For this set of predictions, I will be focusing on the sprint and one lap hurdles events for males and females at next year’s Olympics games.
Rasheed Broadbell retakes the 110m hurdles crown for Jamaica: Retaking the gold medal won by Omar Mcleod in 2016. This prediction isn’t too much of a hot take, as one of the only men to seemingly be unfazed by triple world champion Grant Holloway’s unbelievably fast start on a consistent basis. Before the World Championships, Broadbell was in the form of his life, clocking a personal best 12.94 seconds at the Jamaican National Trials, which makes him the third fastest Jamaican of all time behind Omar McLeod (12.90s) and Hansle Parchment (12.93s). He also beat Holloway on the diamond league circuit in the lead up to the main event, and Holloway usually goes into a major championships unbeaten. Alas, tragedy struck, and he unceremoniously crashed out in the first round, failing to finish his heat. With his upward trajectory and penchant for getting the best of Holloway, I predict a fast sub 12.9s winning time from broadbell, with the only other man who seems able to reel in Holloway, Hansle Parchment, completing a 1-2 for Jamaica, thus getting the one color Olympic medal he doesn’t have. Grant Holloway relegated to a surprise third, but still dipping under 13s, making this potentially the greatest 110m hurdles final ever. Shunsuke Izumiya, the rising talent from the land of the rising sun, is my outside shout for a medal.
Kyron McMaster shocks the world in the 400m hurdles: Unlike the first one, this prediction will probably raise several eyebrows, but isn’t too far fetched, as McMaster is coming off of the season of his life, and is the reigning world silver medalist. The reason that this would be a huge upset despite his stellar CV, is because he is competing against the three fastest men the event has ever seen (who also had a monopoly on the event’s medals for a couple years until this year), and the new World Junior record holder in Roshawn Clarke of Jamaica. The three aforementioned men include the seemingly unbeatable Karsten Warholm of Norway, Rai Benjamin of the USA, and dethroned world champion, Alisson Dos Santos of Brazil. By his standards, Dos Santos had an off year, only coming 5th in the 2023 world championships final, but this can mainly be attributed to an injury hit season. Benjamin is consistently among the medals (usually silver but relegated to bronze in 23′), and is determined to finally get one over Warholm in a major final. Warholm himself is the world record holder, with an otherworldly sub 46 second clocking posted. He always seems to save his best for the big occasion as well, showing a final kick that absolutely no one can keep up with. However, McMaster has always shown incredible potential, and due to the incredible medal times of the 2020 Olympic final which saw all three medalists break the former world record of 46.78s, it is easily forgotten that Mcmaster ran his personal best in this race, finishing 4th with a stellar 47.10s clocking. He has only improved since then, and last year was a ‘breakthrough’ year of sorts, as he finally was able to bridge the gap to the big 3, and even upset Warholm himself to win the Diamond League meeting in Zurich. I predict gold for Mcmaster, silver for Benjamin, and bronze for Warholm, joined in the sub 47 club by Dos Santos. Clarke will come close to breaking this barrier as well, and the event will continue to live up to its hype as probably being the most exciting event in the sports, along with the women’s 100m.
Britany Anderson becomes Jamaica’s first female 100m hurdles champion: Having announced herself as a major competitor on the senior stage in 2022 by becoming a world championships silver medalist, the stars seemed aligned for Anderson to take it one step further and become world champion in 2023. Sadly, she missed the entire season through injury, and could not improve on the Jamaican record of 12.31s she set the previous year. She is no stranger to bouncing back from adversity, as in the 2020 Olympic final, she hit the first hurdle and came 8th, after having an excellent transition to the senior ranks. Indeed, she is a former world youth champion (Under 18) and a two time world junior record holder (Under 20). She has always had the talent to be the fastest hurdler in the world, and is a future world record holder in my books. This might be the most open of all the hurdles events, as there are quite a few women who on their day could win, such as Danielle Williams stunning the field to become world champion for the second time in 2023. With only three spots for each team up for grabs, both the USA and Jamaica have more than 3 women who could become Olympic Champion. With defending champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico and current world record holder Tobi Amusan of Nigeria also in the mix, this is one of the hardest races to call. I predict a gold for Anderson, silver for Camacho-Quinn who always delivers, and a bronze for NCAA champion Ackera Nugent of Jamaica, who always seems to save her best for finals. 2023 was her first year as a senior and she placed a respectable 5th. My top American for next year, Masai Russell, and Bahamian Devynne Charlton, are my outside picks for a medal.
Femke Bol continues to dominate: I had to be boring for at least one prediction, and even the most optimistic person on earth surely can’t see beyond Bol winning again. The only women to beat Femke Bol in this event since 2020 are the current and former world record holders, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Dalilah Muhammad, both USA. The former, however unbeatable she seems (indeed, only Bol seemed able to come remotely close to challenging her over the past couple years), has decided to try the flat 400m, having conquered all in the hurdles. The latter is coming towards the end of her career, and has steadily declined since handing the torch over to McLaughlin-Levrone. Despite a very talented quartet of Jamaicans, and the very consistent American, Shamier Little (2023’s silver medalist), the only competition Bol will have will be the clock. Femke Bol of the Netherlands with the gold, Andrenette Knight of Jamaica in second and Little getting another podium finish in third.