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IN A NORMAL YEAR one can do a pretty good job of making World Champs medal predictions by the time August rolls around (particularly when the meet was in July!), but this is no ordinary year. Even as we close down the August edition, there are still some 6 weeks to go before things get underway in Doha, and that’s just too far out for comfort.
Nonetheless, with the USATF meet—and most other major nation’s nationals—out of the way, it’s time to dive into murky waters for the third time this year, fearless forecasters Richard Hymans (men) and Jonathan Berenbom (women) have updated their picks (the September issue will have last-minute 10-deep choices in every event). Things are looking rosy for Team USA at this point, but it’s not uncommon for the American selection meet to raise expectations.
Note that we have not tried to handicap the mixed 4×4, and won’t do so until we see how nations are going to parcel out their quartermile talent. We will go out on not much of a limb, however, and predict that the U.S. will win that new event. Combine it with 15 U.S. men’s medals (7 golds) and 15 women’s (5 golds) and you get a hefty projected total of 31 (13 golds). Last time around, London ’17, the U.S. total was 24 medals split 13/17, with 10 golds (3 men, 7 women).
| MEN’S MEDAL PICKS | |||
| GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | |
| 100 | Christian Coleman (USA) | Justin Gatlin (USA) | Akani Simbine (South Africa) |
| 200 | Noah Lyles (USA) | Christian Coleman (USA) | Andre de Grasse (Canada) |
| 400 | Michael Norman (USA) | Fred Kerley (USA) | Steven Gardiner (Bahamas) |
| 800 | Nijel Amos (Botswana) | Ferguson Cheruiyot (Kenya) | Marcin Lewandowski (Poland) |
| 1500 | Timothy Cheruiyot (Kenya) | Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway) | Samuel Tefera (Ethiopia) |
| Steeple | Soufiane El Bakkali (Morocco) | Benjamin Kigen (Kenya) | Hillary Bor (USA) |
| 5000 | Hagos Gebrhiwet (Ethiopia) | Selemon Barega (Ethiopia) | Yomif Kejelcha (Ethiopia) |
| 10,000 | Joshua Cheptegei (Uganda) | Hagos Gebrhiwet (Ethiopia) | Rhonex Kipruto (Kenya) |
| 110 Hurdles | Orlando Ortega (Spain) | Sergey Shubenkov (Russia) | Grant Holloway (USA) |
| 400 Hurdles | Abderrahmane Samba (Qatar) | Rai Benjamin (USA) | Karsten Warholm (Norway) |
| Marathon | Mosinet Geremew (Ethiopia) | Getaneh Tamire (Ethiopia) | Marius Kipserem (Kenya) |
| 20K Walk | Eiki Takahashi (Japan) | Eider Arévalo (Colombia) | Daisuke Matsunaga (Japan) |
| 50K Walk | Yohann Diniz (France) | Matej Tóth (Slovakia) | Hiroki Arai (Japan) |
| 4 x 100 | United States | Great Britain | Jamaica |
| 4 x 400 | United States | Trinidad | Bahamas |
| High Jump | Ilya Ivanyuk (Russia) | Majed Al Dein Ghazal (Syria) | Bogdan Bondarenko (Ukraine) |
| Pole Vault | Sam Kendricks (USA) | Mondo Duplantis (Sweden) | Piotr Lisek (Poland) |
| Long Jump | Juan Miguel Echevarría (Cuba) | Luvo Manyonga (South Africa) | Tajay Gayle (Jamaica) |
| Triple Jump | Christian Taylor (USA) | Pedro Pablo Pichardo (Portugal) | Will Claye (USA) |
| Shot | Ryan Crouser (USA) | Tom Walsh (New Zealand) | Darlan Romani (Brazil) |
| Discus | Daniel Ståhl (Sweden) | Fedrick Dacres (Jamaica) | Andrius Gudžius (Lithuania) |
| Hammer | Paweł Fajdek (Poland) | Wojciech Nowicki (Poland) | Bence Halász (Hungary) |
| Javelin | Magnus Kirt (Estonia) | Andreas Hofmann (Germany) | Thomas Röhler (Germany) |
| Decathlon | Kevin Mayer (France) | Damian Warner (Canada) | Niklas Kaul (Germany) |
| WOMEN’S MEDAL PICKS | |||
| GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | |
| 100 Meters | Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica) | Elaine Thompson (Jamaica) | Dina Asher-Smith (Great Britain) |
| 200 Meters | Elaine Thompson (Jamaica) | Dina Asher-Smith (Great Britain) | Blessing Okagbare (Nigeria) |
| 400 Meters | Shaunae Miller-Uibo (Bahamas) | Salwa Eid Naser (Bahrain) | Amina Seyni (Niger) |
| 800 Meters | Ajee’ Wilson (USA) | Nelly Jepkosgei (Kenya) | Habitam Alemu (Ethiopia) |
| 1500 Meters | Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia) | Faith Kipyegon (Kenya) | Laura Muir (Great Britain) |
| Steeple | Beatrice Chepkoech (Kenya) | Norah Tanui (Kenya) | Emma Coburn (USA) |
| 5000 Meters | Hellen Obiri (Kenya) | Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) | Agnes Tirop (Kenya) |
| 10,000 Meters | Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) | Letesenbet Gidey (Ethiopia) | Netsanet Gudeta (Ethiopia) |
| 100 Hurdles | Keni Harrison (USA) | Danielle Williams (Jamaica) | Nia Ali (USA) |
| 400 Hurdles | Dalilah Muhammad (USA) | Sydney McLaughlin (USA) | Zuzana Hejnová (Czech Republic) |
| Marathon | Ruth Chepngetich (Kenya) | Ruti Aga (Ethiopia) | Shure Demise (Ethiopia) |
| 20K Walk | Glenda Estefanía Morejón (Ecuador) | Jiayu Yang (China) | Shenjie Qieyang (China) |
| 50K Walk | Hong Liu (China) | Eleonora Giorgi (Italy) | Maocuo Li (China) |
| 4 x 100 | Jamaica | United States | Great Britain |
| 4 x 400 | United States | Jamaica | Poland |
| High Jump | Mariya Lasitskene (Russia) | Yuliya Levchenko (Ukraine) | Vashti Cunningham (USA) |
| Pole Vault | Sandi Morris (USA) | Anzhelika Sidorova (Ukraine) | Katerína Stefanídi (Greece)) |
| Long Jump | Malaika Mihambo (Germany) | Brittney Reese (USA) | Ivana Španović (Serbia) |
| Triple Jump | Yulimar Rojas (Venezuela) | Caterine Ibargüen (Colombia) | Liadagmis Povea (Cuba) |
| Shot | Lijiao Gong (China) | Chase Ealey (USA) | Danniel Thomas-Dodd (Jamaica) |
| Discus | Yaimé Pérez (Cuba) | Denia Caballero (Cuba) | Sandra Perković (Croatia) |
| Hammer | Zheng Wang (China) | DeAnna Price (USA) | Gwen Berry (USA) |
| Javelin | Huihui Lu (China) | Christin Hussong (Germany) | Kelsey Barber (Australia) |
| Heptathlon | Nafi Thiam (Belgium) | Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Great Britain) | Erica Bougard (USA) |
