Day 3 of the track and field world championships starts early and ends late, with must-watch races (men’s marathon and women’s 100-meter final) bookending the action.
But you also won’t want to drift away midday; otherwise, you’ll miss the always-exciting men’s 10,000-meter final. (Fingers crossed it matches the excitement of the women’s final on Saturday.) There are also lots of key qualifying races for finals later in the week.
Here’s a quick guide to the day’s key events.
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Races to Watch Today
Men’s Marathon
When: 6:15 a.m. PDT/9:15 a.m. EDT
Broadcast: CNBC
Streaming: Peacock, NBC Sports
Imagine that you’re one of the best marathoners in U.S. history, and that the world championship course will run through your college town. You’d be pretty psyched, right?
That’s the situation on Sunday for University of Oregon alum and two-time Olympic medalist Galen Rupp. His buildup for this once-in-a-lifetime race has been far from ideal—he dropped out of his most recent race, the New York City Half in March, because of a herniated disc, and he had COVID in June. Nonetheless, the second fastest American in history told us earlier this month that he’s confident about his fitness and will, as per usual, fight for the win or podium as long as possible.
He’ll need confidence, fitness, and a little luck to meet that goal. Among his competitors: two-time NYC Marathon champ Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya; the reigning Olympic silver and bronze medalists (training partners Abdi Nagayee of the Netherlands and Basher Abdi of Belgium); defending world champ Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia; and Desisa’s compatriots Mosinet Geremew (second at 2019 worlds and holder of the best PR in the field) and Seifu Tura (who relegated Rupp to second at Chicago last October).
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And those are just the biggest of the big names. Still, a Rupp podium appearance is possible. He and the rest of the field got a prerace bit of luck when 2019 Boston winner Lawrence Cherono of Kenya received a provisional doping suspension on Saturday. Also, world championship marathons tend to have a lot of dropouts. If a top-tier marathoner is having a bad day, it can be tempting to cut one’s losses and aim for one of the lucrative fall marathons. (Prize money for all events at worlds is paid eight deep, with $70,000 for first and $5,000 for eighth, but there are no appearance fees.) The Eugene course is a good one for this sort of DNF. It’s three 14K loops, so quitting after two circuits gets you a hard run but one that’s easy to rebound from.
The course is also flat, and the weather is forecast to be favorable (temperatures in the 50s, with mild humidity). Times could be fast. Unlike in hotter summer global marathon championships, there should be less incentive for the top contenders to dawdle and thereby open opportunities for slower entrants.
The U.S. squad is rounded out by Army First Lieutenant Elkanah Kibet and financial analyst Colin Mickow, who both train around demanding professional responsibilities. Especially at the first world championships on U.S. soil, they, like Rupp, will be highly motivated to leave it all out on the streets of Eugene.
Men’s 10,000-Meter Final
When: 1 p.m. PDT/4 p.m EDT
Broadcast: NBC
Streaming: NBC Sports, Peacock
Grant Fisher’s U.S. record of 26:33 is the fastest time in the world this year. Fifth in the Olympics last year, Fisher is a legitimate threat to be the first American man to medal in this event at a world championship. In most of his races this year, he has honed his ability to run close to 4:00 mile pace for the last few laps off of an already fast pace.
Of course, Fisher isn’t the only man in the field who can close like that. World 10K titles are almost always won by runners who can also sprint past their rivals in the final 200 meters. To make the podium, Fisher will need to dispose of one or more last year’s Olympic medalists (Selemon Berega of Ethiopia, world-record holder Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda, and half marathon world record-holder Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda), as well as his training partner Mo Ahmed of Canada, who won Olympic silver at 5K last year. Front-running Berihu Aregawi of Ethiopia will probably help to keep the pace honest early on.
If Fisher falters, fellow U.S. Olympian Joe Klecker is willing and able to pick up the slack. In fact, Klecker outkicked Fisher for the U.S. title in May. In a more tactical race, Klecker has the wheels to upset lots of men with faster PRs.
Women’s 100-Meter Final
When: 7:50 p.m. PDT/10:50 p.m. EDT
Broadcast: NBC
Streaming: NBC Sports, Peacock
The field for fastest-woman-in-the-world bragging rights won’t be set until the semifinals earlier in the evening (5:33 p.m. PDT/8:33 p.m. EDT). But we’re not going out on a limb by saying to expect a final full of Jamaicans and Americans, and that the Jamaicans will likely dominate—their four-woman squad has won a combined 21 Olympic and world titles! U.S. champ Melissa Jefferson will lead the attempt to prevent a Jamaican sweep.
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Scott is a veteran running, fitness, and health journalist who has held senior editorial positions at Runner’s World and Running Times. Much of his writing translates sport science research and elite best practices into practical guidance for everyday athletes. He is the author or coauthor of several running books, including Running Is My Therapy, Advanced Marathoning, and Meb for Mortals. Scott has also written about running for Slate, The Atlantic, the Washington Post, and other members of the sedentary media. His lifetime running odometer is past 110,000 miles, but he’s as much in love as ever.
