Lane assignments are up:
1 - McLean
2 - Bailey
3 - Gay
4 - Dwyer
5 - Mitchell
6 - Lemaitre
7 - Gatlin
8 - Ashmeade
Wow, talk about an interesting lane draw.
Watch out for Bailey, the tight bend might not affect him too much because his start and accel relatively suck compared to the rest of his race. I have no idea how well he runs a turn.
Ashmeade on the outside, nobody to read off! IDK, maybe they got him and Dwyer reversed.
Lemaitre has a good lane--not too tight a bend, and can read off Gatlin, sort of--no doubt Gatlin will be way ahead of him in the first 100m, but at least it's something. Plus Lemaitre seems to run well from the outer lanes.
Gatlin, interesting, gets to read off Ashmeade, who will be going for the win. Should come off the turn ahead, because Ashmeade is looking to have good SE this year, as always. IMO Gatlin will need at least a 2m lead coming off the turn to win it over Ashmeade, who should do everything he can not to panic when Gatlin passes him on the turn.
Dwyer and Mitchell have the possible misfortune of reading off Lemaitre, who will probably suck in the first 70m of the race. They have to not get too satisfied with themselves when they pass him or come up on him, especially Mitchell, they have to keep driving and not think they are going that fast just because they passed Lemaitre.
Gay, VERY interesting. He has had those physical issues, now he draws lane 3. He has very quick turnover, which may enable him to run an excellent lane 3 turn--excellent. Or at least he USED TO have very quick turnover. The very last part of the arc of the turn will be where Gay shines--the inner lanes rocket you onto the straight, whereas the last part of the arc of the turn in the outer lanes means you still have to travel 20m before you hit that straight. It will be a sudden transition for Gay, and he will have to make sure to not over-react at that point and then tighten up later.
I think that Gay's and Dwyer's races will be decided in the transition area, Mitchell's, Lemaitre's, Gatlin's, and Bailey's will be decided on the turn, and Ashmeade's will be decided on the straight.
I might have to miss this race due to other obligations, but can't wait to hear the post-mortem.