World Athletic Championships 2009 - Berlin

[trickrick]

Well it begins tomorrow..

12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics - Berlin 2009 - International Association of Athletics Federations

Obviously the main event of the first couple of days is the Mens 100 Metres.. Bolt looks unbeatable, but will he break the World Record again?

Quite a few Bookies are offering odds on many of the events - Bet365 offer odds on all the events ! ..

Any track and field fans got a view ?

[Beanie]

Im supporting Jessica Ennis in the heptathlon due to a Sports Personality of the year bet on her - she's currently marginal fav over Dobrynska for this weekend, but I dont think there's much value there. Dobrynska peaked out of the blue in Beijing - her team mate tested positive for some substance and there's a murmur or two about her, given her dramatic improvement. All this allegedly of course

Anyway, Ennis is No 1 in the world and improving all the time. All her strongest events come on day 1 so maybe the short term trade is an option - long jump on day two could be a problem but again, she is rapidly improving and I dont think she will lose too much ground there, but rather than backing her to win it you'd be better with the 10/1 ish to win Sports Personality - a weekend of primetime coverage on the BBC for an attractive young girl is SPOTY gold(if she wins.)

Few other interesting events, will try to put up some thoughts to be shot down a bit later this week.

[trickrick]

Gooooooo on Jessica... Sheffield's finest

[Beanie]

In the absence of any other posts in here, I'll go with a few quick previews for tomorrow's finals.

Cant see much doing in the mens triple jump - Womens Javelin after that and perhaps a bet to be had.

On paper this one is between 4 athletes. Going through them - Nerius is a bit too long in the tooth, even in front of her home crowd - although her experience might see her pip one of the big 3 for a medal.

Obergfoll I expected to be pretty strong coming into this, but she looked very average in qualification, needing all 3 throws and still getting nowhere near auto qualification. The extra adrenaline will help but she looks to have too much to do in the final.

Spotakova is the reigning world and olympic champ but she has been overshadowed by Maria Abakumova, particularly in qualifying where the Russian threw close to 69 metres - 5 metres further than anyone else.

Add in that she said she felt dreadful during qualifying, and I wonder what she can produce tomorrow night.

Spotakova produced the goods in Beijing where she pipped Abakumova, but I dont think she can produce a 70m+ throw again, whereas Abakumova looks well capable.

Over evens looks very fair here, as does the w/o Spotakova price which offers a nice cover, so i'll have a small play:

1pt Abakumova @ 11/10 @ bet365
2pts Abakumova w/o Spotakova @ 1/2 @ Betfair

[Beanie]

Aaaaand, just one more small one.

In the 400m Hurdles tomorrow night I like Felix Sanchez's chances of a medal. The top two really should be Jackson v Clement, but bronze is anyones(nearly.)

Can discount Iakovakis and Culson - also MacFarlane will struggle on the inside which is very tough in hurdling terms. Same for Gordon I think.

That means its down to Greene vs Sanchez. Greene has Iakovakis outside him which wont help his pace at all, whereas Sanchez is sandwiched between Clement and Jackson who will drag him along to some degree. Also, while Greene has been more impressive in the heats, he is young and its a massive night for him. Sanchez has been there and done it all time and time again, and I think his progression so far in improving to a seasons best in the semi shows that he is bringing his best form to the majors again.

Should be close, but Sanchez looks too big a price given the lane draw.

1pt Sanchez to get a medal @ 3/1 with Betfair

[Beanie]

Wave the white flag for those two - Sanchez looking drained and Abukamova, despite throwing nearly 69m yesterday with one throw, couldbarely break 66 today with 6. Headscratcher there.

Anyway, one more for tomorrow...most of the focus in the decathlon will be on the young Cuban Suarez who is hotly tipped as the next big thing in the 10 event discipline, but I'm more interested in his even younger compatriot Garcia, who has been setting PBs all year, generally with scores that should get him a top 4 spot here.

I fancy him to nab atleast a bronze here - the Belarussian who is ranked ahead of him hasnt been great this season, and the American Hardee is still fairly inconsistent. I think with his fellow countryman at his side he can set a few more event PBs and be in the final shakeup.

2pts Garcia to get a medal @ 11/8 with William Hill