This is part four of following 10 athletes who have made major impacts at The Armory as they compete at IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China. Those athletes are David Verburg, Erik Sowinski, Matthew Centrowitz, Evan Jager, Omar Craddock, Sharika Nelvis, Phyllis Francis, Brenda Martinez, Shannon Rowbury and Janeva Stevens. This is not to say we won’t be mentioning others, but those 10 will be the main focus in our recaps, which will be posted on August 23, 25, 27, 29 and 30.

Sharika Nelvis: 100m hurdles

Sharika Nelvis still owns the year’s fastest 100m hurdle time of 12.34. She’s still tied for first in the Diamond League point standings with 10. But unfortunately, she was unable to duplicate the success she’s seen throughout much of the season during Thursday night’s 100m hurdle final.

The recent Arkansas State graduate drew lane sixth, having qualified for the final after running 12.59 in the semis. She found herself trailing early in the finals, as she was behind four members of the eight-athlete field while clearing the third hurdle.

By mid-way she was in position to possibly finish within the top five, but smacked the ninth hurdle with her trail leg and sluggishly crossed the finish line in last with a time of 13.06.

Overall, the event was another disappointing one for Team USA, who feasibly could have swept the medal stand. Defending champion Brianna Rollins was the country’s best finisher with 12.67, just one hundredth of a second behind Belarus’ Alina Talay who took third. Jamaica’s Danielle Williams pulled away from the field after the final hurdle to win it in 12.57.

Missing the final were American’s Kendra Harrison, who was disqualified for false starting during the semis, and Dawn Harper Nelson, who recorded a DNF after crashing in the semis.

Matthew Centrowitz: 1,500m

In brighter news, all three of Team USA’s 1,500m runners were able to advance to the final from Friday’s semis. But Matthew Centrowitz, Leonel Manzano and Robby Andrews will have their work cut out for them as they go up against a deep 12 man field on Sunday that includes Algeria’s 2012 Olympic champion Taoufik Makhloufi, New Zealand’s Olympic silver medalist Nick Willis, Morocco’s 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Abdalaati Iguider and two-time defending world champion Asbel Kiprop and his three Kenyan teammates.

Centrowitz looked at ease while running down the final homestretch in the semis, despite constantly checking his surroundings to avoid a Molly Huddle like outcome. He finished fourth with 3:43.97 with Kiprop winning in 3:43.48. Manzano closed quickly to grab the fifth and final automatic qualifying spot in heat one with 3:44.28.

Andrews qualified on time from heat two, kicking hard to move from the back of the pack to sixth in 3:35.88. Kanya’s Elijah Motonei Manangoi won that heat with 3:35.00.

As of Friday, Team USA tops the championship’s medal count with 14, but Kenya leads in gold medals with 6 and sits in second overall with 11 medals. USA is tied with Jamaica for second in golds with four each.

Competition schedule: Finals on August 30 at 7:15am.

By Justin Gaymon // Photos by Victah Sailer and John Nepolitan

Find our previous World Championships recap here:

http://www.armorytrack.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=45586&do=news&news_id=363479

Find live results here: 

http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-championships/15th-iaaf-world-championships-4875/timetable/byday

Find viewing information here: 

http://worldchampionships.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=744&do=news&news_id=362146