Athletics / Robin Adams / 12 August 2009 / Leave a comment

With the World Athletics Championships starting on Saturday, Robin Adams gives us his early view on the men's 100m and long jump events where those familar names of Usain Bolt and Dwight Phillips are once again the guys to beat.

"The superiority of Bolt is so complete that he is only showing up at [1.17] to beat the entire field in the final. The field price is [6.2] and when you consider that the eight fastest men in the world will be on the start line in Berlin next Monday, that displays an awesome amount of respect to Bolt."

Without a doubt the most improved sprinters in the world this year are the Antiguan Daniel Bailey and the young pretender to Usain Bolt's world best, Yohan Blake, from Jamaica. On the clock there is just 2/100ths of a second between them and the pair make for an intriguing match-up in the Betfair head-to-head market for the 100m.

Both are coached by the peerless Glen Mills who also handles the lightning Bolt, so expect a close run thing between them. Bailey ([1.5]) is the favourite and judged on his narrow defeat of Blake ([2.0]) in the Paris Grand Prix in July, deserves to be so. However Blake is the rapid improver and the youngest person ever to run under 10 seconds. I'll back the teenager to win this one.

It goes without saying that Bolt will go off favourite for the 100m final although he is not the fastest sprinter in the world this year. That distinction goes to the American, Tyson Gay, who clocked a power-packed 9.77 in perfect conditions in Rome early in July. Gay though, is fragile goods in this type of competition which is why he is such a big price to back at [6.0] in the match-up with Bolt ([1.16]). Much as Gay has the talent, it is Bolt who has the temperament and he is a confident choice.

The 4th fastest man in the world in 2009 is the former world record holder Asafa Powell. In the head-to-head markets with both Blake and Bailey, Powell is favourite to beat the pair. Powell, like Gay, is not in my opinion the complete athlete when it comes to the heat of competition and he might just crack under pressure. I'll take the other two to come out on top in what are both extremely closely matched markets. I'd also be happy to lay both Gay and Powell in any head-to-heads.

The superiority of Bolt is so complete that he is only showing up at [1.17] to beat the entire field in the final. The field price is [6.2] and when you consider that the eight fastest men in the world will be on the start line in Berlin next Monday, that displays an awesome amount of respect to Bolt. In fact the three "B's" of Bolt, Bailey and Blake could claim Gold, Silver and Bronze and make their coach Mills a very happy man.

Will the world record go? Hold your bets on that one until you see the weather forecast. If it's warm and still and calm then take the price, but if there's a sniff of a headwind or it's cold and damp, lay the world record with alacrity.

If the 100m world record could be threatened in the right conditions, it is less likely that one of the oldest world records will be broken in Berlin. That's Mike Powell's incredible 8.95m recorded in Tokyo in 1991. The Betfair market supports that view with [6.8] available to those who reckon that this year's leading jumpers can improve the world mark.

The two men who will probably fight out the final are the American Dwight Phillips and Irving Saladino of Panama, the current World and Olympic champion. Phillips missed last year's Olympics but came back with a bang in the American trials where he out-jumped Saladino by 11 cm. Powell also holds four of the six best jumps in the world this year, and he can reclaim the World title he has held twice before. Saladino ([2.3]) has age on his side and is a strong and consistent jumper, but in the match-up with Phillips ([1.3]) he may just have to give best to the American once again.

Tags: Athletics betting, long jump odds, Tyson Gay, Usian Bolt