Formidable US team hope to build on record medal haul in Budapest

Sha'Carri Richardson will represent the United States' best hope of keeping the women's world 100m title out of Jamaican hands next month, while Gabby Thomas showed she will be a huge threat in the 200m as the U.S. Championships wrapped up in Eugene, Oregon on Sunday.

Breakout star Cravont Charleston joins defending champion Fred Kerley in the team for the men's 100m as the Americans look to improve on the record 33 world championship medals they collected last year when the 2023 edition kicks off on Aug. 19.

A formidable cast of contenders booked their spots for Budapest, including Richardson, who failed to qualify in 2022 and saw a positive cannabis test end her Olympic dreams in 2021.

The fan favourite left no doubt this time that she is her country's brightest star, producing a personal best 10.71 in the 100m semis and winning the final in 10.82.

But she will have her work cut out for her after Shericka Jackson, who took silver in a Jamaican podium sweep last year, took the world lead on Friday in a blistering 10.65 in Kingston.

Richardson will also vie for the 200m title at the world championships after finishing second on Sunday behind Gabby Thomas, who posted 21.60 to snatch back the world lead from Jackson just minutes after she had claimed it.

"Every time we step on the track we have to expect that our competitors are going to just bring it," Thomas told reporters.

"Every time we do step on the track it's just going to be a really fast time because it has to be - or else you're not going to survive this event."

Kerley has an automatic spot in the 100m as the reigning title-holder but will travel to Budapest without the two men who joined him in an American podium sweep last year, as Trayvon Bromell and Marvin Bracy