TWO ISSUES AGO we said, “Picking World Championships podium people in January—when a crystal ball sometimes looks more like a snow globe—is always risky business, but it’s ultra-risky when you do it for a year in which the WC is set to roll around on its latest dates ever, September 27–October 06.” After a relatively low-key indoor season, fearless forecasters Richard Hymans (men) and Jonathan Berenbom (women) have updated their picks. Note that we didn’t include either athletes under provisional doping bans or Russians who have yet to be granted Neutral status by the IAAF. If the IAAF’s proposed testosterone rules finally get the green light, that too could change things.
Overall, the choices add up to a solid 29-medal haul (15 men, 14 women) for Team USA, 10 of them gold (5 men, 5 women). Last time around, London ’17, the U.S. total was 24 medals, split 13/17, with 10 golds (3 men, 7 women).
| MEN’S MEDAL PICKS | |||
| GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | |
| 100 | Christian Coleman (USA) | Ronnie Baker (USA) | Reece Prescod (Great Britain) |
| 200 | Noah Lyles (USA) | Ramil Guliyev (Turkey) | Akeem Bloomfield (Jamaica) |
| 400 | Wayde van Niekerk (South Africa) | Michael Norman (USA) | Abdellah Haroun (Qatar) |
| 800 | Emmanuel Korir (Kenya) | Clayton Murphy (USA) | Michael Saruni (Kenya) |
| 1500 | Timothy Cheruiyot (Kenya) | Elijah Manangoi (Kenya) | Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway) |
| Steeple | Conseslus Kipruto (Kenya) | Soufiane El Bakkali (Morocco) | Evan Jager (USA) |
| 5000 | Selemon Barega (Ethiopia) | Yomif Kejelcha (Ethiopia) | Hagos Gebrhiwet (Ethiopia) |
| 10,000 | Joshua Cheptegei (Uganda) | Rhonex Kipruto (Kenya) | Richard Yator (Kenya) |
| 110 Hurdles | Sergey Shubenkov (Russia) | Omar McLeod (Jamaica) | Grant Holloway (USA) |
| 400 Hurdles | Abderrahmane Samba (Qatar) | Rai Benjamin (USA) | Karsten Warholm (Norway) |
| Marathon | Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) | Leul Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) | Tamirat Tola (Ethiopia) |
| 20K Walk | Eiki Takahashi (Japan) | Eider Arévalo (Colombia) | Daisuke Matsunaga (Japan) |
| 50K Walk | Matej Tóth (Slovakia) | Maryan Zakalnytskyy (Ukraine) | Hiroki Arai (Japan) |
| 4 x 100 | United States | Great Britain | Jamaica |
| 4 x 400 | United States | Botswana | Bahamas |
| High Jump | Mutaz Barshim (Qatar) | Brandon Starc (Australia) | Maksim Nedasekau (Belarus) |
| Pole Vault | Timor Morgunov (Russia) | Sam Kendricks (USA) | Mondo Duplantis (Sweden) |
| Long Jump | Juan Miguel Echevarría (Cuba) | Luvo Manyonga (South Africa) | Ruswahl Samaai (South Africa) |
| Triple Jump | Christian Taylor (USA) | Pedro Pichardo (Portugal) | Will Claye (USA) |
| Shot | Tom Walsh (New Zealand) | Ryan Crouser (USA) | Darrell Hill (USA) |
| Discus | Andrius Gudžius (Lithuania) | Fedrick Dacres (Jamaica) | Ehsan Hadadi (Iran) |
| Hammer | Paweł Fajdek (Poland) | Wojciech Nowicki (Poland) | Bence Halász (Hungary) |
| Javelin | Thomas Röhler (Germany) | Magnus Kirt (Estonia) | Andreas Hofmann (Germany) |
| Decathlon | Kevin Mayer (France) | Damian Warner (Canada) | Arthur Abele (Germany) |
| WOMEN’S MEDAL PICKS | |||
| GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | |
| 100 | Elaine Thompson (Jamaica) | Marie-Josée Ta Lou (Côte d’Ivoire) | Dina Asher-Smith (Great Britain) |
| 200 | Dina Asher-Smith (Great Britain) | Shaunae Miller-Uibo (Bahamas) | Dafne Schippers (Netherlands) |
| 400 | Shaunae Miller-Uibo (Bahamas) | Salwa Eid Naser (Bahrain) | Phyllis Francis (USA) |
| 800 | Caster Semenya (South Africa) | Francine Niyonsaba (Burundi) | Ajee’ Wilson (USA) |
| 1500 | Faith Kipyegon (Kenya) | Laura Muir (Great Britain) | Shelby Houlihan (USA) |
| Steeple | Beatrice Chepkoech (Kenya) | Hyvin Jepkemoi (Kenya) | Celliphine Chespol (Kenya) |
| 5000 | Hellen Obiri (Kenya) | Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) | Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia) |
| 10,000 | Almaz Ayana (Ethiopia) | Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) | Senbere Teferi (Ethiopia) |
| 100 Hurdles | Brianna McNeal (USA) | Keni Harrison (USA) | Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (Puerto Rico) |
| 400 Hurdles | Sydney McLaughlin (USA) | Dalilah Muhammad (USA) | Shamier Little (USA) |
| Marathon | Mary Keitany (Kenya) | Vivian Cheruiyot (Kenya) | Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia) |
| 20K Walk | Shenjie Qieyang (China) | Antonella Palmisano (Italy) | Mária Pérez (Spain) |
| 50K Walk | Hong Liu (China) | Maocuo Li (China) | Claire Tallent (Australia) |
| 4 x 100 | United States | Jamaica | Great Britain |
| 4 x 400 | United States | Jamaica | Poland |
| High Jump | Mariya Lasitskene (Russia) | Yuliya Levchenko (Ukraine) | Airinė Palšytė (Lithuania) |
| Pole Vault | Anzhelika Sidorova (Russia) | Sandi Morris (USA) | Katerína Stefanídi (Greece) |
| Long Jump | Brittney Reese (USA) | Ivana Španović (Serbia) | Malaika Mihambo (Germany) |
| Triple Jump | Caterine Ibargüen (Colombia) | Yulimar Rojas (Venezuela) | Ana Peleteiro (Spain) |
| Shot | Lijiao Gong (China) | Christina Schwanitz (Germany) | Raven Saunders (USA) |
| Discus | Sandra Perković (Croatia) | Yaimé Pérez (Cuba) | Dani Stevens (Australia) |
| Hammer | Anita Włodarczyk (Poland) | DeAnna Price (USA) | Joanna Fiodorow (Poland) |
| Javelin | Huihui Lu (China) | Barbora Špotáková (Czech Republic) | Christin Hussong (Germany) |
| Heptathlon | Nafi Thiam (Belgium) | Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Great Britain) | Carolin Schäfer (Germany) |