Worrying gets you nowhere. If you turn up worrying about how you’re going to perform, you’ve already lost. Train hard, turn up, run your best, and the rest will take care of itself.” Those words are from a famous quote by Usain Bolt, a once-in-a-generation sprinter with unbridled confidence and supreme technical ability. Bolt will always be an icon in Track and Field, and his advice will be fitting for the athletes heading to the National Athletics Centre to compete in Budapest, Hungary at the World Athletics Championship. In this article, we preview the top 5 events and predict the winner from what will be an exciting championship from August 19-28.
1. Women’s 100m-The women’s 100m is the most anticipated event in Budapest because the competition for the medal podium will be fierce. The favorite for the race should be Fraser-Pryce taking who is the six-time and reigning world champion in this event. Despite being 36 years old, Shelly-ann possesses a tremendous start out of the blocks, and her competitors struggle to catch her to the finish line. She has run a season-best of 10.82 which is an indication that she still has the pedigree to win. The challengers include Jamaican compatriot Shericka Jackson, American Sha’Carri Richardson, and Ivorian veteran Marie Josee-Ta Lou, enjoying perhaps the best season of her long career. Richardson has rebounded from past troubles to produce one of her seasons with a scintillating 10.71 at the US Trials. Like Shelly-ann, Ta Lou is proving she is aging like a fine wine after delivering a 10.75 run in the Diamond League event in Oslo, Norway. I predict that Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will produce the goods and win her 7th world title.
2. Mens 200m- Noah Lyles should be the favorite to retain the world 200m champion. Lyles has run the world-leading time in the event by clocking 19.47 at the Olympic Stadium in the London Diamond League event. Lyles will face stiff opposition from fellow compatriots in world and Olympic silver medalists Kenny Bednarek and teen sensation Erriyon Knighton. Knighton and Bednarek have the 3rd and 7th best times for the season with 19.72 and 19.82 respectively. However, his nearest challenge will come from Botswana’s exciting youngster Letsile Tebogo who ran just three-hundredths of a second behind Lyles in the same London meet. I predict that Lyles will hold his nerve under pressure in an exciting finish and repeat as champion.
3. Women’s 200m-Shericka Jackson should be the strong favorite to retain her 200m title despite the threat of Richardson and Olympic bronze medalists Gabrielle Thomas. Jackson is the national record and the second fastest woman ever in the event after a blistering 21.45 seconds at last year’s championship and will be eying the world record. However, Thomas is the fastest woman in the world this year after a mesmerizing 21.60 at the U.S. Trials. Jackson defeated a field including Thomas in the Monaco Diamond League meet clocking 21.86. Another competitor likely to rival these three for the podium is British 2019 world champion Dina Asher-Smith. I have Jackson winning the gold in Budapest in hopefully a neat world record.
4. Men’s 100m-Fred Kerley has the chance to join the elite company of Maurice Greene, Carl Lewis, Justin Gatlin, and Christian Coleman as the only men to win multiple 100-meter world titles. However, Kerley will need to be in better shape because his season best is 9.88 back in May. Kerley’s biggest rival for the crown will likely be Zharnel Hughes, Bolt’s former partner, who clocked 9.83 seconds to shatter Linford Christie’s 30-year national record of 9.87 in New York. The surprise package for a medal could come from Ferdinand Omanyala from Kenya, who ran a personal best of 9.77 in 2021 and a season-best of 9.84 at the national trials in May. I am going up the upset and predicting Hughes will win the title in Budapest.
5. 400m Men-He is BACK! South Africa’s Olympic champion Wayde van Niekerk has returned from a near career-ending knee injury. Niekerk will be seeking his third 400m world title after striking gold in London in 2017. The biggest challenger will be the Bahamian Steven Gardiner, the reigning Olympic gold medalists Steven Gardiner and who has the fastest time in the world this year of 43.74 seconds. Other competitors that will make the finals include Michael Norman, the reigning World Champion and Grenada’s perennial medal contender Kirani James who won the world title in 2011 before taking gold at London 2012. A sneaky contender to go on the medal podium is Rusheen McDonald of Jamaica, who has 44.03 for the third-best time in the year. However, I predict that Gardiner will deliver in the finals and conquer the field to win.