Aug. 9, 2013

14th IAAF World Championships | Moscow | Luzhniki Stadium | Aug. 10-18 | Full Schedule and Results | Broadcast Schedule | Universal Sports Live Stream

MOSCOW – When nearly two thousand athletes from 206 nations converge on Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow for the 14th IAAF World Championships, seven with Gamecock ties will be in the middle of the action. The event begins on Sat., Aug. 10, and comes to a close on Sun., Aug. 18.

South Carolina track and field head coach Curtis Frye is overseeing the sprint and hurdle group for the men on Team USA. Other Team USA experience on Frye’s resume includes an appointment as an assistant coach for the 1999 IAAF World Championships in Seville, Spain, where the US led the medal count with 17 medals including 10 golds.

Gamecock assistant head coach Delethea Quarles is charged with the jumps and multis for Team USA’s women. Quarles also served at the 13th IAAF World Outdoor Championships in Daegu, South Korea, in 2011 as an assistant coach in charge of vertical and horizontal jumps. In her capacity, Quarles worked on a staff that saw Team USA’s jumpers claim five medals at the event, four of which were gold. The medal haul included an American sweep of the long jump golds.

Three former student-athletes join Frye and Quarles on Team USA. Lashinda Demus (400-meter hurdles) and Jason Richardson (110-meter hurdles) enter the event as the reigning world champions and the 2012 Olympic silver medalists in their respective events. Rounding out the Gamecock Team USA contingent is Natasha Hastings. Hastings captured her first-career US Outdoor 400-meter dash championship in Des Moines, Iowa, in June.

Demus will try to capture her fourth 400-meter hurdle World Championship medal, adding to her 2011 gold and 2005 and 2009 silver medals. The total would tie her for the most all-time in the event with Russia’s Yuliya Pechonkina. Demus is a four-time US champion in the event and holds the current American record at 52.47. During her time in the Garnet and Black, Demus won four NCAA titles and earned 11 All-America certificates. The first round of the 400-meter hurdles is scheduled for Monday at 11:50 a.m. Moscow time (3:50 a.m. ET) with live coverage on Universal Sports.

Boasting a personal best of 12.98, Richardson will look to build off a second-place finish with a season-best 13.20 in April at a Diamond League event in Lausanne, Switzerland. During his time at South Carolina, Richardson was named a National Scholar Athlete of the Year, won the 2008 110-meter hurdle NCAA championship and earned seven All-America citations. Richardson’s first round race is slated for Sunday at 9:40 a.m. Moscow time (1:40 a.m. ET). Live coverage will be on Universal Sports.

Hastings ran the fifth-fastest time in the world at 49.94 to win her first 400-meter USA outdoor championship. Hastings is also a member of the 4×400-meter relay pool where she has seen previous success as a two-time World Outdoor gold medalist (2007, 2009) and the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist. The 10-time All-American dominated the collegiate ranks in 2007, sweeping NCAA 400-meter dash indoor and outdoor titles and adding the indoor 4×400-meter relay title as well. The first round of the women’s 400 meters is the first Gamecock event of the championships. The race is scheduled for Saturday at 6:05 p.m. Moscow time (10:05 a.m.). Coverage of the day’s evening session is scheduled for NBC.

A total of 78 student-athletes who were on 2013 collegiate rosters are entered into individual events or are members of a relay pool for this year’s World Championships. The Gamecocks boast two of the 37 women in Jeannelle Scheper (St. Lucia) and Kierre Beckles (Barbados).

Scheper, a rising senior and Gros-Islet native, is making her first appearance at the IAAF Senior World Championships. The high jumper competed in the IAAF Junior World Championships last summer where she placed eighth. After clinching her first-ever international gold at the 2012 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Junior Championships, the four-time All-American has added a Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) gold and CAC Senior Championships silver this season. Scheper had a breakout collegiate season in 2013, capturing the SEC indoor championship, NCAA indoor silver and the SEC outdoor silver.

Beckles, who completed her collegiate eligibility in 2013, will make her second IAAF World Championships appearance for her home country of Barbados. A 100-meter hurdle specialist, the six-time All-American competed at the 13th IAAF World Championships in Deagu, South Korea, in 2011. She enters the week in Russia as the 2013 Barbados national champion and the CAC Championships silver medalist.

NBC and Universal Sports will provide telecasts throughout the nine days with 46 hours of total coverage from Luzhniki Stadium. The broadcast team will be led by the NBC Olympics team of Tom Hammond, Ato Boldon, Lewis Johnson and Dwight Stones. In addition to NBC and Universal Sports, the NBC Sports Live Extra App will stream coverage on Saturday, Aug. 10 (3:30-5 p.m.), and Sunday, Aug. 11 (12:30-2 p.m.). If you are a subscriber to Universal Sports, a live stream will be available at Universal Sports

Stay tuned to GamecocksOnline.com and @GamecockTrack for continued updates throughout the championships.

Gamecocks in Action (All times Eastern)
Day 1 – Sat., Aug. 10
10:05 a.m. – W 400m Round 1
Natasha Hastings

1:05 p.m. – Opening Ceremony

Day 2 – Sun., Aug. 11
1:40 a.m. – M 110mH Round 1 (Live Coverage on Universal Sports)
Jason Richardson

12:05 p.m. – W 400m Semifinal*
Natasha Hastings

Day 3 – Mon., Aug. 12
3:50 a.m. – W 400mH Round 1 (Live Coverage on Universal Sports)
Lashinda Demus

11:05 a.m. – M 110mH Semifinal*
Jason Richardson

1:15 p.m. – W 400m Final* (Live Coverage on Universal Sports)
Natasha Hastings

1:30 p.m. – M 110mH Final* (Live Coverage on Universal Sports)
Jason Richardson

Day 4 – Tues., Aug. 13
11:05 a.m. – W 400mH Semifinal*
Lashinda Demus

Day 6 – Thurs., Aug. 15
1:40 a.m. – W High Jump A&B Qualifiers (Live Coverage on Universal Sports)
Jeannelle Scheper

12:45 p.m. – W 400mH Final*
Lashinda Demus

Day 7 – Fri., Aug. 16
1:45 a.m. – W 100mH Round 1 (Live Coverage on Universal Sports)
Kierre Beckles

3:30 a.m. – W 4x400m Relay Round 1 (Live Coverage on Universal Sports)
Natasha Hastings (member of relay pool)

Day 8 – Sat., Aug. 17
10:00 a.m. – W High Jump Final*
Jeannelle Scheper

10:20 a.m. – W 100mH Semifinal* (Delayed Coverage on NBC 2:30-4:00 p.m.)
Kierre Beckles

11:30 a.m. – W 100mH Final* (Delayed Coverage on NBC 2:30-4:00 p.m.)
Kierre Beckles

11:45 a.m. – W 4x400m Relay Final* (Live Coverage on Universal Sports)
Natasha Hastings (member of relay pool)

*Must qualify from prior round