Olympic Track and Field: What to Watch for Tuesday

Four medals and 11 events overall fill out the dance card Tuesday at London’s Olympic Stadium.

The morning session sees qualifying on both the track and the infield.

In the field, the women’s javelin and men’s triple jump start the day off.

The Czech Republic’s Barbora Spotakova and South Africa’s Sunette Vijoen have had the best distance throws this year clearing 68 meters while Spotakova holds the world record with a throw of over 72 meters.

The men’s triple jump features the American Will Clay, who has jumped 17.7 meters for the longest jump this season. Another American, Christian Taylor, has the longest jump of anyone in the field in his career at 17.93 meters.

Two men’s sprint qualifiers also start in the morning session. The men’s 110-meter hurdles and the 200-meter sprint gets underway.

Three hurdlers have cleared the 13 second barrier this year and two are American. Aries Merritt and Jason Richardson begin their march towards a medal along with China’s Xiang Liu to Wednesday’s final.

The 200-meter features world-record holder and Olympic legend Usain Bolt from Jamaica along with American hopeful Wallace Spearmon. Bolt’s record is an astounding 19.19 seconds. Yohan Blake, also from Jamaica, has the best time of the year at 19.80 seconds.

The women’s 5,000-meter heats are also on the docket for the morning. Kenya’s Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot has the best time in the world this year at 14 minutes and 35.62 seconds.

The women’s long-jump qualifiers start the night session. Thirty-two jumpers attempt to make the finals with Russia’s Anna Nazarova and the USA’s Chelsea Hays having the longest jump of the year at over 7.1 meters.

First on the track Tuesday night are the semifinals in the men’s 800-meter. Twenty-seven runners remain in the medal hunt with Kenya’s David Lekuta Rudisha, the world-record holder, and Botswana’s Nijel Amos having the best times this year. Rushida’s 1 minute, 41.54 seconds is the best time this year by fully two seconds over Amos and the rest of the field.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce tries for an Olympic gold double in the semis of the women’s 200-meter, but Allyson Felix of the United States has the best time of the year at 21.69 seconds.

The women’s 100-meter semi and final are Tuesday night. Lolo Jones and Australia’s Sally Pearson are in the same semifinal heat with Pearson, who clocked the year’s best time at 12.40 seconds. Chances are they will be next to each other for the final later Tuesday.

The men’s high jump and discus will be decided by highlight action in the infield.

Fourteen jumpers made the final with Russia’s Ivan Ukhov having the best jump of the year at 2.39 meters. America’s Jesse Williams has the best jump for the USA this year at 2.36 meters.

Germany’s Robert Harting and Lithuania’s Virgilijus Alenka are among the 12 in the discus final with throws that would break the Olympic record of 69.89 meters already this year.

Last on the track is the men’s 1,500-meter or the metric mile.

Kenya’s Asbel Kiprop has the best time this year at 3 minutes and 28.88 seconds. Fellow countrymen Nixon Kiplimo Chepseba and Silas Kiplagat, along with Kiprop, are the only three finalists to run the distance in under 3:30.

A busy day awaits.