BATON ROUGE – The year’s most anticipated track and field competition is set to begin Saturday morning in Moscow, Russia, as nine current and former LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are among the field competing at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Athletics that will be held over the next nine days at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.
Among LSU’s contingent are three NCAA champions from the 2013 season, as well as five Olympians, a three-time Olympic medalist and a reigning World Championships bronze medalist.
Lady Tiger senior Kimberlyn Duncan is certainly a medal contender in the women’s 200-meter dash as she makes her international debut for the United States after claiming the U.S. Outdoor title in the event ahead of reigning Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships held in Des Moines, Iowa, back in June.
Duncan, who swept NCAA Indoor and NCAA Outdoor titles in the 200 meters for the third-straight season in 2013, is the No. 6-ranked 200-meter sprinter worldwide this season with a top wind-legal time of 22.35 set at the SEC Outdoor Championships in May. She also owns the world’s fastest wind-aided time of 21.80 set in winning the U.S. Outdoor crown on June 23.
Along with Duncan, two members of LSU’s 2013 squad will also compete for Jamaica during the next week as NCAA Outdoor champion Damar Forbes competes in the long jump and NCAA double gold medalist Natoya Goule will line up in the 800 meters. Forbes is making his second World Championships appearance for Jamaica, while Goule is set to make her championship debut for her country.
Each set personal bests at the Jamaican Senior Championships as Forbes jumped the world’s No. 10-ranked mark at 27 feet, 0 ¾ inches and Goule broke two minutes in the 800 meters at 1 minute, 59.93 seconds.
The competition also features the most decorated Olympian in the history of LSU athletics as Trinidad & Tobago native Richard Thompson lines up in both the men’s 100-meter dash and 4×100-meter relay.
A former World Championships bronze medalist in the sprint relay in 2009, Thompson is a three-time Olympic medalist with a sweep of silver medalist in the 100 meters and 4×100 relay in Beijing in 2008 before adding a bronze medal in the relay in London in 2012. He has run a 2013 seasonal best of 10.14 in the 100 meters, while he owns a career best of 9.85 in the event.
Thompson’s compatriot Kelly-Ann Baptiste returns to the World Championships stage as the reigning bronze medalist in the women’s 100-meter dash after claiming her first major international medal in the event only two years ago in Daegu, South Korea. Baptiste has already set a Trinidad & Tobago national record of 10.83 in the 100 meters this season as she is the world’s No. 3-ranked sprinter in the event this season.
Baptiste will also line up in the women’s 200 meters and 4×100-meter relay during the next week as she makes her third career World Championships appearance for Trinidad & Tobago. Thompson will compete for the fourth time in his career as one of the world’s premier sprinters in recent years.
Like Thompson, former LSU teammates Isa Phillips and Nickiesha Wilson will also make their fourth World Championships appearance while running for Jamaica in the men’s and women’s 400-meter hurdles. Rounding out LSU’s contingent in Moscow are alumni Rebecca Alexander of the United States in the women’s 4×400-meter relay and Gabriel Mvumvure of Zimbabwe in the men’s 100-meter dash.
A complete event and television schedule of the Tigers and Lady Tigers competing at this year’s World Championships is listed below with times Central and subject to change based on round-by-round qualifying.
Time Schedule for LSU Entries at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Athletics
Note: Times are Central and subject to change based on round-by-round qualifying
Saturday, August 10
TV Coverage: LIVE on Universal Sports (12:30-4:30 a.m. CT); TAPE-DELAY on NBC (2:30-4 p.m. CT); TAPE-DELAY on Universal Sports (6-7:30 p.m. CT)
11:15 a.m. – Men’s 100 Meters Heats (Gabriel Mvumvure, Richard Thompson)
Sunday, August 11
TV Coverage: LIVE on Universal Sports (12-4 a.m. CT); TAPE-DELAY on NBC (11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. CT); TAPE-DELAY on Universal Sports (6-7:30 p.m. CT)
2:55 a.m. – Women’s 100 Meters Heats (Kelly-Ann Baptiste)
10:05 a.m. – Men’s 100 Meters Semifinals (Gabriel Mvumvure, Richard Thompson)
12:50 p.m. – Men’s 100 Meters Final (Gabriel Mvumvure, Richard Thompson)
Monday, August 12
TV Coverage: LIVE on Universal Sports (12:30-3:30 a.m. CT); LIVE on Universal Sports (11 a.m.-1 p.m. CT)
2:05 a.m. – Men’s 400 Hurdles Heats (Isa Phillips)
2:50 a.m. – Women’s 400 Hurdles Heats (Nickiesha Wilson)
10:35 a.m. – Women’s 100 Meters Semifinals (Kelly-Ann Baptiste)
12:50 p.m. – Women’s 100 Meters Final (Kelly-Ann Baptiste)
Tuesday, August 13
TV Coverage: LIVE on Universal Sports (12:30-4:30 a.m. CT); LIVE on Universal Sports (11 a.m.-1 p.m. CT)
10:05 a.m. – Women’s 400 Hurdles Semifinals (Nickiesha Wilson)
10:40 a.m. – Men’s 400 Hurdles Semifinals (Isa Phillips)
Wednesday, August 14
TV Coverage: LIVE on Universal Sports (11:30 p.m.-3 a.m. CT)
1:25 a.m. – Men’s Long Jump Qualification (Damar Forbes)
Thursday, August 15
TV Coverage: LIVE on Universal Sports (12:30-3 a.m. CT); LIVE on Universal Sports (10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. CT)
12:55 a.m. – Women’s 800 Meters Heats (Natoya Goule)
1:55 a.m. – Women’s 200 Meters Heats (Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Kimberlyn Duncan)
10:45 a.m. – Women’s 200 Meters Semifinals (Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Kimberlyn Duncan)
11:45 a.m. – Women’s 400 Hurdles Final (Nickiesha Wilson)
12:00 p.m. – Men’s 400 Hurdles Final (Isa Phillips)
Friday, August 16
TV Coverage: LIVE on Universal Sports (12:30-3 a.m. CT); LIVE on Universal Sports (10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. CT)
2:30 a.m. – Women’s 4×400 Relay Heats (Rebecca Alexander)
10:30 a.m. – Men’s Long Jump Final (Damar Forbes)
11:15 a.m. – Women’s 800 Meters Semifinals (Natoya Goule)
12:15 p.m. – Women’s 200 Meters Final (Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Kimberlyn Duncan)
Saturday, August 17
TV Coverage: LIVE on NBC (11-11:30 a.m. CT); TAPE-DELAY on NBC (1:30-3 p.m. CT); TAPE-DELAY on Universal Sports (8-9:30 p.m. CT)
10:30 a.m. – Women’s 4×400 Relay Final (Rebecca Alexander)
Sunday, August 18
TV Coverage: TAPE-DELAY on NBC (1:30-3 p.m. CT); TAPE-DELAY on Universal Sports (6-7:30 p.m. CT)
7:15 a.m. – Women’s 4×100 Relay Heats (Kelly-Ann Baptiste)
7:50 a.m. – Men’s 4×100 Relay Heats (Richard Thompson)
8:50 a.m. – Women’s 800 Meters Final (Natoya Goule)
9:10 a.m. – Women’s 4×100 Relay Final (Kelly-Ann Baptiste)
9:40 a.m. – Men’s 4×100 Relay Final (Richard Thompson)