2016 Rio Olympics: Track and field preview

With so much focus on Usain Bolt's injured hamstring and the Russian team's ban amid charges of systematic doping, it's easy to lose track of who else could be making the headlines in Rio de Janeiro. Always among the marquee Olympic attractions, the track and field competition runs Aug. 12-21. From the 100-meter sprints to the marathons, there are 47 gold medals up for grabs. Some athletes and events to watch: from news services

Even if he was fully fit, Bolt, the world record-holder and two-time defending champion in the 100- and 200-meter sprints, will have plenty of competition. World championship silver medalist Justin Gatlin recorded the two fastest times of the season to July 3 with a 9.80 and 9.83 at the U.S. trials, holding off Trayvon Bromell in 9.84.

Gatlin won the 100-200 double at the trials, a feat 2011 world champion Yohan Blake matched at the Jamaican championships after Bolt withdrew.

After edging Nickel Ashmeade to win the 100 in 9.95, Blake — the silver medalist in the 100 and 200 in London — said he felt his confidence coming back.

Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands wants to break the Jamaica-U.S. dominance in the sprints by improving on her performance at the world championships, where she won the 200 and took silver in the 100.

After winning the European 100-meter title, the former heptathlete said, "I'm shaping up well for Rio."

Her personal best of 10.81 is well off the world-leading 10.70 set by Elaine Thompson at the Jamaican trials. Thompson's time equaled the Jamaican record Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce set in 2012, and relegated the defending Olympic champion to second place.

There's extra incentive for the 29-year-old Fraser-Pryce, too — the chance to be the first woman to win the same individual event at three successive Olympics.

English Gardner leads the U.S. contingent after a personal best of 10.74 at the trials, where she edged Tianna Bartoletta and world championship bronze medalist Tori Bowie, who both ran 10.78.

Ashton Eaton is a hot favorite to win another prize for most versatile athlete at the Games. Even with a tender right hamstring, Eaton won the U.S. trials with 8,750 points in the decathlon, well below the world record of 9,045 he set in winning the world championships last year but also well clear of all his peers. The second-place finisher, Jeremy Taiwo, racked up 8,425 points.

Eaton warmed up for London in 2012 with a world record in the U.S. trials (9,039) and won the Olympic gold with 8,869. His aim now is to surpass 9,000 points at every major event. Roman Sebrle is the only other decathlete to break the 9,000 barrier, with 9,026 back in 2001.

Caster Semenya has been just about unbeatable this season over 800 meters and is the favorite for gold at Rio, entering with a world-leading time of 1:56.64 for the first half of the year.

She eventually was cleared to compete and won silver in the 800 at the 2012 Olympics to get her career back on track. But she missed the 2013 world titles because of injury and didn't make the final at the 2015 worlds.

After setting Olympic qualifying times in the 400 and 800 within hours at the South African championships in April, Semenya said she felt like she was starting to enjoy the sport again.

Leila, Liina and Lily Luik were born a month premature. None weighed more than 4 ½ pounds. For several weeks, home was an intensive care unit. Thirty years later, the sisters are Olympic marathon runners for the tiny Baltic nation of Estonia — and they are believed to be the first triplets to have qualified for the Winter or Summer Games.

"We had to fight to survive when we were born," Lily Luik said in a recent interview.

Not until six years ago, when they were 24, did the Luik sisters even begin running seriously.

Only 18, Cunningham is the reigning indoor world champion. She is also tied for the highest jump internationally this year, with a leap of 6 feet, 6 ¼ inches. She finished second at the U.S. Olympic trials at 6-5 ½.

"She's just really lithe and elastic and just very natural," said Amy Acuff, a five-time Olympian.

Her father sees no reason she could not win a gold medal.

"There's no other way to train people," former Vikings quarterback Randall Cunningham said. "You give them a vision, and they have to keep it in sight."

For the qualifying round of the Olympic trials, Cunningham sprinkled her face with glitter and joked about her inability to refrain from social media and "act like you're older."