2023 BLAZING IN BUDAPEST
876 Predictions
Championships was done by Fraser‐Pryce ten years ago in Moscow, Russia. Women’s 400 & 800: Americans Sydney McLaughlin‐Levrone and Athing Mu will arrive in Hungary as big favourites, even though McLaughlin has abandoned the 400 hurdles where she is the fastest of all me. Sada Williams gave Barbados a 400 metre bronze in Eugene and she looks to be peaking right on me again. Jamaican champions Nickesha Pryce (400m) and Natoya Goule‐ Tappin (800m) will keep the black‐ green‐and‐gold flag flying high. Women’s 100 hurdles: Trained by Jamaican Lacena Golding‐ Clarke, Tobi Amusan peaked perfectly in Eugene with a world record 12.12 seconds in the semifinal and gold in the final. In 2023, Puerto Rico’s Olympic champion Jasmin Camacho‐ Quinn, 2019 World champion Nia Ali and former world record holder Kendra Harrison are top contenders with the Nigerian hampered by a suspension cloud. In addion, Jamaican champion Megan Tapper is in the form of her life and seeks an honour to add to her 2021 Olympic bronze. She probably won’t be alone in the final as NCAA winner Ackera Nugent and 2015 World champ Danielle Williams should figure.
If Tapper trims the personal best (12.44 seconds) she produced at the Naonals, the compact 29 year‐old could bump one of the big girls from the podium. For now, the medal favourites are Camacho‐Quinn, Harrison and the tall American with the big surname, Ali.
Now heading for thirty, she let herself down with a semifinal eliminaon last year, but her stocks are on the rise. Flying Dutchwoman Femke Bol was second to McLaughlin in Eugene and may just dip under 52 ahead of former champion Dahlilah Muhammad. The bale for bronze is between Russell and Shamir Lile, the 2015 second place finisher. Women’s Relays: On the plus side, Jamaica has the wonderful Fraser‐Pryce in the midst of its 4x100 plans. The Mommy Rocket has run every leg and, given her decision to give up the 200 as a championship target aer last year’s silver medal, she should be available for the preliminary round. The last me that happened, Natalliah Whyte, Fraser‐Pryce, Jonielle Smith and Jackson won the gold medal in 2019 at the Doha World Championships. Conversely, the Americans have a fine team, led by Richardson and Thomas, and their preparaon gives them the edge over Jamaica as well as Talou and her Ivory Coast team. In the 4x400, McLaughlin‐ Levrone gives the USA a gilt‐ edged guarantee. No one can match her on the anchor leg.
If the form book stays true, Janieve Russell could grab a spot on the podium in the 400m hurdles.
In the one‐lap hurdles, McLaughlin’s departure to the flat 400 has le a medal hanging in the wind and Jamaica’s Janieve Russell might just be the woman to grab it. She triumphed at the Naonals in a thriller over Andrewnee Knight and 2019 bronze winner Rushell Clayton; then she placed second in the flat 400 with a big lifeme best of 50.76 seconds.
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