By Josh Hurlebaus
Fresh off of the men’s 100m dash preview, let’s go and take a look at the women’s field. The sprints for women tend to have a few more surprises when it comes time for the Olympics compared to the men, as well as not knowing what sort of year it will be speed wise. Some championships a 10.9 will do the trick to win, but I don’t think that is going to be the case this year. As usual, we’ll start off with the powerhouse that is the tiny island nation of Jamaica.
Jamaica
|
Shelly-Ann Frasier-Pryce
Defending Olympic champion and most hyphenated of the Jamaican team.
|
Veronica Campbell-Brown
Being 30 years old just means she has more experience kicking ass on the track. Moderately hyphenated.
|
Kerron Stewart
The least hyphenated of the Jamaicans. Can you really be called the slowest when you still can run 10.7x?
|
Let’s do a quick run-down of this group’s PRs. We have Shelly-Ann Frasier-Price (or Double Dash as I like to call her) with a 10.70, Kerron Stewart with a 10.75, and VC-B with a 10.76. In typical years these three ladies would qualify for NCAA division III nationals for the MEN! This is the only event where I am calling the potential for a medal sweep. They truly are THAT deep.
The United States
|
Carmelita Jeter
The only woman who has a faster PR than the Jamaicans.
|
Tianna Madison
PRing to get 2nd at the US trials shows her season is on the right track,
but will that be enough?
|
Allyson Felix
Dude…where’s my run-off?
|
Here’s the thing… I really only think Carmelita deserves to be mentioned here based solely off of 100m talent and capability. Sure, Felix just smashed a 21.6 in the 200, but quite frankly her start is so lackluster that I’m surprised this is the double that she is aiming for. Felix is only on this list because of that 200 and her maximal velocity capabilities. Because Felix took fourth place third place, but still made the list, I felt it fair to mention Tianna. Tianna has been running fantastically well this year and seems to be on a good path if this continues. Carmelita is by far the States’ best shot at medaling, but can she withstand a full season and the Olympics at the age of 32?
Other medal contenders
|
Kelly-Ann Baptiste
With a PR of 10.84 and already being close to it this season with a 10.88, Kelly-Ann is the only other woman I can see that could prevent a Jamaican sweep. Add the fact that she went to LSU and you have my personal favorite of the group!
|
Eastern Europe
Let’s be honest here for a moment. It’s an Olympic year, and like every Olympic year we are going to be witness to some random Eastern European woman storm onto the scene, shatter her PR, possibly walk away with a medal, and leave everyone asking “Who in the hell was that?!”
|
About Josh:
Josh Hurlebaus is the sprints coach at Carroll University and recently coached LJ Hyland to an All-America finish and school record (dropping a full second off of his PR) in his inaugural year in charge of the Carroll sprinters. Josh has been an Elitetrack member since 2005 and is actively involved in many sprint discussions. He also has consulted various All-American sprinters from other schools such as Zach Lee and Scott Thomas.
A former Carroll athlete himself, Josh was a 4x All-American and continued to set personal records post-collegiately. He was a 1x USATF Indoor Qualifier. Below are his personal bests.
60m– 6.73
100m-10.38
200m– 20.97 (21.47indoor)
Find his blog at yourunlikecrap.com
Free Training Guides!
Sign up for the newsletter, get your FREE eBooks, and receive weekly updates on cutting edge training information that will help take your knowledge of athletic performance to a new level.