Daegu, South Korea - The IAAF World Championship begin this weekend with six Aggies, along with two other athletes who train on the A&M campus, representing five countries in the 13th edition of the global track and field meet which started in 1983.
The nine-day meet begins this Saturday, Aug. 27 and runs through Sept. 4. Coverage of the World Championships will be on NBC over the weekend along with Universal Sports (625 on Directv) during the week days. Live coverage is available daily online at www.universalsports.com for a fee.
Representing the United States are Texas A&M seniors Jessica Beard and Jeneba Tarmoh. Both will race in individual events, with Beard in the 400 meters and Tarmoh in the 200 meters, while also being in the Team USA relay pool for the 4 x 400 and 4 x 100 relays.
Aggie grad Fabrice Lapierre competes for Australia in the long jump while a trio of A&M senior sprinters represent three other countries - Tabarie Henry, 400m (U.S. Virgin Islands), Gerald Phiri, 100m (Zambia) and Demetrius Pinder, 400m and 4 x 400 relay (Bahamas).
Aries Merritt (110 hurdles) and LaShaunte'a Moore (4x100 relay pool) both train in College Station with A&M volunteer coach Andreas Behm and will be part of the United States team in South Korea.
Among the group of eight athletes, four are tabbed to contend for the finals of their respective individual events by Track & Field News. One A&M athlete, Beard, returns to World Championship action with a gold medal from 2009.
Beard earned a gold medal at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Germany, when she ran on the U.S. 4 x 400 in the qualifying round. She also advanced to the semifinals of the 400. Beard's senior season with the Aggies included a pair of NCAA titles in the 400 as well as two NCAA 4 x 400 relay victories during the indoor and outdoor season.
In relay races this season Beard has produced three sub 50-second splits. Twice at the Texas Relays Beard ran 49.6 for A&M in the prelims and final, where the Aggie women won the event for the first time in the program's history. During the NCAA Outdoor final Beard recorded the fastest split ever in the championship meet with a 49.13 clocking to lead the A&M squad to victory in a school record 3:26.31.
In the men's 400 Pinder is slated for sixth while Henry, who was fourth at the 2009 World Championships, is listed 10th in the T&FN formchart. Henry has a personal best of 44.77 from the 2009 season and posted his best time of 44.83 this season back in early April. Pinder, the 2011 NCAA Indoor champion, ran a career best of 44.78 to win a second national title in the Bahamas in late June.
The magazine favors NCAA 400 champion Kirani James of Grenada for the title over defending World and Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt, who recently completed a 21-month suspension, and Jamaica's Jermaine Gonzales.
Tarmoh is slated eighth in the women's 200 with her career best of 22.28. Her season with A&M included a NCAA silver medal and then a bronze medal in the U.S. Championships at that distance.
Three-time World champion Allyson Felix is predicted for runner-up status this year by Track & Field News. As Felix attempts a rare 200-400 double the favorite role slides to two-time Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica, who has a trio of silver medals from the last three World Championships. Another American sprinter, Carmalita Jeter, is predicted for the bronze.
The formchart in the 110 hurdles lists Aries Merritt seventh in a very loaded field. Merritt, who holds career best of 13.09 from 2007, has posted a season best of 13.12 twice this summer to win the Bislett Games in Oslo and finish second at the U.S. Championships in Eugene.
Medal contention is expected to be determined by the trio of sub-13 second hurdlers in the field, two of which are returning from injuries suffered the past couple of seasons. Favorite Dayron Robles of Cuba is the 2008 Olympic champion and current world record holder with a 12.87. American record holder David Oliver (12.89) is tabbed for silver over 2007 World champion Xiang Liu of China, who set a then world record of 12.88 in 2006.
In relay events the Americans are tabbed as favorites in the women's 4 x 400 over Jamaica and Russia while the 4 x 100 crew is predicted to finish second to the Jamaicans with the Ukraine favored for bronze. Pinder and the Bahamas 4 x 400 relay are in the bronze medal position on the T&FN formchart behind the United States and Jamaica.
IAAF World Championships
Texas A&M Aggies competing in Daegu, South Korea
Men                                        Event                                      Country
Tabarie Henry                         400 meters                              U.S. Virgin Islands
Fabrice Lapierre                      Long Jump                              Australia
Gerald Phiri                             100 meters                              Zambia
Demetrius Pinder                     400 meters, 4x400                  Bahamas
Women
Jessica Beard                         400 meters, 4x400                  United States                         Â
Jeneba Tarmoh                       200 meters, 4x100                  United States
Athletes training at Texas A&M
Aries Merritt                             110 hurdles                             United States
LaShaunte'a Moore                4 x 100 relay pool                   United States
IAAF World Championships
Schedule for A&M Athletes
(local time - 14 hours difference to Daegu)
 Saturday, Aug. 27                  Event                                              Athletes
 6:05 a.m.                              Women's 400 - prelim                      Jessica Beard (USA)
 7:45 a.m.                              Men's 100 - prelim                           Gerald Phiri (Zambia)
 Sunday, Aug. 28
 7:50 p.m. (Saturday)             Men's 110 Hurdles - prelim              Aries Merritt (USA)
 9:15 p.m. (Saturday)             Men's 400 - prelim                           Tabarie Henry (US Virgin Islands), Demetrius Pinder (Bahamas)
 4:30 a.m. (Sunday)               Men's 100 - semifinal                      Phiri
 4:55 a.m. (Sunday)               Women's 400 - semifinal                 Beard
 6:45 a.m. (Sunday)               Men's 100 - FINAL                         Phiri
 Monday, Aug. 29
 5:00 a.m.                              Men's 110 H - semifinal                  Merritt
 6:00 a.m.                              Men's 400 - semifinal                      Henry, Pinder
 7:05 a.m.                              Women's 400 - FINAL                    Beard
 7:25 a.m.                              Men's 110 H - FINAL                      Merritt
 Tuesday, Aug. 30
 7:45 a.m.                              Men's 400 - FINAL                         Henry, Pinder
 Thursday, Sept. 1
 8:50 p.m. (Wednesday)         Women's 200- prelim                       Jeneba Tarmoh (USA)
 9:35 p.m. (Wednesday)         Men's Long jump - qualification       Fabrice Lapierre (Australia)
10:30 p.m. (Wednesday)         Men's 4 x 400 - prelim                     Demetrius Pinder (Bahamas)
 5:25 a.m. (Thursday)             Women's 200 - semifinal                 Tarmoh
 Friday, Sept. 2
10:10 p.m. (Thursday)             Women's 4 x 400 - prelim                Jessica Beard (USA)
 5:20 a.m. (Friday)                  Men's Long jump - FINAL               Lapierre
 6:55 a.m. (Friday)                  Women's 200 - FINAL                    Tarmoh
 7:15 a.m. (Friday)                  Men's 4 x 400 - FINAL                    Pinder
 Saturday, Sept. 3
 6:40 a.m.                              Women's 4 x 400 - FINAL               Beard
 Sunday, Sept. 4
 4:30 a.m.                              Women's 4 x 100 - prelim                Tarmoh (USA), LaShaunte'a Moore (USA)
 6:35 a.m.                              Women's 4 x 100 - FINAL               Tarmoh, Moore