Dateline Daegu: Part II

Through the closing ceremonies on September 4, Armory Track will be giving you the news and notes at the IAAF World Championships — the premier track event until the 2012 London Olympics.

Jessica Ennis of Great Britain looks primed to defend her World Championships heptathlon title, so you might as well familiarize yourself with her. You will probably see a lot of her in the build up to the 2012 London Games. As far as the multi-events go, she racks up big points where raw speed is in demand and struggles a wee bit in the throws.

After boasting that he was, indeed, the man to beat in the 100-meter dash — not world record holder and countryman Usain Bolt — Asafa Powell of Jamaica has pulled out of the World Championships. Powell had withdrawn from a Diamond League meet in London earlier this month and early speculation is that his departure from the Worlds is related. But it is not confirmed.

After winning her first national title in the 5k at USA Nationals in late June, Molly Huddle hasn't been back on the track. She has been mending an injured foot instead. ESPN W reports that she isn't quite sure of her fitness come her race at Worlds, but for someone with the talent to be an American recordholder in the event (14:44.76), she certainly cannot be counted out.

"I haven't been to this level of competition before, and I know that this kind of meet can be big and confusing," she told ESPN's Erin Strout. "This gives me the chance to get familiar with the protocol, practice not getting involved in the hype so that I feel fresh. It's good to iron out the little things before next year."

On the topic of injured feet, American Justin Gatlin now knows not to wear wet socks into a cryogenic chamber. That's because he showed up to Worlds with frostbite, something that isn't traditionally a concern in Florida.

"You wake up at 9 o'clock in the morning in Orlando and it's already 90 degrees," Gatlin told the Associated Press. "So we're already hot, drenched with sweat. Get in the booth, socks were wet, socks froze to me instantly."

Is Morgan Uceny ready for Worlds? In an interview posted by Runners World's Peter Gambaccini she casually described her latest workout as a one-kilometer "race simulation," which ended with a 55-second final 400 meters. She reported a complete time of 2:34, which has only been better in competition by two Americans — Regina Jacobs and Suzy Hamilton.

The World University Games recently concluded in Shenzhen, China, and the IAAF has reported that the new stadium was filled with at least 30,000 fans each day. Native New Yorker Brigetta Barrett — who will be competing at Worlds — was one of three Americans to win gold at the U Games, clearing a career-best 1.96 (6-5) in the high jump.

NBC announcer Ato Boldon was quite fired up about the fate of his countryman Jehue Gordon yesterday. Initially it appeared that a clerical error was going to keep Gordon — who ran a national-record 48.26 in the 400-meter hurdles at Worlds two years ago as a 17-year-old — off the Trinidad & Tobago team in Daegu. The situation has now been resolved and Gordon will indeed be able to compete.