Keitany to end Kenya`s run without women`s marathon gold

Never has a Kenyan woman won Olympic gold in the marathon but bet on Mary Keitany changing that statistic when she lines up in the London 2012 Olympic Games foot race.

Keitany registered the fastest time in the world this year when she won the London Marathon in April in two hours, 18 minutes and 37 seconds, more than a minute in front of her Kenyan compatriot Edna Kiplagat. It was a performance that signalled if anyone is going to break Paula Radcliffe`s world record of 2:15:25 in the short term, it is highly likely to be the improving 30-year-old from Baringo.

Keitany`s 2012 London Marathon winning time was 42 seconds faster than the one that she had posted in the 2011 edition of the race through the British capital so she is on the upgrade and a very good chance of breaking Kenya`s shock duck in this event if it does not became a tactical affair.

Bookmakers have chalked up odds of around 11-8 about Keitany and that seems more than fair. Her London Marathon-winning time set a new African record for the women`s slog over 26 miles and 385 yards and she is more likely to win than not.

A total of half a dozen London 2012 Olympic Games athletics gold medals will be up for grabs on Sunday 5 August 2012, including those for the men`s 3,000 metres steeplechase, the men`s hammer throw and the women`s triple jump.

Kenya has dominated the men`s 3,000m steeplechase at the Olympic Games, winning the gold medal at every edition its athletes have attended since 1968. Kenya boycotted the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games and the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games. So looking beyond the Kenyans for a winner does not make a great deal of sense. One of its three competitors is highly likely to leave London with the spoils of victory.

The difficulty is knowing which Kenyan athlete because they will run as a team and the runner with the best form on the board does not necessarily cross the finishing line first.

The London 2012 Olympic Games men`s 3,000m steeplechase is a classic no-bet event, as is the London 2012 Olympic Games men`s hammer throw, the latter because of the uncertainty surrounding the form of not one but two star competitors.

The Athens 2004 Olympic Games men`s throw hammer gold medallist and reigning world title holder Koji Murofushi, of Japan, has only competed once this season winning the national title with a lowly 72.85m. Much of the year he has been in San Jose, California, where he has been preparing for his fourth Olympic Games and now, at 37, even his biggest fans have to question if he can challenge.

Ivan Tsikhan, of Belarus, turned 37 little more than a week ago and, also like Murofushi, he has only competed once in 2012. However, he is a three-time world champion and he was the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games bronze medallist.

Bookmakers have got Tsikhan and Murofushi as the London 2012 Olympic Games men`s hammer throw second and third favourites at around 4-1 and 15-2 respectively. Clearly both of them have decent chances but the question is how decent.

A much better betting opportunity exists in the London 2012 Olympic Games women`s triple jump for which Ukraine`s Olga Saladuha is a very worthy favourite at around 6-4.

Saladuha leads this year`s world rankings and, apart from losing in difficult conditions at London`s Crystal Palace last month, she has been the class act on the circuit.

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03/08/2012     © Frixo 2024