World championships: Who’s in, who’s out, who’s on the cusp

The 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow are fast approaching and runners are busy jockeying for spots on their teams, but with some recent withdrawals, the competition will be without some big names.

Algeria’s Olympic 1500m champion Taoufik Makhloufi was the most recent athlete to pull out of the world championships after failing to recover from a viral infection. The 25-year-old fell ill in Ethiopia in January and has rarely raced since then, struggling to an 11th-place finish in a race in Oregon on June 1.

Other big names to withdraw from the August 10–18 championships include 800m world record holder David Rudisha of Kenya, who’s struggling with a knee injury, and current world champion at the 100m, Yohan Blake of Jamaica, who’s been unable to shake off a hamstring issue. World champion 800m runner Caster Semenya will also likely be left off the South African team as she’s been battling an injury.

Sprinters Tyson Gay of the U.S. and Jamaica’s Asafa Powell won’t be at the worlds either, as both recently failed doping tests. Same story for women’s 1500m champion Asli Cakir Alptekin of Turkey, who also failed a drug test.

Some Canadians are still racing their hearts out in an effort to make the team for Moscow. Hamilton, Ont.’s Anthony Romaniw ran a personal-best 800m of 1:46.08 at the Morton Games in Dublin, Ireland this week, making the world championships “B” standard. He placed fifth overall, running the fastest by a Canadian this year by more than a second. The time provisionally qualifies him for the world championships, but Canadian championships winner Geoff Harris can still bump Romaniw off the list if he runs the “B” standard. Romaniw, however, can assure a ticket to Moscow if he achieves the “A” standard of 1:45.30 in his next race in Karlstad, Sweden on Tuesday.

Canadian runners already assured their place on the Moscow team include Kate Van Buskirk, Sheila Reid and Nicole Sifuentes in the 1500m, Melissa Bishop in the 800m, Brianne Theisen in the heptathlon, Noelle Montcalm in the 400m hurdles, Jessica Zelinka and Angela Whyte in the 100m hurdles, Chris Winter, Matt Hughes and Alex Genest in the 3000m steeplechase, Cam Levins in the 5000m and Mo Ahmed in the 10,000m.