Mo Farah was fired up after winning the Lausanne 5K on July 9th, his first race since the NOP doping allegations 

On the track, it’s been a typical dominant season for the Brit, with big confidence building victories in his primary events at Pre (10K) and Lausanne (5K) showing that 2015 is still the year of the Mo-Bot. Kenyan Geoffrey Kamworor, who won World XC in March and just ran 27:11 to win the Kenyan Trials in Nairobi (at 5,500 ft) figures to be the biggest threat in the 10,000m in Beijing, but Farah has already beaten him this season at Prefontaine. Go ahead and chalk up another gold for Mo here. 

 

The 5,000m looks promising for Farah as well, but should be a much tougher challenge. One big factor will be the health of Ethiopian Hagos Gebrhiwet, who beat Farah in the Doha 3K to start the season and is the reigning World Championship silver medalist. Gebrhiwet hasn’t raced since finishing third in the Rome 5,000m on June 4th, but was one of the four men that the Ethiopian Federation named to their 5K team on July 20th. The kicker, of course, is that Ethiopia can only send three men to Beijing so an injured Gebrhiwet just might be left off when the final declarations are made. Removing a 12:47 man from the field makes Farah’s shot of winning his fourth straight global 5K title that much easier. 

 

If Gebrhiwet doesn’t make the trip, the next best shot to upset Farah in the 5,000m is Ethiopian teenager Yomif Kejelcha. The then 17-year-old Kejelcha (he turned 18 on August 1st) was the only man that challenged Farah in the last lap in Lausanne on July 9th, a race with a similar field to what should line up at the Bird’s Nest. Although he couldn’t kick with Farah in the last 100, Kejelcha’s fearlessness in Switzerland proved that he can be a threat at Worlds. Couple that with his two victories at Pre and Rome (with no Farah of course), including a World-leading 12:58.39 win in the latter race, and it seems clear that the young Ethiopian will have as good of shot as any to do the unthinkable in Beijing.

 

It’s not the summer that Farah could have envisioned from the onset, but all the technical details are falling into place for him to once again rule the world in 2015. He has proven this season that his lethal kick has not waned one bit, the greatest indicator of what is to come at Worlds. Having weathered the storm of controversy, Farah should have no trouble doing what he does best- winning. 

 

4. Can Evan Jager, Emma Coburn Become The First Americans To Medal In The World Championships Steeple?

No American, male or female, has ever medaled in a World Championship steeple. That could all change in 2015. 

 

Two blonde-haired steeplers, Evan Jager and Emma Coburn, are the two best Americans in the history of this event (although Coburn doesn’t technically have the AR, we all know she’s run 9:11), and have each shown the guts needed to hang with the mighty East Africans in this brutal race. 

Evan Jager broke hearts on July 4th, but he also earned respect from the best steepler in the world

The greatest shot has be Jager, who firmly established himself as a medal contender on July 4th as he dominated the Paris steeple for 2900m before his stunning fall over the final barrier cost him the victory and a performance likely around 7:55-7:56, i.e. a spot in the top 10 in the world all-time. 

 

The fall was heart-breaking, but the idea of an American being disappointed by running 8:00.45 (smashing his previous 8:04.71 AR) and finishing second in a Diamond League steeple shows just how special the 26-year-old is. The man he would have beaten in Paris had he not tumbled was none other than gold medal favorite Jairus Birech of Kenya, who is the only man to break 8:00 in the last two seasons. 

 

With Jager putting a scare into the best steepler in the world in Paris, expectations should not be limited to just a medal in Beijing. Jager will be thinking gold when the gun fires for the men’s steeple final on August 24th.

 

Compared to Jager, Emma Coburn hasn’t been incredibly flashy in 2015, and certainly enters Beijing under the radar after her 10th place showing in Monaco on July 17th. The 24-year-old was sick there, and still managed to run 9:23.91, but the greatest proof that she could become the first American woman to win a Worlds steeple medal comes from last season, when she ran 9:11.42, the third-fastest time in the world in 2014.   

Emma Coburn is never afraid of leading, but she would be wise to hang back in Beijing

Coburn loves to mix it up near the front, but if she avoids leading like she did in Lausanne, where she ended up doing way too much work, her shot at a medal greatly increases. The Kenyans will be formidable per usual, as will Turkey’s Habiba Ghribi (WL 9:11.28) and Ethiopia’s Hiwot Ayalew, and Coburn would be wise to follow Jager’s technique of running just off the leaders and then joining them in the final kilometer. Of the five fastest steeplers in the world this season, Coburn owns the fastest 1500 PR. 

 

5. Asbel Kiprop Goes For The Three-Peat

It’s always a show when Asbel Kiprop is racing. 

 

The two-time defending World champion in the 1500 will go for his third straight title in the Bird’s Nest, also the site of his 2008 Olympic silver medal that became gold when original winner Rashid Ramzi was caught doping. The 26-year-old is an overwhelming favorite in Beijing, even as his racing strategies continue to perplex and amaze. 

Asbel Kiprop is as talented as he is unpredictable

Kiprop ran the third-fastest 1500 of all-time in Monaco on July 17th, 3:26.69, then followed that up a week later with a bizarre come-from-behind victory in the London mile. There, the Kenyan seemed to run from the back on purpose, then suddenly shot to the front with ease over the last lap while his competitors (including WC medalists Matthew Centrowitz and Ayanleh Souleiman) offered little in terms of a counter. These two races proved to the world and Kiprop himself that he can win gold in any type of situation in Beijing. 

 

Such is the norm for the lanky Kiprop, who so often dominates his competition with his long, powerful stride that has yielded one of the most gifted metric milers in history. It’s his race tactics that have often gotten him into trouble in the past, but with his result in London it seems that not even some faulty decision-making can slow him down this season. The pace will almost certainly be slow in Beijing, as is championship custom, and Kiprop has now proven that he can jog in the back and then slingshot around the field when the real racing begins. 

 

If he is able to become a three-peat champion, Kiprop would join Noureddine Morceli and Hicham El Guerrouj as only the third man in World Championship history to accomplish that feat. El Guerrouj, the 1500 World record holder, won four consecutive World titles between 1997-2003, which Kiprop could be well in line to match in 2017. 

 

First though, the Kenyan must conquer the world again this year, a reality that seems inevitable regardless of his competition or race strategy. The challengers will be in pursuit, among them Olympic champ Taoufik Makhloufi and Souleiman, but when all is said and done, Kiprop will stand atop the podium once more.