Evan Jager gave us thrills and unfortunately a spill as he ran an 8:00 steeple American record on Independence Day, a promising sign that the young American could be on the verge of World dominance. Eric Jenkins ran like he normally does, extremely well, in the 3K at Lignano on Tuesday then spoke about the good and bad of “staying fresh.” But it was Kerri Gallagher who stole the show in Italy, running a ridiculous five-second PR of 4:03.56 in the 1500m to book herself a trip to the World Championships. And in a moment of ground-breaking journalism, we discovered that she prefers chocolate gelato.  

 

Finally, Mo Farah showed how much pent-up frustration he’s held back in the month and a week since the Nike Oregon Project doping allegations dropped a bomb on the running community. After realizing that he had beaten most of his main rivals in Lausanne yesterday with a typical slow, winding-up of the pace, the 32-year-old Farah started screaming and fist-pumping 30 meters out from the finish line, a proclamation that the distance world was still his, regardless of the circumstances. 

 

With no time to catch our breath, it’s off to Madrid, Spain next for the Meeting de Madrid, an IAAF World Challenge event. Here’s what to watch in the Spanish capital tomorrow: 

 

Men’s 100m 

The fastest race in Spain tomorrow will feature four men who have run 9.94 or faster in 2015, and another four who have PBs under 10 seconds. Headlining this field will be American Mike Rodgers, who finished third in the USA final last month to punch his ticket to Beijing. The 30-year-old has a season’s best of 9.90 from Pre in May, and has been super-consistent this year having run sub-10 on nine separate occasions. 

Mike Rodgers has run 9.90 in 2015 and finished 3rd at the US Championships

The other men in Madrid who have broken 10 in 2015 are Qatar’s Femi Ogunode (9.91, FYI he’s a former doper), and Americans Clayton Vaughn (9.93, who hasn’t run close to this since), and Diondre Batson (9.94, he ran this in the first round at USAs). 

 

Rodgers hasn’t finished lower than fourth in a Diamond League 100m in 2015, and he should run away from this field with relative ease on Saturday.

 

Women’s 100m 

This one appears to be a two woman race, not literally, but English Gardner (10.79) and Elaine Thompson (10.84) are the only two women to have broken 11 seconds in the Madrid field for 2015, so it might as well be. 

English Gardner (middle) has run 10.79 in 2015, the #2 time in the World

The 23-year-old Gardner has been particularly impressive this season, running a huge 10.79 PB at Prefontaine that stood as the World lead until Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce's stunning 10.74 last week in Paris. Gardner has stayed hot since then as she finished second at USAs and won yesterday’s Lausanne 100m in a wind-aided 10.76 (+5.4). This all comes on the heels of a very poor 2014 in which Gardner failed to break 11 seconds. 

 

Thompson was second to Gardner at Pre in a 10.84 PB, and she too will be coming off a victory, as she won the Lignano 100m in 11.11 (-1.2).

 

Men’s 800m

Kenyan Job Kinyor owns the ninth-fastest time in the World in 2015, his 1:43.92 from the Rome Diamond League on June 4th. He’ll square off with 1:44 man Amel Tuka of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who lowered his PB by nearly two seconds and set a national record on July 1st.

 

American Charles Jock has run 1:45 in 2015, but failed to advance out of the first round at USA’s. He’ll look to get his season back on track in Madrid. 

 

Men’s 3,000m

HOKA ONE ONE's Kyle Merber will step out of his comfort zone in the Madrid 3,000m. Merber hasn’t run a 3K since 2012, and his 8:09 PB comes from all the way back in 2010. The 24-year-old is certainly a 1500m man, but a sub-8:00 run in Spain seems imminent given the breakout year he’s had in 2015. Merber has run 3:34 for 1500m this year, and was 6th in the USA final last month. Merber finished third in the Cork City mile on Tuesday in 4:01 under brutal conditions. 

 

Merber will have the tough task of competing with 31-year-old Benson Seurei of Bahrain, who ran 7:42 to finish 8th in the Doha Diamond League 3K on May 15th. 

 

Women’s 800m

Fresh off her 1:59.10 PB in the Paris 800m on July 4th, 2014 World indoor champion Chanelle Price enters Madrid looking for more. The 24-year-old American will face four other women with sub-2:00 PBs, including 1:57 runner Malika Akkaoui of Morocco. 

 

Eversport.tv will stream the 2015 IAAF World Challenge - Madrid LIVE tomorrow starting at 12:15pm CT.