Day Zero at the World Track & Field Championships...
TOKYO--It's day zero at Japan National Stadium, as many of the teams were inside to get a feel of what the atmosphere will look like once competition gets underway Saturday morning (Friday night for those in the Pacific time zone) at the World Athletics Championships.
Hana and Amanda Moll (Paul Merca photo) of the University of Washington were working out on one part of the track doing some sprint work with Husky vault coach Tim Reilly.
35 kilometer race walker Katie Burnett, an Olympia resident and assistant track and cross country coach at Evergreen was doing some laps of the National Stadium track in preparation for tomorrow's race, which kicks off the world championships at 7:30 am local time, 30 minutes earlier (3:30 pm Friday afternoon on the West Coast).
Washington State alum Jasneet Nijjar was doing her drills on the infield with some of her Canadian teammates as the Canadians get set for heat one of the mixed 4 x 400 meter relay, which goes at 11:55 local time (7:55 pm Friday evening on the West Coast).
Nijjar told us that she is running in the qualifying round Saturday morning.
Kenneth Rooks of Walla Walla, the Olympic silver medalist in the 3000 steeplechase, along with his training partner Daniel Michalski, were doing a sharpening workout on the track under the watchful eye of Brigham Young head coach Ed Eyestone. Rooks goes in the second semifinal of the steeple at 6:18 pm local time.
Washington alum Ed Trippas will run in the first heat of the steeplechase at 6:05 pm local time.
Washington All-American Amina Maatoug of the Netherlands was finishing up her strides near the finish line when we caught up to her.
Maatoug will be in the first heat of the women's 1500 at 7:50 pm local time. Fellow Husky Sophie O'Sullivan of Ireland will be in heat 3 of the 1500 twenty minutes after Maatoug's heat.
Washington alum Izzi Batt-Doyle and Lake Stevens native Taylor Roe will run in the finals of the women's 10000 at 9:30 pm local time.
Assuming that Canada places in the top three in Saturday morning's qualifying, the finals of the mixed 4 x 400 relay is at 10:20 pm. The Canadian coaching staff will determine the running order before the finals Saturday night.
In the midst of all that, USA Track & Field hosted its traditional pre meet press conference, with former Pullman resident Katie Moon (with teenage 800m runner Cooper Lutkenhaus/Paul Merca photo) on the dais.
One of the questions she was asked was about her US teammates Sandi Morris and the rising stars of the US pole vault scene, Hana and Amanda Moll
"I love watching the twins come up in real time. It's so fun to watch this happen."
"Sandi's a seasoned vet. She's been on more teams than I've been on. She's in great form now. As far as the twins: when you're young, you're excited to be on a team, and magical things can happen. Hopefully they're not putting too much pressure on themselves. They're capable of coming away with some hardware."
"This team is really special, and I'm excited to take the field with them."
Here's Saturday's lineup:
7:30 AM 3:30 PM (9/12) W 35K Walk Katie Burnett
11:55 AM 7:55 PM (9/12) Mixed 4 x 400 Relay (heats) Jasneet Nijjar
6:05 PM 2:05 AM M Steeplechase (heats) Ed Trippas
6:18 PM 2:18 AM Kenneth Rooks
7:50 PM 3:50 AM W 1500 (heats) Amina Maatoug
8:10 PM 4:10 AM Sophie O'Sullivan
9:30 PM 5:30 AM W 10000 (final) Izzi Batt-Doyle, Taylor Roe
10:20 PM 6:20 AM Mixed 4 x 400 Relay (final) Jasneet Nijjar
In the USA, the women's 35 kilometer walk will be streamed live on Peacock ($), as well as Saturday morning's session.
NOTE: World Athletics contributed to this report.
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