DAEGU, South Korea (Reuters) – A new, slimmed-down competition schedule will have triple champion Usain Bolt running fewer races when he defends his sprint titles at the world athletics championships that begin in Daegu on Saturday.

The Jamaican, like most sprinters, will need only six races to capture gold in the 100 and 200 meters instead of the eight required in past Olympics and world championships.

“We are trying to make the program more compact, more exciting,” International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) competition director Paul Hardy told Reuters.

Daegu and its Aug 27-Sept 4 championships will be the first test for the streamlined schedule. London’s 2012 Games will see their Olympic introduction.

One round of the 200 meters has been shelved for all runners and only those without a qualifying mark will face four rounds of the 100.

The latter has piqued the most interest because it will reduce from four to three the number of times Bolt and other elite runners will race in the 100 meters.

The reigning champion and other top sprinters will start their 100 meters runs at 9:45 p.m. local time on Saturday instead of loping through opening rounds against much slower competitors earlier in the day.

DAEGU, South Korea (Reuters) – U.S. sprinter Allyson Felix should be mentally and physically ready to face some of the fastest women on the planet when she goes for 200 and 400 meters gold at the World Championships but it is how she handles the moments away from track that could determine her success.

The three-times world 200 champion is bidding to become the first woman to win a world championship 200-400 double and coach Bob Kersee told Reuters that the key was balancing her training with the myriad of obligations that come with being a top athlete.

“How to handle each and every day, that is the key,” Kersee, who has coached Olympic champions and world record holders during his long career, said in a telephone interview.

Training, rest, media meetings and sponsorship appearances must be carefully managed at the August 27-September 24 championships in Daegu, South Korea, he added.

Felix’s heartbreaking loss to Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown in the 2008 Beijing Olympics 200 final showed what can happen when the balance is not right.

“There is no doubt in my mind …. nothing against Campbell, she (Felix) would have given Campbell a better run for her money if we had eliminated some of off-the-field, off-the-track activities and monitored her time and rest,” Kersee said.

“That taxed her more than anything else.”

DAEGU, South Korea (Reuters) – U.S. sprinter Allyson Felix should be mentally and physically ready to face some of the fastest women on the planet when she goes for 200 and 400 metres gold at the World Championships but it is how she handles the moments away from track that could determine her success.

The three-time world 200 champion is bidding to become the first woman to win a world championship 200-400 double and coach Bob Kersee told Reuters that the key was balancing her training with the myriad of obligations that come with being a top athlete.

“How to handle each and every day, that is the key,” Kersee, who has coached Olympic champions and world record holders during his long career, said in a telephone interview.

Training, rest, media meetings and sponsorship appearances must be carefully managed at the Aug. 27-Sept. 24 championships in Daegu, South Korea, he added.

Felix’s heartbreaking loss to Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown in the 2008 Beijing Olympics 200 final showed what can happen when the balance is not right.

“There is no doubt in my mind …. nothing against Campbell, she (Felix) would have given Campbell a better run for her money if we had eliminated some of off-the-field, off-the-track activities and monitored her time and rest,” Kersee said.

“That taxed her more than anything else.”

DAEGU, South Korea (Reuters) – Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man, predicted Saturday he would retain his world 100 meters title in Daegu, South Korea, easily this month provided he gets a decent start.

“If I get a good start…it won’t be a problem for me,” the lanky Jamaican told Reuters in an interview on the eve of his 25th birthday. “I think I will win with ease. When I get into my running stride I don’t think anybody can match it, no matter my shape.”

The 100 meters preliminaries take place on the first day of the championships on August 27 with the final on the following day. Bolt, whose 2010 season was curtailed because of injury, starts his 200 meters title defense on Sept 3.

Bolt said his primary aim was to defend his titles.

“There won’t be any records here,” added Bolt who smashed the world marks in the 100 and 200 at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and again at the world championships in Berlin in the following year.

“Just to defend my titles, that is the main aim for me.

“A lot of people will be wanting a fast time so I think 9.7 (seconds) should be good,” he said of the 100 meters.

DAEGU, South Korea (Reuters) – Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man, predicted on Saturday he would retain his world 100 metres title in Daegu, South Korea, easily this month provided he gets a decent start.

“If I get a good start…it won’t be a problem for me,” the lanky Jamaican told Reuters in an interview on the eve of his 25th birthday. “I think I will win with ease. When I get into my running stride I don’t think anybody can match it, no matter my shape.”

The 100 metres preliminaries take place on the first day of the championships on Aug. 27 with the final on the following day. Bolt, whose 2010 season was curtailed because of injury, starts his 200 metres title defence on Sept 3.

Bolt said his primary aim was to defend his titles.

“There won’t be any records here,” added Bolt who smashed the world marks in the 100 and 200 at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and again at the world championships in Berlin in the following year.

“Just to defend my titles, that is the main aim for me.

“A lot of people will be wanting a fast time so I think 9.7 (seconds) should be good,” he said of the 100 metres.

DAEGU, South Korea (Reuters) – Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man, predicted Saturday he would retain his world 100 metres title in Daegu, South Korea, easily this month provided he gets a decent start.

“If I get a good start…it won’t be a problem for me,” the lanky Jamaican told Reuters in an interview on the eve of his 25th birthday. “I think I will win with ease. When I get into my running stride I don’t think anybody can match it, no matter my shape.”

The 100 metres preliminaries take place on the first day of the championships on August 27 with the final on the following day. Bolt, whose 2010 season was curtailed because of injury, starts his 200 metres title defence on Sept 3.

Bolt said his primary aim was to defend his titles.

“There won’t be any records here,” added Bolt who smashed the world marks in the 100 and 200 at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and again at the world championships in Berlin in the following year.

“Just to defend my titles, that is the main aim for me.

“A lot of people will be wanting a fast time so I think 9.7 (seconds) should be good,” he said of the 100 metres.

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) – Ethiopian Olympic and world champion Kenenisa Bekele will defend his 10,000 meters world title later this month despite not having raced since early 2010, his manager said Tuesday.

“He is going to Daegu and (will) run. He is training well,” Jos Hermens told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Bekele, 29, has never lost a 10,000 race on the track but his lack of competitive action means he will be under added pressure at the August 27-September 4 worlds in Daegu, South Korea .

His 12 victories at the distance since 2003 include two Olympic and four world titles along with two world records.

If Bekele wins in Daegu, he would become the first runner at any distance to win five consecutive outdoor world titles.

Only pole vaulter Sergei Bubka has more, claiming six in a row competing for the Soviet Union and Ukraine in the 1980s and ’90s.

Bekele ruptured a muscle in his right calf in February 2010 and has not raced since because of a variety of problems. His last race was in January of last year.

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) – Reigning world indoor 400 meters gold medallist Debbie Dunn has withdrawn from the U.S. world outdoor championship team with an unspecified injury, USA Track & Field (USATF) said on Monday.

USATF spokeswoman Jill Geer said she had no additional information on the injury and neither Dunn nor her agent could be reached for comment.

The announcement came as the United States finalized its team for the Aug 27-Sept 4 world championships in Daegu, South Korea.

Former U.S. 100 meters champion Mike Rodgers remained on the team pending a hearing on his positive test for a stimulant, officials said.

The fourth-fastest sprinter in the world this year, he was selected in the 100 meters and 4×100 relay.

Rodgers’ agent told Reuters on Saturday the sprinter had tested positive for the stimulant methylhexaneamine after mistakenly consuming an energy drink that contained the banned substance.

His second or “B” sample is scheduled for testing on Wednesday.

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) – Former U.S. 100 meters champion Mike Rodgers’s world championships eligibility rests in the hands of a panel who will hear his doping case, American officials said on Sunday.

Rodgers, the year’s fourth fastest 100 meters runner, and his agent are urgently trying to have his positive test for a stimulant adjudicated by an arbitration panel before final declarations are due for the August 27-September 4 world championships in Daegu, South Korea.

“USADA (the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency) is doing his adjudication and they will determine his eligibility,” USA Track and Field spokeswoman Jill Geer said.

“If they say he is eligible, he will be eligible to compete. We have not removed him from the (world championship) roster.”

Rodgers, the 2009 U.S. sprint champion, was selected to the U.S. team on Wednesday in both the 100 and 4×100 relay pool.

His agent Tony Campbell told Reuters on Saturday he had tested positive for the stimulant last month in Italy after mistakenly consuming an energy drink that contained the unidentified banned substance.

Penalties for a stimulant positive generally range from a public warning to suspension for several months.

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) – Former U.S. 100 meters champion Mike Rodgers has tested positive for a banned stimulant, putting his world championship hopes in jeopardy, his agent said on Saturday.

“Mike made a mistake,” Tony Campbell told Reuters by telephone. “He went to a club with some friends in Italy and he thought was drinking a Red Bull (energy drink) but he got one of those energy drinks that had a stimulant in it.”

USA Track and Field (USATF) officials could not be reached for immediate comment on Rodgers’s status for the world championships which begin on August 27 in Daegu, South Korea.

Rodgers was yet to have his second “B” sample tested, Campbell said, adding that he understood the result would not come until two days after USATF finalised its world championship team on Monday.

The 26-year-old had been named in the 100m team and was on the 4x100m relay pool. He finished third in the 100m at the U.S. world championship trials in June.

“It is a bad situation for us now,” Campbell said, referring to the timing of the failed test.

“I would surmise (USATF) are going to leave Mike in there (on the team) until the final verdict is in,” he said.