Predict the Worlds after-parties at Zurich and Xiamen this week

Enter the Zurich Fantasy DL by this Thursday at 2pm ET here: https://hpr.github.io/zurich23
Then, enter the Xiamen contest by Saturday at 7am ET here: https://hpr.github.io/xiamen23

The 2023 World Championships are over, and this year’s medalists are set in stone. At Zurich and Xiamen this week, the post-season begins with many of the top performers looking for wins in conditions that could be more favorable to fast times than the bustling Budapest conditions.

The action begins this Thursday in what has historically been heralded as the greatest single-day track meet in the world — the Weltklasse in Zurich. This year, it’ll be headlined by Noah Lyles coming off his historic triple-gold vying for the 200m world record. Lyles faced a slight headwind in the Budapest finals so we didn’t get to see his best possible time — with a nice tailwind and the pressure all off in Zurich, a low-19 second clocking could be in play. And Lyles might not even be the one to achieve it — the younger phenoms Erriyon Knighton and Letsile Tebogo are also entered, having both started their careers even faster than Lyles did.

The other events still feature world champions galore, including Sha’Carri Richardson versus Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah (who didn’t run the individual 100m at Worlds this year but did help Jamaica in the relays and may be rounding into form), and chances for redemption in Camacho-Quinn versus Williams in short hurdles, Warholm v. Benjamin in long hurdles, Jackson v. Thomas again in the 200, and stacked men’s 1500 and 5K fields for the distance fans.

Soon after early-morning Saturday, many of the top US sprinters will convene in Xiamen (having moved unexpectedly from its original location in Shenzhen last month) alongside some interesting distance fields, with potential fast times to be had in the men’s steeplechase now that El Bakkali has his gold medal out of the way. There will be many uncertain matchups as well — Canada’s Maro Arop won the Worlds 800 in a tactical masterclass, but with a rabbitted race in Xiamen he won’t be able to run the same playbook again against a fully-rested Wyclife Kinyamal, and with despite Kipyegon’s absence there is no shortage of sub-4 performers in the women’s 1500.

Congrats to annamarie002 for their first-time win in the London DL prediction contest. John Wesley Harding now stands atop ththee overall leaderboard by just one point, and these two meets could significantly shake up the League standings. Remember to get your picks in by this Thursday!

Enter the Zurich Fantasy DL by this Thursday at 2pm ET here: https://hpr.github.io/zurich23
Then, enter the Xiamen contest by Saturday at 7am ET here: https://hpr.github.io/xiamen23