2017 IAAF World ChampionshipsJul 30, 2017 by Johanna Gretschel
Felix Rematch Looms For Miller-Uibo, Who Will Attempt World 200/400 Double
Felix Rematch Looms For Miller-Uibo, Who Will Attempt World 200/400 Double
Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo attempts to become the first woman to sweep the 400m and 200m at the World Championships, which are held this year in London from August 4-13. Dafne Schippers and Marie Josée Ta Lou will challenge.
The 2017 IAAF World Championships are right around the corner! Check out the breakdown of the women's 200m and 400m.
Women's 200m
When:
August 8, 1:30 PM CT (heats)
August 10, 3:05 PM CT (semi-finals)
August 11, 5:50 PM CT (final)
Top International Contenders: Shaunae Miller-Uibo (Bahamas), Dafne Schippers (Netherlands), Marie Josée Ta Lou (Côte d'Ivoire), Michelle-Lee Ahye (Trinidad & Tobago)
Team USA: Deajah Stevens, Kimberlyn Duncan, Tori Bowie
2016 Olympic Final:
When:
August 6, 5:55 AM CT (heats)
August 7, 2:55 PM CT (semi-finals)
August 9, 3:50 PM CT (final)
Top International Contenders: Shaunae Miller-Uibo (Bahamas), Shericka Jackson (Jamaica), Chrisann Gordon (Jamaica), Novlene Williams-Mills (Jamaica)
Team USA: Allyson Felix, Quanera Hayes, Phyllis Francis, Kendall Ellis
2016 Olympic Final:
Analysis: The women's sprint storylines at the World Championships closely mirror that of the men, as last year's double Olympic champions over 100m and 200m in Jamaica's Usain Bolt and Elaine Thompson have chosen to focus solely on the 100m, leaving the 200m open to the reigning 400m Olympic champions: Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa and Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas, whose federations specifically petitioned the IAAF to alter the meet schedule to more feasibly allow for a 200m/400m double.
But while van Niekerk destroyed the 400m world record in his Olympic win, Miller-Uibo's race against the United States' Allyson Felix was so close that she had to dive at the line to secure the victory.
Her double is thus much less likely than van Niekerk's, and would in fact be unprecedented as no woman has ever swept the 200m and 400m at the World Championships, though two women have done so at the Olympic Games: Valerie Brisco-Hooks of the United States in 1984 and Marie-Josée Perec of France in 1996, the same year as Michael Johnson's double. Johnson, the former world record holder before van Niekerk, is the only man to sweep the 200m and 400m at the worlds or Olympics.
Felix, the most decorated female Olympic track and field athlete in U.S. history with nine medals, hoped to complete the 200m/400m double in Rio but failed to qualify for the 200m team at the U.S. Championships, as an ankle injury hampered her preparations. She still earned silver behind Miller-Uibo in Rio and now her sights are laser-focused on the 400m in London.
With an automatic entry guaranteed by virtue of her status as defending world champion, Felix has been able to pick and choose her races more carefully than most, and it looks like she is getting fit at the right time. In just her second 400m of the year at the London Anniversary Games, she set a world-leading time of 49.65.
USATF champion Quanera Hayes' 49.72 ranks No. 2 for 2017, and Miller-Uibo's season-best of 49.77 is third-best. USATF runner-up Phyllis Francis is the only other athlete to break 50 seconds this year.
The 200m is much more wide open, though Miller-Uibo has experienced global success in the event before. As a 19-year-old in 2013, she just missed out on a World Championship medal in placing fourth. Since then, she has transitioned completely to the 400m and won world bronze (2014), silver (2015) and Olympic gold (2016). But a strong 200m race at the Prefontaine Classic in May -- where she defeated Olympic champion Thompson and took second behind Rio bronze medalist Tori Bowie -- indicated that she may still have the wheels to medal in the shorter event.
Miller-Uibo's wind-legal time of 21.91 in Eugene was a new personal best and marked her first-ever clocking under 22 seconds, while Bowie's winning 21.77 makes her the sixth-fastest 200m runner in U.S. history. The 26-year-old Bowie, who also earned silver in the 100m in Rio, won the 100m and placed third in the 200m at USAs, saying to the press afterward that she was not interested in doubling in London. Yet USATF entered her to both events on the official roster along with Deajah Stevens, who beat Bowie for the 200m title after tragically tripping at NCAAs. The former Duck, who recently announced her decision to bypass her final year of college eligibility at the University of Oregon to go professional, could certainly sneak onto the podium as her season-best 22.09 is the third-fastest of women entered in the championship. (Thompson and American Kyra Jefferson have run faster this year but neither will compete in the 200m in London).
Of course, you can't overlook the defending world champion, Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands. The 25-year-old returns to the fray as the Rio silver medalist. She finished just fourth at Prefontaine behind Bowie, Miller-Uibo, and Thompson, but has progressed strongly over the summer to win the Oslo and Lausanne Diamond League meetings and lower her season-best to 22.10, the sixth-fastest time in the world this year.
Remember that with her world win in 2015, the former world-class heptathlete clocked 21.63 -- the third-fastest time in history behind only Florence Griffith Joyner and Marion Jones, one of whom is historically suspected to have taken PEDs and the other of whom is a convicted drug cheat.
Women's 200m
When:
August 8, 1:30 PM CT (heats)
August 10, 3:05 PM CT (semi-finals)
August 11, 5:50 PM CT (final)
Top International Contenders: Shaunae Miller-Uibo (Bahamas), Dafne Schippers (Netherlands), Marie Josée Ta Lou (Côte d'Ivoire), Michelle-Lee Ahye (Trinidad & Tobago)
Team USA: Deajah Stevens, Kimberlyn Duncan, Tori Bowie
2016 Olympic Final:
| PLACE | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | TIME | BACK IN 2017? |
| 1 | Elaine Thompson | JAM | 21.78 | NO |
| 2 | Dafne Schippers | NED | 21.88 | YES |
| 3 | Tori Bowie | USA | 22.15 | YES |
| 4 | Marie Josée Ta Lou | CIV | 22.21 | TBA |
| 5 | Dina Asher-Smith | GBR | 22.31 | YES |
| 6 | Michelle-Lee Ahye | TTO | 22.34 | YES |
| 7 | Deajah Stevens | USA | 22.65 | YES |
| 8 | Ivet Lalova-Collio | BUL | 22.69 | YES |
Women's 400m
When:
August 6, 5:55 AM CT (heats)
August 7, 2:55 PM CT (semi-finals)
August 9, 3:50 PM CT (final)
Top International Contenders: Shaunae Miller-Uibo (Bahamas), Shericka Jackson (Jamaica), Chrisann Gordon (Jamaica), Novlene Williams-Mills (Jamaica)
Team USA: Allyson Felix, Quanera Hayes, Phyllis Francis, Kendall Ellis
2016 Olympic Final:
| PLACE | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | TIME | BACK IN 2017? |
| 1 | Shaunae Miller-Uibo | BAH | 49.44 | TBA |
| 2 | Allyson Felix | USA | 49.51 | YES |
| 3 | Shericka Jackson | JAM | 49.85 | YES |
| 4 | Natasha Hastings | USA | 50.34 | NO |
| 5 | Phyllis Francis | USA | 50.41 | YES |
| 6 | Stephenie Ann McPherson | JAM | 50.97 | YES |
| 7 | Olha Zemlyak | UKR | 51.24 | YES |
| 8 | Libania Grenot | ITA | 51.25 | TBA |
But while van Niekerk destroyed the 400m world record in his Olympic win, Miller-Uibo's race against the United States' Allyson Felix was so close that she had to dive at the line to secure the victory.
SHAUNAE MILLER WITH THE DIVE! She takes Olympic Gold in 49.44. Allyson Felix will take silver! #Rio2016 #Athletics pic.twitter.com/fFq7PabioW
— FloTrack (@FloTrack) August 16, 2016
Her double is thus much less likely than van Niekerk's, and would in fact be unprecedented as no woman has ever swept the 200m and 400m at the World Championships, though two women have done so at the Olympic Games: Valerie Brisco-Hooks of the United States in 1984 and Marie-Josée Perec of France in 1996, the same year as Michael Johnson's double. Johnson, the former world record holder before van Niekerk, is the only man to sweep the 200m and 400m at the worlds or Olympics.
Felix, the most decorated female Olympic track and field athlete in U.S. history with nine medals, hoped to complete the 200m/400m double in Rio but failed to qualify for the 200m team at the U.S. Championships, as an ankle injury hampered her preparations. She still earned silver behind Miller-Uibo in Rio and now her sights are laser-focused on the 400m in London.
With an automatic entry guaranteed by virtue of her status as defending world champion, Felix has been able to pick and choose her races more carefully than most, and it looks like she is getting fit at the right time. In just her second 400m of the year at the London Anniversary Games, she set a world-leading time of 49.65.
USATF champion Quanera Hayes' 49.72 ranks No. 2 for 2017, and Miller-Uibo's season-best of 49.77 is third-best. USATF runner-up Phyllis Francis is the only other athlete to break 50 seconds this year.
The 200m is much more wide open, though Miller-Uibo has experienced global success in the event before. As a 19-year-old in 2013, she just missed out on a World Championship medal in placing fourth. Since then, she has transitioned completely to the 400m and won world bronze (2014), silver (2015) and Olympic gold (2016). But a strong 200m race at the Prefontaine Classic in May -- where she defeated Olympic champion Thompson and took second behind Rio bronze medalist Tori Bowie -- indicated that she may still have the wheels to medal in the shorter event.
Miller-Uibo's wind-legal time of 21.91 in Eugene was a new personal best and marked her first-ever clocking under 22 seconds, while Bowie's winning 21.77 makes her the sixth-fastest 200m runner in U.S. history. The 26-year-old Bowie, who also earned silver in the 100m in Rio, won the 100m and placed third in the 200m at USAs, saying to the press afterward that she was not interested in doubling in London. Yet USATF entered her to both events on the official roster along with Deajah Stevens, who beat Bowie for the 200m title after tragically tripping at NCAAs. The former Duck, who recently announced her decision to bypass her final year of college eligibility at the University of Oregon to go professional, could certainly sneak onto the podium as her season-best 22.09 is the third-fastest of women entered in the championship. (Thompson and American Kyra Jefferson have run faster this year but neither will compete in the 200m in London).
Of course, you can't overlook the defending world champion, Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands. The 25-year-old returns to the fray as the Rio silver medalist. She finished just fourth at Prefontaine behind Bowie, Miller-Uibo, and Thompson, but has progressed strongly over the summer to win the Oslo and Lausanne Diamond League meetings and lower her season-best to 22.10, the sixth-fastest time in the world this year.
Remember that with her world win in 2015, the former world-class heptathlete clocked 21.63 -- the third-fastest time in history behind only Florence Griffith Joyner and Marion Jones, one of whom is historically suspected to have taken PEDs and the other of whom is a convicted drug cheat.