Harting the pick of five solid athletics odds-on favourites

Six London 2012 Olympic Games athletics begin on Monday 6 August and five of them feature odds-on betting favourites who are worth backing in single and multiple wagers.

Perhaps the pick of the clear market leaders in terms of betting value is Germany`s Robert Harting, who is around 4-7 to win the London 2012 Olympic Games men`s discus throw.

Harting leads this year`s world rankings with an effort of 70.66 metres and has one of the longest current win streaks in athletics having won 28 consecutive men`s discus throw finals dating back to August 2010. That statistic and the fact that he leads his main rival, Lithuania`s Virgilijus Alekna, 17-8 lifetime makes odds of 4-7 look very tasty.

New Zealand`s Valerie Adams is almost as good a bet as Harting, with bookmakers generously quoting her at around 4-7 to win the London 2012 Olympic Games women`s shot put.

On all known form, the London 2012 Olympic Games women`s shot put is a two-woman scrap between Adams and the world`s top-ranked putter this year, Nadzeya Ostapchuk, of Belarus.

Ostapchuk has putted 21.58m in 2012 but never has she got the heavy ball over the 21m line outside Belarus and, also, she has not won any of her last nine meetings versus Adams.

The Kiwi is a brilliant competitor and represents a good bet to improve on what has been an excellent London 2012 Olympic Games for New Zealand in a variety of sports already.

Across the Tasman Sea from New Zealand lies Australia and it is enthusiastic about Sally Pearson`s chance of winning the London 2012 Olympic Games women`s 100m hurdles. The Aussies have good reason to expect their 4-7 favourite to go one better than she did in Beijing four years ago when, after winning an unexpected silver medal, she captured the hearts of her nation with an endearingly raw post-race interview.

Pearson is the reigning world champion and holder of the fastest time in the event since 1992. The Aussie has tasted defeat only twice since the start of 2011 and has registered the three quickest times of 2012 and five of the top six.

Quite simply, Pearson would be 1-5 or shorter had she not finished two hundredths of a second behind Kellie Wells in London three weeks ago. She is well over the odds at 4-7.

Allyson Felix is around 1-2 to win the London 2012 Olympic Games women`s 200m and, as the only woman to dip under the 22-second barrier this year, she merits odds-on favouritism.

If Felix can repeat her 21.69-second Eugene performance in London then there will be daylight between her and the rest of the field. She leads the world rankings by 40 hundredths of a second, which is a wide margin for a sprint event.

There is no hotter London 2012 Olympic Games athletics favourite than David Rudisha, the 23-year-old Kenyan who has been invincible in the men`s 800m over the last three seasons and is around 1-7 to win the Olympic crown.

Barring a fall, Rudisha will win London 2012 Olympic Games men`s 800m gold and he could break his own world record, without the assistance of pacesetters, if he is in the mood.

Harting, Adams, Pearson and Felix are all worth backing in single bets and, if you throw Rudisha into a five-athlete multiple, it pays around 11-2 depending on your bookmaker.

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05/08/2012     © Frixo 2024