It is the third evening of the athletics programme in the Olympic Games on Sunday night but for the sport as a whole it is by far the biggest as it is the night that the fastest man in the world will be crowned when the sprint superstars battle it out for the men’s 100m title.
That is the standout showpiece in a schedule which is packed with potentially exciting athletics and some of the biggest names in the sport not just Usain Bolt. Both the track and the field gets the attention throughout the night.
Gold Medal Events
- Men’s 100m
- Men’s 400m
- Women’s Triple Jump
Other Events
- Men’s High Jump
- Women’s 400m
- Women’s 1500m
As with the rest of the opening weekend I’m going to concentrate largely on the finals that are on show although I’ll be keeping an eye on the other events to see what develops ahead of their finals.
Women’s Triple Jump
This is all about the phenomenal Colombian athlete Caterine Ibarguen. The world champion is one of just two women to go over 15m this year and having qualified in some style in her first jump she is very much the one to beat but there has already been plenty of evidence that being a favourite for the gold doesn’t necessarily equate to winning gold although admittedly I’m not brave enough to take her on.
Only three women qualified automatically when these jumpers were on the runway earlier in the Games although one of those who didn’t make it automatically – Yulimar Rojas shouldn’t be written off based on that. Even if she wins silver, as the jumps throughout the year suggest she might, there is still a bronze medal up for grabs.
It might be that it goes to the defending champion Olga Rypakova. She was one of the three automatic qualifiers which shows she is in good form and we know she has the major championship pedigree which a few in this few don’t have, or haven’t shown us they do at least. She won’t want to give up her Olympic title without a fight and odds against on her winning a medal looks good.
Men’s 100m
The big battle of these Games is the one between Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin. Despite an injury hit season Bolt is a 2/5 favourite to win and given his performances on the big stage in the past who would argue with that. Most fans and observers of the sport will be hoping the Jamaican wins.
The race behind those two could be interesting though. The first thing to be said is that times wise this has been a bang average year for this event with nobody yet running below 9.80s on the season. That only further opens the race up behind the marquee two.
Going into the meet I was giving Jimmy Vicaut a chance of a medal but given that he could only come through the heats as a fastest qualifier I’ve quickly reassessed those thoughts. Yohan Blake is the favourite without the big two and at his best you’d be all over that but he has had plenty of problems this year too.
With that in mind it could be worth siding with the form of the season and that would mean taking the USA second best athlete Trayvon Bromell. He was a joint bronze medallist in the World Championship last season and twice ran below 9.9s in the US trials which is pretty decent form and if he has his best with him on this evening he can follow Bolt and Gatlin home in front.
Men’s 400m
Before the competition and throughout it this has been shaping up as a three horse race for the gold medal and that is still the situation we find ourselves in heading into the final. The only question to be determined is which order Kirani James, Wayde van Niekerk and LaShawn Merritt will finish in.
Merritt ran the fastest time in the world this year in the US trials but three of the fastest six times have come from the defending champion from Grenada. Van Niekerk is the world champion so this one is beautifully set up.
James ran the fastest time in the semi-final by 0.19s from Merritt with van Niekerk a little further behind and as such James is now the favourite to take the gold. That’s fair enough but I’m not so sure the 9/2 about Merritt is justified. He looked to ease down in that semi-final and was still within touch of James and more importantly he is inside both his rivals for this final so he can pace himself accordingly.
This should be a really good race but there is enough to like about the American to justify a punt on him at a price arguably twice the size that it should be when we put all the factors together ahead of this final.
Tips
WON – Back O.Rypakova to win a medal in Women’s Triple Jump for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfred
Back her here:
Back T.Bromell to win Men’s 100m (w/o Bolt & Gatlin) for a 3/10 stake at 3.75 with Ladbrokes
Back him here:
Back L.Merritt to win Men’s 400m for a 2/10 stake at 5.50 with Coral
Back him here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016
