Dayron Robles of Cuba is set to be unchallenged in his quest for Olympic gold in the Men’s 110m Hurdles at the National Stadium on Thursday, August 21. Gold medals will also be won in five other events. Plus, let’s not forget, the Men’s Decathlon begins.
Women’s 20km Walk – Final
Athens gold medallist Athanasia Tsoumeleka of Greece will be looking to defend her Olympic title.
The Russians have walked nine out of ten all-time best performances, so all eyes will be on world champion Olga Kaniskina of Russia and her teammates Tatiana Sibileva and Tatyana Kalmykova.
Maria Vasco of Spain will be challenging the Russians and looking to add a gold medal to the bronze she won at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and the 2007 World Championships in Osaka.
Women’s Javelin Throw – Final
Rivals Barbora Spotakova of the Czech Republic and Christina Obergfoll of Germany both topped 67m to lead the qualifiers into the final.
Main threats to Spotakova and Obergfoll will be Athens silver medallist Steffi Nerius of Germany and Mariya Abakumova of Russia, who qualified in third place and broke the Russian national record earlier this year.
Great Britain’s Goldie Sayers will also be fighting for a place on the podium after she qualified fifth overall and second in her group with a throw of 62.99m.
World and Olympic record holder Osleidys Menendez of Cuba will have something to prove as she enters the final having qualified in 11th place.
Women’s 200m – Final
Jamaicans and Americans will dominate here, with the only challenge coming from Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie of the Bahamas, bronze medallist from Athens and the only athlete in the final not from Jamaica or the USA.
Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica finished first in her semifinal in 22.19 seconds and will take on her rival, world champion Allyson Felix of the United States who also won her semifinal in 22.33.
Both Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart of Jamaica will be looking for their second medal of the Games after sharing silver in the Women’s 100m in Beijing.
Men’s Triple Jump – Final
World indoor champion Phillips Idowu of Great Britain, who qualified in first place at the Bird’s Nest on Monday, August 18 with a jump of 17.44m, will take on surprise winner of the 2007 world championships Nelson Evora of Portugal who qualified behind Idowu with a season’s best of 17.34m.
China’s Li Yanxi has already gone one better than he managed in Athens by qualifying for the final, and he is now a strong medal contender.
Men’s 400m – Final
Jeremy Wariner of the United States, the third-fastest 400m runner in history, will be out to add an Olympic gold to his extensive list of titles. He qualified for the final in 44.15.
The final looks set to be a showdown between two Americans, with LaShawn Merritt providing the biggest challenge to Wariner.
Both Christopher Brown of the Bahamas and Martyn Rooney of Great Britain could be in with a chance for a medal after running impressive semifinals. The two qualified within 0.01 second of each other, and less than half a second behind Wariner and Merritt.
Men’s 110m Hurdles – final
World record holder Dayron Robles finished first in his semifinal without too much effort, and is expected to be the clear winner after Liu Xiang of China pulled out due to injury.
American David Oliver will be aiming for a medal after running the second fastest time of 2008, behind Robles. The other American to watch out for will be David Payne, bronze medallist from the 2007 World Championships who finished first in his semifinal.
Men’s 800m – Semifinals
World junior and world indoor champion Abubaker Kaki of Sudan will be a contender for the gold after qualifying first in his heat Wednesday.
Olympic champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy of Russia finished second in his heat behind Kenyan favourite Wilfred Bungei. Bungei ran 1:44.90, his season’s best.
Mbulaeni Mulaudzi of South Africa will be looking to improve on his silver medal from Athens, and world champion Alfred Kirwa Yego of Kenya will be looking to add Olympic gold to his name. They both qualified second in their respective heats.
Men’s Javelin Throw – Qualifying round
Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway, defending Olympic and European champion will be threatened by Jarrod Bannister of Australia whose 89.02m is the best throw of 2008.
Sergey Makarov of Russia has won bronze at the last two Olympic Games and will be eager to add another medal to his collection.
World champion Tero Pitkamaki of Finland is also a strong medal contender with the third best throw of 2008 – 87.70m.
Men’s Decathlon – 100m, Long Jump, Shot Put, High Jump, 400m
Athens 2004 Olympic Games gold medallist, world champion, and world and Olympic record holder Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic will be looking to continue his dominance of the Decathlon.
Challenging him will be rival Bryan Clay of the United States, who won the silver medal in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games behind Sebrle. Clay will be looking forward to the chance to beat Sebrle after having to pull out of the 2007 World Championships because of an injury.
Maurice Smith of Jamaica will be a strong medal contender after finishing second at the 2007 World Championships.
Women’s High Jump – Qualifying round
Blanka Vlasic of Croatia has the third best jump in history at 2.07m. Her 2.06m is the best jump of 2008.
Olympic champion Elena Slesarenko of Russia will be looking to stop Vlasic. Slesarenko equaled Vlasic’s best jump of 2008 at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
Vita Styopina of Ukraine, bronze medallist from Athens, Amy Acuff of the United States who just missed out on a medal in Athens, and European champion Tia Hellebaut of Belgium will all be putting up a strong fight.
Women’s 1500m – Round one
World champion Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain will be looking for Olympic gold after performing well all season.
The absence of two-time world champion Tatyana Tomashova and Yelena Soboleva of Russia, the two best performers from 2008, leaves the field open.
Shannon Rowbury of the United States has been performing well recently, and will be a big threat to Jamal, as will African champion Gelete Burka of Ethiopia.
Men’s 4 x 100m Relay – Round one
USA will be the team to beat, as they have had the best performance of 2008. Their team includes sprint greats such as 100m world champion Tyson Gay and Walter Dix.
The Jamaican team look set to outrun the United States and take their first Olympic gold, as their team includes two of the world’s fastest men, 100m world record holder Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell.
Challenges could come from Great Britain, who surprised the US team with their gold medal winning performance in Athens 2004. Trinidad and Tobago will be a team to watch for as they have run the second-best performance of 2008.
Women’s 4 x 100m Relay – Round one
Both the United States and Jamaica have a team of experienced sprinters, ensuring this will be an impressive event.
The trio that claimed the gold, silver and bronze medals in Sunday’s 100m final will all be part of the Jamaican relay team, giving Jamaica a good chance to win gold in both the Men’s and Women’s 4 x 100m Relay events.
Russian and Great Britain will provide the biggest challenges to the United States and Jamaica, having run the second and third best times of 2008 respectively.
(Source: en.beijing2008.cn)
