LSU Gold

Track & Field to Have Five Representatives at World Championships

by Aaron Hyder
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Track & Field to Have Five Representatives at World Championships

Baton Rouge, La. – The LSU track and field program will have five representatives competing at the 2019 IAAF World Championships that start Friday (Sept. 26) and run through Oct. 6 in Doha, Qatar.. Mondo Duplantis (Sweden), Vernon Norwood (USA), Michael Cherry (USA), Kelly-Ann Baptiste (Trinidad & Tobago) and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake (Great Britain) will be the five former LSU track and field stars competing on the world stage. A full competition guide can be found at the bottom of this release.

TV/Live Video Schedule

Duplantis, who turned pro after a sensational freshman season at LSU in 2019, will enter the men’s pole vault competition as one of the favorites. He’ll enter the meet as one of three men in the world in 2019 to have multiple clearances of 6.00 meters or higher along with Sam Kendricks (USA) and Piotr Lisek (Poland). Duplantis’ first 6.00 meter clearance of the season came back in May at the SEC Outdoor Championships; it earned him the SEC title, made him the collegiate record holder, and it propelled the LSU men’s track and field team to its first SEC outdoor title since 1990. His most recent 6.00 meter jump came in August at a meet in Stockholm. During his only season in the Purple and Gold as a freshman in 2019, Duplantis accomplished a number of impressive feats with the indoor and outdoor collegiate records, winning an NCAA indoor title, sweeping the SEC titles indoors and outdoors, finishing runner up at the NCAA outdoor meet, and he became LSU’s first male finalist for The Bowerman. Duplantis, who was the 2018 U20 world champion and 2018 European champion, will compete in pole vault qualifying on Saturday (Sept. 28), and the finals will be on Oct. 1. You can check out the men’s pole vault preview at iaaf.org as well.
Norwood, Cherry, Mitchell-Blake and Baptiste will all be in action on the track. Norwood (400 meters) and Baptiste (100 meters) will all compete individually while all four of the sprinters will have a chance to run on relays. Cherry and Norwood are candidates for the favored USA mixed (2 women, 2 men) 4×400 meter relay and the regular 4×400 meter relay, while Baptiste and Mitchell-Blake will likely run on the 4×100 meter relays representing their respective countries. Mitchell-Blake anchored the British 4×1 to gold at the 2017 world championships with a time of 37.47.
Norwood ran a personal best of 44.40 in the 400 meter dash at the U.S. trials in late July to secure his spot in the open 400 meters. The time of 44.40 ranks him as the eighth-fastest man in the world this year, so he will be looking to clinch a spot in the finals of the quarter mile. Norwood won a world title as a member of USA’s indoor 4×400 meter squad in 2016.

Competition Guide | All Times Listed are CT
Baptiste
100m | Heats | Sept. 28 | 8:30 a.m.
100m | Semis | Sept. 29 | 1:20 p.m.
100m | Finals | Sept. 29 | 3:20 p.m.
 
Mondo
PV | Qualifying | Sept. 28 | 9:30 a.m.
PV | Finals | Oct. 1 | 12:05 p.m.
 
NMB
200m | Heats | Sept. 29 | 12:05 p.m.
200m | Semis | Sept. 30 | 12:50 p.m.
200m | Finals | Oct. 1 | 2:40 p.m.
 
Norwood
400m | Heats | Oct. 1 | 8:35 a.m.
400m | Semis | Oct. 2 | 12:35 p.m.
400m | Finals | Oct. 4 | 2:20 p.m.
 
Norwood*/Cherry*
4×4 Mixed Relays | Sept. 28 | 12 p.m.
4×4 Mixed Relays | Sept. 29 | 2:35 p.m.
 
Mitchell-Blake*/Baptiste*
4×1 relays | Heats | Oct. 4 | 12:40 p.m./1:05 p.m.
4×1 relays | Finals | Oct. 5 | 2:05 p.m./2:15 p.m.
 
Norwood*/Cherry*
4×4 relays | Heats | Oct. 5 | 11:55 a.m./12:25 p.m.
4×4 relays | Finals | Oct. 6 | 1:15 p.m./1:30 p.m.
 
*Athletes with asterisks next to their name are in relay pools for their countries. They are not guaranteed to run, but they could be selected.