United States competed at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin. A team of over 100 athletes was announced in preparation for the competition. Team USA athletes honoured

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifet ...

' memory by displaying the letters JO on their competition singlets. Selected athletes achieved one of the competition's qualifying standards. The squad included reigning champions, such as:

Tyson Gay Tyson Gay (born August 9, 1982) is an American track and field sprinter who competes in the 100 and 200 meters. His 100 m personal best of 9.69 seconds is the American record and makes him tied for the second fastest athlete over 100 m ...

, Allyson Felix, Michelle Perry, Reese Hoffa,

Dwight Phillips Dwight Phillips (born October 1, 1977) is an American former athlete and a four-time world champion in the long jump. He was the 2004 Olympic champion in the event. His personal best of 8.74 meters, set in 2009, makes him the joint fifth b ...

, Brad Walker, Bernard Lagat,

Kerron Clement Kerron Stephon Clement (born October 31, 1985) is a Trinidadian-born American track and field athlete who competes in the 400-meter hurdles and 400-meter sprint. He held the indoor world record in the 400-meter sprint, having broken Michael John ...

, and

Jeremy Wariner Jeremy Matthew Wariner (born January 31, 1984) is a retired American track athlete specializing in the 400 meters. He has won four Olympic medals (three gold, one silver) and six World Championships medals. He is the fourth fastest competitor in ...

. Furthermore, outside the reigning champions, there were a number of past medallists and world leaders in the squad.Double Osaka World champions Gay and Lagat lead USA delegation to Berlin
IAAF (2009-08-05). Retrieved on 2009-08-08. With such strength in depth in a large squad, the United States was expected to maintain its dominance of the competition, in which it has not been beaten on total gold medals since

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

. Olympic champion

Bryan Clay Bryan Ezra Tsumoru Clay (born January 3, 1980) is an American decathlete who was the 2008 Summer Olympic champion for the decathlon and was also World champion in 2005. Biography Clay was born in Austin, Texas and raised in Hawaii. He is Afr ...

missed the competition due to injury. The United States team again topped the medals table; its total of 10 gold medals was almost equal to that of second and third place's totals combined.

Team selection

;Track and road events ;Field and combined events

References

External links

Official competition website
{{United States at the World Championships in Athletics Nations at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

2009