BATON ROUGE – Nine members of the LSU track and field program representing four countries from across the globe will join the world’s premier athletes in nine days of competition in Daegu, South Korea, as the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Athletics is set to begin Saturday at Daegu Stadium.
This year’s World Championships will run through Sunday, Sept. 4, as LSU’s representatives are ready to compete in seven different events in nine days of action in South Korea. Live results throughout the event will be available online at the official website of the IAAF at www.iaaf.org.
Not only that, but NBC Sports and Universal Sports will provide more than 45 hours of coverage over the course of the meet. NBC will air live network coverage of the World Championships on Saturday from 12:30-2 p.m. CDT, Sunday from 11:30-1 p.m., Sept. 3 from 1-2:30 p.m. and Sept. 4 from 12:30-2 p.m.
Universal Sports will broadcast its own live coverage during the championship from 9 p.m.-12 a.m. on Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday, from 1-3 p.m. and 9 p.m.-12 a.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Universal Sports will also re-air NBC’s broadcasts during the meet on Saturday from 2-3:30 p.m., on Sunday from 1:30-3 p.m., on Sept. 3 from 2:30-4 p.m. and on Sept. 4 from 2-3:30 p.m.
Four of LSU’s World Championship qualifiers recently concluded stellar collegiate campaigns, including senior Gabriel Mvumvure, juniors Semoy Hackett and Riker Hylton and sophomore Damar Forbes.
Hackett is the lone Lady Tiger collegian competing at this year’s World Championships as she lines up in the women’s 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 4×100-meter relay for her native Trinidad & Tobago. A four-time NCAA All-American in 2011, Hackett most recently captured her country’s 100-meter crown at the 2011 Sagicor National Open Track & Field Championships held just two weeks ago.
Both Forbes and Hylton will compete for Jamaica in their first career World Championship appearance as Forbes competes in the long jump and Hylton competes in the 400-meter dash and 4×400-meter relay.
Forbes achieved the “A” qualifying standard in the long jump while finishing as the NCAA runner-up this season. While competing in the long jump final at the 2011 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in June, Forbes set a wind-legal personal record of 27-0 to take second place overall. That mark ranks No. 16 worldwide as he prepares to compete in his first World Championships.
Hylton followed the collegiate season by winning the Jamaican 400-meter championship over the favored Jermaine Gonzales when he set a lifetime best of 45.30 seconds to exceed the World Championship “A” standard at the Jamaican National Senior Championships held back in June.
Mvumvure, who will also make his first career World Championships appearance for Zimbabwe, during a 2011 season in which he has set personal bests of 10.23 in the 100 meters and 20.67 in the 200 meters.
Headlining a star-studded list of five LSU alumni competing at this year’s event is international sprint star Richard Thompson of Trinidad & Tobago. The reigning Olympic 100-meter silver medalist is looking to earn his spot on the medal podium for the first time at the World Championships after picking up his fifth place in the event during the meet in 2009 in Berlin, Germany. It was there where Thompson anchored his nation to the World Championships silver medal in the 4×100-meter relay.
Thompson saw his stock rise as a medal contender in the 100-meter dash this week following a win at the Sagicor National Open Championships two weeks ago as took the title with a PR of 9.85 that ranks him at No. 1 worldwide among sprinters scheduled to line up in the event at the World Championships.
Fellow Trinidad & Tobago native Kelly Baptiste is also a strong medal contender in the 100 meters on the women’s side as she enters the meet as the world’s No. 5-ranked performer in the event with a season best of 10.91 that was set in winning her first career IAAF Diamond League title in Paris on July 8.
Baptiste will join Hackett to form the foundation for Trinidad & Tobago’s 4×100-meter relay pool as they look to take home some hardware in the final days of this year’s World Championships.
Former Tiger standout Walter Davis has enjoyed tremendous success at the World Championships during his career, and he will make his sixth-straight appearance while competing in the men’s triple jump for the United States. Davis is a two-time triple jump medalist at the World Championships, as he struck gold for the United States in 2005 before winning the bronze medal in 2007.
In addition, the Tigers and Lady Tigers will each feature a former NCAA champion from Jamaica into the field in the 400-meter hurdles and compatriots Isa Phillips and Nickiesha Wilson will compete as part of a world-famous sprints and hurdles team from the Caribbean nation.
Both Phillips and Wilson enter the championship ranked among the world’s Top 20 performers in the 400 hurdles. Phillips currently ranks No. 14 worldwide with a 2011 seasonal best of 48.94 while Wilson ranks No. 19 in the women’s world rankings with her 2011 seasonal best of 55.57.
LSU’s Representation at the 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics
Kelly Baptiste, 100 meters/4×100 relay, Trinidad & Tobago
Walter Davis, Triple Jump, United States
Damar Forbes, Long Jump, Jamaica
Semoy Hackett, 100 meters/200 meters/4×100 relay, Trinidad & Tobago
Riker Hylton, 400 meters/4×400 relay, Jamaica
Gabriel Mvumvure, 100 meters/200 meters, Zimbabwe
Isa Phillips, 400 hurdles, Jamaica
Richard Thompson, 100 meters/4×100 relay, Trinidad & Tobago
Nickiesha Wilson, 400 hurdles, Jamaica
LSU’s Schedule of Events at 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics
Note: All times are Central and subject to change.
Saturday, Aug. 27
7:45 a.m. – Men’s 100 Meters Heats (Gabriel Mvumvure, Richard Thompson)
9:15 a.m. – Men’s 400 Meters Heats (Riker Hylton)
10:10 p.m. – Women’s 100 Meters Heats (Kelly Baptiste, Semoy Hackett)
Sunday, Aug. 28
4:30 a.m. – Men’s 100 Meters Semifinals (Gabriel Mvumvure, Richard Thompson)
6:45 a.m. – Men’s 100 Meters Final (Gabriel Mvumvure, Richard Thompson)
9:30 p.m. – Men’s 400 Hurdles Heats (Isa Phillips)
10:20 p.m. – Women’s 400 Hurdles Heats (Nickiesha Wilson)
Monday, Aug. 29
5:30 a.m. – Women’s 100 Meters Semifinals (Kelly Baptiste, Semoy Hackett)
6:00 a.m. – Men’s 400 Meters Semifinals (Riker Hylton)
7:45 a.m. – Women’s 100 Meters Final (Kelly Baptiste, Semoy Hackett)
Tuesday, Aug. 30
5:00 a.m. – Women’s 400 Hurdles Semifinals (Nickiesha Wilson)
5:30 a.m. – Men’s 400 Hurdles Semifinals (Isa Phillips)
7:45 a.m. – Men’s 400 Meters Final (Riker Hylton)
Wednesday, Aug. 31
8:50 p.m. – Women’s 200 Meters Heats (Semoy Hackett)
9:35 p.m. – Men’s Long Jump Qualifying (Damar Forbes)
10:30 p.m. – Men’s 4×400 Relay Heats (Riker Hylton)
Thursday, Sept. 1
5:25 a.m. – Women’s 200 Meters Semifinals (Semoy Hackett)
7:15 a.m. – Women’s 400 Hurdles Final (Nickiesha Wilson)
7:30 a.m. – Men’s 400 Hurdles Final (Isa Phillips)
8:30 p.m. – Men’s Triple Jump Qualifying (Walter Davis)
9:10 p.m. – Men’s 200 Meters Heats (Gabriel Mvumvure)
Friday, Sept. 2
5:20 a.m. – Men’s Long Jump Final (Damar Forbes)
5:55 a.m. – Men’s 200 Meters Semifinals (Gabriel Mvumvure)
6:55 a.m. – Women’s 200 Meters Final (Semoy Hackett)
7:15 a.m. – Men’s 4×400 Relay Final (Riker Hylton)
Saturday, Sept. 3
7:20 a.m. – Men’s 200 Meters Final (Gabriel Mvumvure)
Sunday, Sept. 4
4:30 a.m. – Women’s 4×100 Relay Heats (Kelly Baptiste, Semoy Hackett)
5:00 a.m. – Men’s 4×100 Relay Heats (Richard Thompson)
5:05 a.m. – Men’s Triple Jump Final (Walter Davis)
6:35 a.m. – Women’s 4×100 Relay Final (Kelly Baptiste, Semoy Hackett)
7:00 a.m. – Men’s 4×100 Relay Final (Richard Thompson)