It is the penultimate night of athletics inside the Olympic Stadium on Friday night and all eyes will be on four men but one man in particular as Usain Bolt tries to complete the triple treble. Historic wins in the 100m and the 200m have already secured Bolt’s legacy but a ninth and final Olympic gold on Friday night would be the perfect way to bow out of the Games.
It isn’t all about Bolt though. There are four other events to conclude as well as a couple of events which get underway on what should be another really good night of track and field action.
Gold Medal Events
- Women’s Pole Vault
- Men’s Hammer
- Women’s 5,000m
- Women’s 4x100m Relay
- Men’s 4x100m Relay
Other Events
- Women’s 4x400m Relay
- Men’s 4x400m Relay
The chance to bet on the 400m relays will come over the weekend so we’ll concentrate our focus on the Friday finals here.
Women’s Pole Vault
This is always a good competition to watch and this year it is wide open without the Russians involved. Brazil had high hopes of a medal in this event to go along with the gold they won in the men’s pole vault earlier in the week but sadly for them Fabiana Murer failed to qualify.
That all leaves Ekaterini Stefanidi as the favourite for the gold medal. She may not have the highest jump in the world this year but she has certainly been the most consistent having won four of the six Diamond League meetings this year including the two most recent in Monaco and London.
The highest vaulter in the world this year is Sandi Morris of the USA. She has gone 4.93m this year, seven cm higher than Stefanidi but that was her only vault over 4.83m. Morris hasn’t been competing in the European Diamond League events in recent times and failed to make the automatic qualification mark in qualifying so she might well be there for the taking.
Seasoned campaigners Jennifer Suhr and Yarisley Silva have to be respected while we will be hoping that GBs Holly Bradshaw can get herself into the reckoning but it is hard to go against the recent form of Stefanidi in this one.
Men’s Hammer
Going into this competition Pawel Fajdek was a gold medal winner in waiting but such has been the carnage with the favourites this week he never even made the top 12 in qualifying to take this place in the final!
That has blown the event wide open which brings a different sort of pressure for everyone involved and that makes betting difficult. Rather than guess about what could be more of a mental event rather than a physical, competitive one we will sit this one out.
Women’s 5,000m
If the 10,000m is anything to go by then Almaz Ayana only has to complete the 12.5 laps to secure the gold medal. At 1/50 the bookmakers are well aware of this and we can’t be betting on that.
The race for the minor medals might be more interesting but when someone is going so far clear you never know if someone will try to go with her and blow up like Laura Muir in the women’s 1500m earlier in the week or if they will let her go and take what comes behind.
That makes betting tough so we’ll sit this one out too especially as there is no standout performer in the field apart from Ayana.
Women’s 4x100m Relay
This could well be the race of the night as Jamaica and the USA go head to head. You would have to say the incident in qualifying has left America with it all to do though. Not only do they have an extra run in their legs which is never ideal but they have to come from lane one as well and nobody has achieved anything from that lane all week.
America did qualify the fastest in qualifying once they finally got their second go at it but Jamaica have the 100m and 200m queen Elaine Thompson to bring into their side for this final. They are in a perfect lane too and we can’t really see beyond them.
In years gone by whenever Britain were odds on to win a medal there would be the opportunity to take them on because a) they never used to get the baton around and b) they weren’t always very good when they did. Times have changed though and they’ve become more reliable and should have enough to secure at least a bronze but at odds on in a relay we can’t get involved.
Men’s 4x100m Relay
It will be the last time that we see Usain Bolt in an Olympic Games, on the track at least, in this race and Jamaica are 2/7 to secure another piece of history for the great man. They could only finish second in their semi-final but with Bolt and Blake to come into the side they will surely improve.
Behind them we have the USA who are entitled to give them a good race with 100m finalists Justin Gatlin and Trayvon Bromell ready to bolster their squad but whether they have the explosive power to see off Jamaica I’m not really convinced.
Barring a problem in the changeovers those two will win gold and silver but the race for bronze could be titanic. Bookmakers give Great Britain the edge. They had to come through as fastest losers in a tough semi-final but they will have Adam Gemili back to boost their hopes but by not qualifying automatically they have landed lane one which is not ideal. Having struggled in that lane in the semi-final I’m happy to take them on.
Japan ran a stormer of a race in that semi breaking their national record and indeed the Asian record which you might think came out of nowhere but given they host the next Games everyone is upping their game in advance. That said I do feel they’ve shown their hand and they don’t have anyone fresh to bring in.
The spoilers could be Canada. They came behind USA and China in qualifying but a time of 37.89 was nothing to be sniffed at. That was 0.21s behind Japan who are probably their big rivals for the bronze but Canada have their trump card to play in Andre de Grasse who has been running brilliantly in this meeting.
Whether Japan can put a race like their semi together again remains to be seen but even if they do I think de Grasse can bring Canada home in a medal position.
Tips
WON – Back E.Stefanidi to win Women’s Pole Vault for a 3/10 stake at 2.75 with Netbet
Back her here:
WON – Back Canada Top 3 Finish in Men’s 4x100m Relay for a 3/10 stake at 4.00 with Skybet
Back them here:
