Three things to look forward to on day one in Oregon: race walks, mixed relay and a smorgasbord of entrees

Day one of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 will see three gold medals decided. The men’s and women’s 20km race walks will be contested in the afternoon on a loop course on Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard while the stadium programme at Hayward Field closes with the final of the mixed 4x400m.

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If none of those three main courses are quite to your liking, there is a veritable smorgasbord of entrees as qualifying rounds of 10 other events take place in the stadium. There’s men’s shot put, women’s 1500m, men’s 100m and women’s pole vault among them. You’re sure to find something to tweak your taste buds.

Ready? Let’s tuck in.

Muscat the best guide to race walks?

Form lines in the road events are notoriously difficult to read, even more difficult for a major championships.

What better guide to the race walks in Oregon, then, than the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships held in Muscat in March. Muscat and Eugene may not be geographically comparable, but with predicted daily maximum temperatures approaching 30C in Oregon through the championships, maybe form in Muscat will stand up on Martin Luther King Junior boulevard.

If so, most of the medals could be heading east, to Japan in the men’s 20km, China in the women’s.

The women will be competing for the first gold medal decided in Oregon. Defending champion Liu Hong of China will have further historical significance within reach. Should she retain her title, Liu will become the first five-time world champion in a race walking event. Ironically, her three Chinese teammates – one of whom is there benefit of Liu’s wild card entry – could be the biggest threats. Ma Zhenxia won the 20km in Muscat, Qieyang Shijie has enjoyed three victories in Gold-level races on the World Race Walking Tour, and 20-year-old Mu Quanming is a rapid developer.

Peru’s Kimberly Garcia, Mexico’s Alegna Gonzalez and Japan’s Nanako Fujii were third, fourth and fifth in Muscat, Maria Perez of Spain fourth in the Olympic 20km and Australia’s Jemima Montag was sixth at the Olympics.

In the men’s race, which starts mid-afternoon at 3:10pm local time, Japan’s formidable team is headed by Muscat 1-2 finishers Toshikazu Yamanishi and Koki Ikeda. Their teammate Eiki Takahashi is in the same class when it comes to PBs but a 10th-place finish in Doha in 2019 and a ninth-place finish at World Race Walking Team Championships do not bear out his times. At 35, Eugene may be now or never.

The next three in Muscat – Kenya’s Samuel Gathimba, Ecuador’s Brian Daniel Pintado and Diego Garcia Carrera of Spain – will all be in contention, as will 2019 world bronze medallist and Muscat 35km champion Perseus Karlstrom of Sweden and Colombia’s 2017 world champion Eider Arevalo.

There will be a host of other contenders, too. Don’t expect many of them to fall back before the 15km mark at least.

Championship swan song for Felix in mixed 4x400m

The only in-stadium event to be decided on day one is the mixed 4x400m relay. The event was added to the programme in Doha, where it was won in world record time by the USA.

And why wouldn’t they win it again, especially with the greatest World Championships medal-winner of all time, Allyson Felix, in the squad (as she was in Doha). Felix has already announced 2022 will be the last year of a gloriously long career. Her mere appearance for the home-nation team should be an emotional moment. Felix will probably handle it better than many of her fans.

So why wouldn’t the US win given its incomparable depth of one-lap runners? Well, for one thing, they didn’t in Tokyo last year where Poland and the Dominican Republic (by 0.01) relegated the USA to the bronze medal. Those two will be strong again, as will Great Britain, Jamaica, Netherlands and Belgium.

If Felix runs the final, it’s going to be a barnstormer finish to day one at Hayward Field.

Len Johnson for World Athletics