One of the most open events of this Olympic games – Made even
more so with reigning Olympic champion Irving Saladino crashing out after three
no-jumps and Russian Sergey Morgunov, who holds the joint best jump in the
world this year at 8.35m, also failing to make the final 12, managing just
7.92m - the Long Jump sees anyone of four or 5 contenders, including two Brits,
going for gold with strong chances and a win from any one of them wouldn’t be a
surprise at all.
Given the absence of 2011 World Champion Dwight Phillips due
to injury, Australia’s Mitchell Watt is favourite and it’s hard not to argue
with that given his silver medal in Daegu. Watt has won four of his five
competitions this year and is no stranger to being on the podium at major
championships, so this looks to be a good opportunity for him to finally take
gold although he faces a lot of strong opposition here in a bid for gold. Even
so, it’s hard to ignore his claims at the 11/4 mark.
Next best is big home medal hope Greg Rutherford (left), who has
come a long way since finishing only 10th in Beijing 4 years ago, equalling
the British record with a jump of 8.35 metres in San Diego in May. That’s 1cm
further than the gold medal jump in Bejing and 5cm better than his personal
best, and he went into the finals joint top with 8.08m on Friday night. He’s
got a first rate chance of gold or a medal on those distances, and he should
take the beating here.
Marquise Goodwin, 21, holds the US High School record for
the event with a best of 8.18, and at the trials for the Olympic team he
notched a career-best distance of 8.33m. His joint top distance of 8.11 has
seen him cut from the standout 14/1 offered for Betfred for him on gold
beforehand, and he’s an interesting proposition, certainly moreso than Will
Claye, who looks to have a better triple jump chance. Most intriguing of all
those looks to be 2010 European Champion Sebastian Bayer, whose8.71 at the
European Indoor Track and Field Championships in Turin in 2010 is the second
best ever achieved indoors. He won the European Championships and if reaching
that level of form, is too big for a third favourite at 8/1 generally, while
the 6/4 on him getting a medal is also decent considering that his PB in
winning the European Championships (8.35m) is the second best in the field.
Mauro Vinicius da Silva went top in the heats but others
were holding back significantly which explains his odds of 12/1, and others
make more appeal.
Advice
1 pt Sebastian Bayer (8/1 general)
2 pts Sebastian Bayern to win a medal (6/4 Bwin)
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