EUGENE, Ore. — As the fourth heat of the women's 100-meter preliminaries settled into the blocks Saturday evening at Hayward Field, the crowd was buzzing.
Each of the three previous heats had been won by a Jamaican. That country was well represented in the stands at Hayward for Saturday's session of the World Athletics Championships, and they had another athlete to cheer on in the fourth heat — an athlete who also happened to be an alum of the meet's host, the University of Oregon.
And so, as reigning NCAA runner-up Kemba Nelson of both Jamaica and Oregon got set for her heat, a voice cried out from section 2018 of the home venue for track and field in the United States.