Ten athletics events not to be missed at the Rio Olympics

TEN days of athletics competition at the Rio Olympics began yesterday. Here are 10 events not to miss at the Olympic Stadium

MEN’S 100m and 200m.

Usain Bolt always seems to be at his best when global titles are on the line, and these Games should be no different. Justin Gatlin may hold the year’s fastest 100m time and LaShawn Merritt tops the time sheets in the 200m, but do not shy away from picking Bolt in both events in his final Olympics. Behind Bolt and Gatlin, youngsters Trayvon Bromell, of the US, and Andre De Grasse, of Canada, appear to be the best in the 100m, with Merritt a strong possibility for third in the 200m.

MEN’S 400m.

Spectators at the Olympic Stadium are in for a real treat if the 400m final comes anywhere close to the sensational title race at last year’s world championships in Beijing. South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk ran a stunning lap to lead the past two Olympic champions, Lashawn Merritt and Kirani James, across the line, with all three clocking under 44 seconds. America’s Merritt, the Beijing Olympic champion, and Grenada’s James, who will defend his London title in Rio, have both run faster times than Van Niekerk this year, so a thrilling battle between the three of them can be expected tomorrow.

MEN’S 5 000 and 10 000m.

Britain’s double Olympic champion Mo Farah is favoured to build on half a decade of dominance in middle-distance running to become only the second man ever to retain his 5 000 and 10 000m Olympic gold medals. Kenyan and Ethiopian runners are expected to pose the biggest threat to Farah, 33, who has won five world championships over the two distances since 2011. Kenya’s 23-year-old Geoffrey Kamworor lost narrowly to Farah over 10 000m at last year’s Beijing world championships and is expected to be chief among the challengers at Rio, along with Ethiopia’s Muktar Edris.

DECATHLON.

Defending gold medallist Ashton Eaton will be looking to retain his title at the decathlon on Wednesday and Thursday. The 28-year-old American has been on a tear since London, winning the world championships in Moscow in 2013 and Beijing in 2015, and despite being hit in the head by a stray pole vault crossbar while competing in the long jump at the US Indoor Championships in March has remained in competitive form. Eaton faces a handful of key competitors, including Canada’s Damian Warner, 26, ranked second in the world, who placed fifth in Beijing, and 30-year-old German Artur Abele, recently returned to competition after losing eight months of last season to a torn Achilles tendon.

WOMEN’S 100m.

With Jamaica’s twice Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce not at her best, the women’s 100m, unlike the men’s, appears to be wide open. Will it be another Jamaican in Elaine Thompson – the year’s fastest over the distance? Or might it be Dutch 200m world champion Dafne Schippers. Or could one of the Americans, US trials winner English Gardner or world bronze medallist Tori Bowie, step up?

WOMEN’S 200m.

The dominant US and Jamaican sprinters will be given a run for their money at the women’s 200m by Schippers. A former heptathlon specialist, Schippers finished first in the 200m at last year’s world championships in Beijing and earlier this year won the 100m at the European championships. The US will have a pair of highly regarded competitors, 25-yearold Bowie and 19-year-old Ariana Washington, with Jamaica’s Thompson, 24, also expected to be a factor after finishing second in the event at the world championships in Beijing last year. Thompson has proved to be a late bloomer in running – excelling on the world stage after failing to make her high school track team.

HEPTATHLON.

Jessica Ennis-Hill’s success in the multi-discipline event in London made her one of the faces of the 2012 Games, and having returned from having a child to win the world title in Beijing last year, she will be confident of defending her title in Rio. Although the Briton is a proven performer on the sport’s biggest stages, Canadian gold medal hopeful Brianne Theisen-Eaton will hope to deal better with the pressure which she admits got to her at last year’s world championships. Ennis-Hill’s compatriot Katarina Johnson-Thompson has had a miserable time with injuries but will be a title contender if fit, as will Anouk Vetter, of the Netherlands, and Latvia’s Laura Ikauniece-Admidina.

WOMEN’S SHOT-PUT.

Valerie Adams has the chance to become the first woman to win an individual Olympic athletics event three times in a row on the opening day. Dominant between the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2014, when the New Zealander required surgery on her shoulder and elbow, she eased back into competition this year but showed she was heading back to top form with two throws over 20m. Germany’s world champion Christina Schwanitz has had injury problems of her own but looms as the biggest threat to Adams, and Gong Lijiao has the longest throw of the year (20.43m) and should also be in the mix when the medals are handed out. – Reuters