World champions highlight Team USA on the track in Moscow

8/5/2013

A long list of world champions paired with a strong group of rising stars will lead Team USA on the track as the IAAF World Outdoor Championships kick off Saturday in Moscow, Russia.

The 14th edition of the IAAF World Outdoor Championships, competition runs from August 10-18. For more information including a complete event schedule and TV broadcast schedule, see here.

On the track, Team USA is bolstered by three-time World Outdoor Championships 200m gold medalist and three-time London Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix (Los Angeles, Calif.). Meanwhile, Jason Richardson (110m hurdles, Cedar Hill, Texas), Carmelita Jeter (100m, Los Angeles, Calif.), Jenny Simpson (1500m, Boulder, Colo.) , Lashinda Demus (400m hurdles, Los Angeles, Calif.) and Trey Hardee (decathlon, Austin, Texas) will all be looking to defend their world titles in Moscow.

Team USA will be looking to duplicate its effort from 2011 when it led all countries in both total medals won (25) and total gold medals (12).

Additionally, on the women’s side, Team USA will look for strong performances from Brianna Rollins (100m hurdles, Miami, Fla.), Kimberlyn Duncan (200m, Baton Rouge, La.) and Mary Cain (1500m, Bronxville, N.Y.), who will all be making their first appearance at the World Outdoor Championships.

Galen Rupp (5000m and 10,000m, Portland, Ore.), Aries Merritt (110m hurdles, Atlanta, Ga.) and Ashton Eaton (decathlon, Eugene, Ore.) will look to capitalize off strong 2012 seasons to help Team USA men in the medal count.

One of the more accomplished athletes in World Championships history, Felix has won gold in the 200m at the World Outdoor Championships in ‘05, ‘07 and ‘09 and won silver in 2011. Her 2012 season may have been her best yet as she became the first woman since Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988 to win three gold medals in a single Olympic Games (200m, 4x100m, 4x400m). She will look for her eighth career Olympic or World Championships medal in Moscow.

Rollins heads to Moscow in the midst of a brilliant season. Following the NCAA Outdoor Championships where she twice established the collegiate record in the 100m hurdles competing for Clemson, Rollins shattered Gail Devers’ 13-year-old American record at the USA Outdoor Championships by .07 seconds. She now ranks No. 4 on the all-time performance list and holds the top two times in the world this year.

Duncan ran a wind-aided time of 21.80 to upset Felix in the 200m at the USA Outdoor Championships. It was the sixth fastest time ever run under all-conditions. Duncan just completed a standout career competing for Louisiana State, which included three straight NCAA Outdoor titles in the 200m.

The 17-year-old Cain, on the heels of a 2013 season that has been an assault on the high school and junior record books, has the chance to become the youngest ever world championships gold medalist and the youngest woman to win a medal of any kind in the 1500m.

The American record holder over 10,000m, at the 2012 London Olympic Games, Rupp became the first American since Billy Mills in 1964 to win an Olympic medal in that event with his silver. He will be looking for his first world championships medal in either the 5000m or 10,000m.

Merritt had a dream season in 2012 that included an Olympic gold medal, running the seven fastest times in the world and shattering the world record in the men’s 110m hurdles. With Richardson receiving a bye as the defending world champion, Team USA will be represented by four men in the 110m hurdles that also included former American record holder David Oliver and Ryan Wilson.

Eaton and Hardee will look for a similar 1-2 finish in the decathlon in Moscow that they had in London. Eaton also had a brilliant 2012 season when he won the Jesse Owens Award from USA Track & Field. Ending with a gold medal in London, Eaton set the world record in the decathlon at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials and broke his own world record in the heptathlon at the World Indoor Championships.



Jared Slinde
Communications Manager
USA Track & Field
317.713.4690
e-mail