US track championships set for fastest show on earth

The United States Athletics Championships are set to be the fastest show on earth this week as a new generation of sprinting stars take centre stage in the battle for places at the World Championships in Doha.

With Usain Bolt's near-decade of dominance now over, a crop of hungry young Americans are vying to fill the void left by the Jamaican's retirement in what promises to be a new golden era for US sprinting.

American sprinters have clocked the quickest times in the world this year over 100m, 200m and 400m, and have also set the pace in the 110m hurdles.

With only the top three finishers in each event guaranteed a place on the team for Doha, the stage is set for four days of ferocious competition when the championships begin at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday.

Leading the pack are sprinters Christian Coleman and Noah Lyles, who are developing a burgeoning rivalry over the 100m and 200m.

Coleman has the fastest 100m time in the world this year, a tidy 9.81sec set at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League meeting in Stanford three weeks ago.

Lyles, meanwhile, whose 9.86sec in Shanghai is the second fastest time this season, has also been the man to beat over 200m, clocking a world-leading 19.50sec in Lausanne on July 5.

Lyles has decided against running in the 100m this week, meaning his duel with Coleman will most likely come in his strongest event, the 200m on Sunday.

- 'Target on my back' -
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"They're pretty hard," Coleman said of his training sessions. "Other guys will be tired, but I'll be throwing up."
- Teen spirit -
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