On your mark, get set … where’d they go? Track stars not always aligned at nationals

US track stars search for tuneups, not titles

EUGENE, Ore. — The national championships are supposed to be the marquee event of the year for track and field, a sport always looking for a few more fans in the United States.

So, why do these national championships feel more like a preseason football game?

“My mother didn’t understand why I was running one round, and she said she’s not coming,” said Tyson Gay, arguably the biggest track star in America these days.

Gay, who plans to skip the semis and finals of the 100 and bypass the 200 altogether, isn’t the only one helping turn nationals into something less than what they could be.

Jeremy Wariner and Bernard Lagat — maybe the next two biggest stars after Gay — will also appear at U.S. championships, which begin Thursday, though neither plans to run in his specialty.

This is possible because they all have wild-card entries into this summer’s world championships, courtesy of their victories at the last worlds in 2007. None defended those titles at last year’s Olympics, but in the world of track, that doesn’t matter.

“The wildcard situation is something we can’t do anything about,” said Doug Logan, the CEO of USA Track.

Which leads to Gay, the defending world champion in the 100 and 200, committing to 10 (or fewer?) seconds on the track, in the prelims of the 100 on Thursday.

Wariner won’t run in his signature event, the 400 meters, denying fans a chance at another chapter of a great rivalry — Wariner against Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt, who still needs to finish in the top three to make worlds.

And Lagat, the 1,500 and 5,000-meter star, will only run tuneup races in the 800 meters, a distance that’s popular in Africa, parts of Europe and track-happy Eugene, Ore., but hardly anywhere else.

Possibly watering down the field even more would be the absence of defending Olympic decathlon champion Bryan Clay, who injured his left hamstring in practice and says he’s questionable for Thursday’s start.

Clay said international track rules that reward a victory from two years ago, but not one at the Olympics, have him shaking his head this week, as he faces the prospect of not qualifying for worlds if he’s forced to withdraw.

“I’ve been talking about it all year with my coaches, saying I wish I didn’t have to train for U.S. championships, I wish I could just be training for worlds,” Clay said. “It just makes things so much harder on you.”

Logan, who came to USA Track a year ago envisioning a more popular sport with more international events being held in America, says this isn’t one of the issues he’s looking at changing. He doesn’t agree with the idea that the event is watered down.

“It’s one of those things that makes the sport a little different,” Logan said. “There will be a lot of eyeballs looking to see if Jeremy, indeed, can post a good time at a distance that’s not usual for him.”

Wariner will run in the 200, where he will not be among the favorites.

Logan said he had ticket buyers in mind when he pushed Gay for a decision on whether he would compete this week.

Last month, Gay ran the 200 in 19.58, joining Michael Johnson and Usain Bolt as the third person to break 19.6. Sure, it would be great to see an encore, but all Gay wants is to see how he’ll do in the 100. So, he’s promising to run one heat — maybe more if everything’s just right.

“I do want to run fast,” he said. “I do want to give the fans something to remember, as well.”

While Gay’s stint will come and go before the sun goes down on Day 1 of this four-day meet, there are other stars — even a few big names who are aiming to win a national championship.

Allyson Felix, the defending world champion in the 200, said she was planning on going six rounds — three in the 100 and three in the 200, even though she didn’t need to.

“Everyone has a different schedule, a different training plan,” Felix said.

Sanya Richards has to run in the 400, her signature event, to make it to worlds.

And Stephanie Brown Trafton, the surprise Olympic champion in discus, will compete, as well.

“You train like you’re No. 10 in the world and you compete like you’re No. 1,” Brown Trafton said. “I’m looking forward to getting my first national title if I can pull it off.”

A worthwhile goal? Depends on whom you ask.