Gary Smith, Track & Field and Lead Sports Writer

Four Florida Teams In Associated Press College Football Preseason Poll

Written by Gary Smith, Lead Sports Writer on August 23, 2017 | SportingAlert Leave a Comment

MIAMI, FL Sporting Alert — Four Florida teams were included in the Associated Press College Football preseason poll, which was released on Monday.

Florida State, Florida, Miami and the University of South Florida (USF) are the ball clubs listed among the teams in the AP Top 25 preseason poll.

Sitting highest on the list at No. 3 is Florida State, which moved five-places up from the No. 8 slot it held in the postseason rankings at the end of the last term.

The Seminoles received four No. 1 votes and 1,396 points to head into the opening games of the season behind top ranked Alabama, which collected 52 first-place votes and Ohio State (3).

Florida State will open its 2017 schedule on Sept. 2 at Atlanta’s brand-new Mercedes-Benz Stadium against the Crimson Tide, who are the college football early favorites, and will also play five opponents ranked in the preseason poll.

No. 17 Florida is the second highest ranked team from the Sunshine state, listed in the AP top 25 preseason poll.

The Gators collected 624 points, but slipped three spots from the No. 14 place they ranked at the end of the last season.

Florida will open the new campaign against No. 11 Michigan on Sept. 2.

The next two Florida teams in the Associated Press College Football preseason poll are Miami, at No. 18 and USF, at No. 19.

In the final AP rankings of 2016, the Hurricanes were No. 20, so they moved two places up the rankings.

Miami opens the season at home on Sept. 2 against Bethune-Cookman.

Meanwhile, USF, which gets his season going at San Jose State on August 26, checked in at the same position it finished in the final AP rankings for 2016.

Associated Press College Football Preseason Poll

1. Alabama, 2. Ohio State, 3. Florida State, 4. Southern California, 5. Clemson, 6. Penn State, 7. Oklahoma, 8. Washington, 9. Wisconsin, 10, Oklahoma State, 11. Michigan, 12. Auburn, 13. LSU, 14. Stanford, 15. Georgia, 6. Louisville, 17. Florida, 18. Miami, 19. USF, 20. Kansas State, 21. Virginia Tech, 22. West Virginia, 23. Texas, 24. Washington State, 25. Tennessee.

IAAF World Championships Day 9 Live Stream: What To Watch

Written by Gary Smith, Lead Sports Writer on August 11, 2017 | SportingAlert Leave a Comment

LONDON, Sporting Alert — The women’s and men’s 4×100 and 4×400 metres relays will highlight the morning session at the IAAF World Championships in London, on Saturday’s Day 9 penultimate day.

Watch the live streaming coverage from the championships which will be available on several platforms, including the IAAF official YouTube and Facebook pages.

In addition, NBC Sports will also provide live stream, with the live coverage getting underway at 5:00 a.m. ET. The IAAF will also have live updates, including results and interviews, while live blogging and Live radio is on the dedicated page.

The heats of the women’s 4x100m will get going at 5:35 am ET, while the men’s section will begin at 5:55 am.

Tori Bowie is expected to miss out when the United States take on the likes of Great Britain and Switzerland in the first heat of the women’s section.

The Elaine Thompson-led Jamaica, Germany and Trinidad and Tobago are among the favourites to advance from the second heat.

On the men’s side, Usain Bolt is anticipated to line-up for Jamaica in Heat 2, alongside 110m hurdles champion Omar McLeod against teams such as Canada, China and France.

Bolt finished third in the men’s 100m and will be aiming to redeem himself and close out what has been a stellar track and field career on a high.

World champion Justin Gatlin and runner-up Christian Coleman will lead the United States team in Heat 1 against Great Britain, Japan and Trinidad and Tobago.

Both finals are slated to take place on Saturday evening.

The semi-final heats of the men’s and women’s 4x400m relays will close out the track events in the morning section.

Lining up in Heat 1 on the women’s side are the United States, Great Britain, France and Australia in the battle for three automatic spots.

Jamaica, Germany, Italy and Ukraine are the main candidates for the top spots in Heat 2.

In the men’s section, Jamaica will take on the Bahamas and Poland in the first heat.

Gold medal favourites the United States, along with Botswana, Great Britain and Trinidad and Tobago, will feature in the second semi-final heat.

The Decathlon will also continue in the morning session on Day 9.

Van Niekerk v Makwala In 200m Final Showdown on Day 7

Written by Gary Smith, Lead Sports Writer on August 9, 2017 | SportingAlert Leave a Comment

LONDON, Sporting Alert – After missing the 400 metres showdown with Wayde van Niekerk at the IAAF World Championships at the top of the week, Isaac Makwala gets a second against the South African.

A stomach virus kept Makwala from running in the 200m heats and the 400 final on Tuesday night, even though he insisted he was healthy to compete.

The Botswana sprinter was given a second chance on Wednesday to earn a place in the 200m semi-finals, but needed to come through a solo time-trial.

He easily got the time he needed from the heat and then finished second in his semi-final race to set up a well-anticipated clash in the final on Thursday.

In the absence of defending champion and world record holder Usain Bolt, who won the men’s 200m at the last four IAAF World Championships, Van Niekerk started as the pre-race favourite.

However, the 400m champion only qualified as one of the fastest losers after struggling to third place in his semis.

Felix v Miller-Uibo In The Battle For 400m World Title

Van Niekerk won the men’s 400m title in 43.98 seconds on Tuesday and he is hoping to become the first man since American legend Michael Johnson to pull off the difficult 200/400 double.

The 200m remains wide open after former world 100m champion Yohan Blake from Jamaica, the second fastest man ever behind Bolt over the distance, failed to get out of his semis.

Wade Van Niekerk of South Africa winning the men’s 400m

Felix v Miller-Uibo In The Battle For 400m World Title

Written by Gary Smith, Lead Sports Writer on August 9, 2017 | SportingAlert Leave a Comment

LONDON, Sporting Alert – American Allyson Felix and Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas will face-off in the women’s 400m final at the IAAF World Championships on Wednesday and it is expected to be a cracking event.

The pair will renew their rivalry over the distance today and start as the leading contenders to secure the gold medal.

Defending champion Felix leads the world list with a time of 49.65 seconds, but Olympic champion Miller-Uibo is not too far behind at 49.77.

Both sprinters qualified easily from their respective semi-final heat with Felix running 50.12 for second place and Miller-Uibo winning her semis in 50.36.

Allyson Felix Rio 2016 — Allyson Felix of the United States and Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas

Come Wednesday night, there will be no holding back in the push for the world title.

Felix is bidding for her 10th IAAF World Championship gold medal and her fifth in open events, having also won three 200m world titles to go with her 400m crown at Beijing 2015.

Another medal for the U.S. star sprinter will see her equalling the record of 14 World Championship medals, which is shared by Usain Bolt and Merlene Ottey.

Miller-Uibo, in the meantime, will be aiming to go one place better than she did in 2015 when she was outclassed by her American rival.

Making the race for the title even more interesting is Bahrain’s youngster Salwa Eid Naser, who looked quite impressive when running personal bests in both the heat and semi-final rounds.

Naser also qualified the quickest from the last round with a national time of 50.08 and got the better of Felix in her semis.

World and Olympic bronze medallist Shericka Jackson is another medal contender along with USA’s Phyllis Francis and Jamaica’s Stephenie Ann McPherson.

Bolt Takes Bronze in 100m; Gatlin, Coleman 1-2 in London

Written by Gary Smith, Lead Sports Writer on August 5, 2017 | SportingAlert Leave a Comment

LONDON, Sporting Alert — Usain Bolt had his departure party spoiled by Justin Gatlin after the American beat him in the final of the men’s 100 meters at the 2017 IAAF World Championships here in London on Saturday.

Although the defeat wasn’t very shocking to many who had already predicted that Bolt would have struggled to defend his title, not a lot of people had picked Gatlin to do the spoiling on the world record holder’s farewell sending off.

In what turned out to be a very tight finish, Gatlin held off his rivals at the line to win gold in 9.92 seconds.

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NCAA champion and rising American sprinter Christian Coleman took the silver medal in 9.94 seconds with Bolt, who was unable to make up grounds after his slow start, grabbing the bronze in 9.95.

Gatlin, who is still being tarnished by his doping past, was booed in London during and after the race.

The American, however, was congratulated by Bolt, who remained the centre of attraction with the large gathering.

Jamaican 2011 world champion Yohan Blake finished fourth in 9.99 seconds with fifth place going to Akani Simbine of South African in 10.01.

Completing the final places were Jimmy Vicaut (10.08) in sixth, Reece Prescod (10.17) and Bingtian Su (10.27).