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World Championships Day 2 Preview

By Jesse Squire

August 5, 2017

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The Usain Bolt retirement tour kicks into high gear today, but it’s not the only action at the IAAF World Championships in London’s Olympic Stadium. Three other events hand out medals today, including the women’s 10,000 meters, and the competition goes all morning and all afternoon. Here’s a quick guide to what to watch and when and how to see it.

TODAY’S SCHEDULE
The competition is split into a morning session and evening session. If you’re finding the morning session a bit too early, you can take solace in the fact that, aside from the early events of the heptathlon, it’s all qualifying rounds.

The afternoon is nearly all finals, including the last individual race of Usain Bolt’s career. The men’s 100 meter final is slated to begin at 4:45pm EDT and it’s a can’t-miss event.

And how, exactly, can you watch?

HOW TO WATCH

Today’s morning session will be televised in the USA live on NBC Sports Network from 5:00 to 8:00am EDT and in tape-delayed fashion on the Olympic Channel from 9:30am to 12:30pm. The evening session will be televised live on NBC from 3:00 to 5:00pm and in tape-delayed fashion on the Olympic Channel from 8:00pm to 10:00pm.

Lie streams will be available to US viewers via NBC Sports Gold. There will be a track-centric all-event stream plus one each dedicated to each field event, along with a simulcast stream of the various television broadcasts. A “track and field pass” is required ($70 per year) but is well worth the cost – and unlike other broadcasters’ online platforms, no cable subscription is necessary for access.

Online coverage in Canada will be via CBCsports.ca and television coverage will be via CBC (live at 2:00pm EDT, replay at 7:00pm local time).

The IAAF will also offer a live stream via YouTube and Facebook which will be available in a large number of nations which includes Canada but not the USA. The IAAF Radio service will be available globally and can be accessed through both the IAAF website and the IAAF mobile app.

Determined fans can bypass various geoblocking measures by installing a VPN. Exceptionally determined fans can view CBC broadcasts by temporarily relocating to a postindustrial hellscape such as Detroit, Buffalo, or Toledo.

We also highly recommend the live results & text commentary page at the IAAF website.

EVENT-BY-EVENT

Headline Event: Men’s 100 meter final
4:45pm EDT
Medal favorites: Usain Bolt (Jamaica), Justin Gatlin (USA), Christian Coleman (USA)
US entries: Gatlin, Coleman, Christopher Belcher
Canadian entries: none

Bolt appears vulnerable in what will be the final individual race of his career, but he’s looked that way before and come out the winner. He always runs his best when it matters most. If he can be beaten it most likely would be at the hands of an American, but which one?

All day: Heptathlon
100 hurdles at 5:05am, high jump at 6:30am, shot put at 2:00pm, 200 meters at 4:00pm
Medal favorites: Nafi Thiam (Belgium), Laura Ikauniece-Admidiņa (Latvia), Carolin Schäfer (Germany)
US entries: Erica Bougard, Kendell Williams, Sharon Day-Monroe
Canadian entries: none

The easiest way to follow the changing fortunes of a heptathlon is to consult a forecasting service such as this one, which predicts results of each event and updates as actual results come in.

2:26pm: Men’s Discus Throw final
Medal favorites: Daniel Ståhl (Sweden), Fedrick Dacres (Jamaica), Piotr Małachowski (Poland)
US qualifier: Mason Finley
Canadian qualifiers: none

The dominant throwers of many years have been Malachowski and Germany’s Robert Harting, but neither look like champions so far this year. But the discus is an event where patience is rewarded, and age has its advantages. The US hasn’t had a top-eight finish since 2009 (Casey Malone).

2:35pm: Women’s 1500 meters semifinals
Qualifying format: The top five in each of two heats plus the next two fastest qualify to the finals
US entries: Kate Grace, Jenny Simpson, Sara Vaughn
Canadian entries: Nicole Sifuentes, Gabriela Stafford

Depending on your perspective, middle-distance semifinals are either the most exciting or most nerve-wracking races in any championship meet. There is so little room for error.

3:05pm: Men’s long jump final
Medal favorites: Luvo Manyonga (South Africa), Jarrion Lawson (USA), Wang Jianan (China)
US qualifier: Lawson
Canadian qualifiers: none

Manyonga was en fuego earlier in the year and put up a series of meets reminiscent of Mike Powell or Carl Lewis, but then got hurt. Still, this is his meet to lose. After that it’s a crapshoot. Note that all six continents are represented in this final.

3:10pm: Women’s 10,000 meter final
Medal favorites: Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia), Almaz Ayana (Ethiopia), Alice Nawowuna (Kenya)
US entries: Molly Huddle, Emily Infeld, Emily Sisson
Canadian entries: Natasha Wodak, Rachel Cliff

Four-time world 10k champion Dibaba faces off against world record holder Ayana. This is the race where Infeld famously pipped Huddle for bronze at the last Worlds, which tells you that the USA has multiple athletes with a realistic shot at the podium.

Jesse Squire

I was second in the 1980 Olympic* long jump. (*Cub Scout Olympics, Pack 99, 9-10 age group.)