Olympics Betting
Update 17

Womens Hammer (Wednesday 21:20)

Four women here with 76m+ this year, and six overall. This year's world leader Aksana Miankova got within 50cm of the world record two months ago, but struggled to get through qualifying, scraping through on her last throw. The only two women above her on the all-time list are under doping clouds. Virtually all of her best results have been in Belarus where I doubt they do too much dope testing. Her compatriot Pchelnik has improved 5m this year in Minsk as well. So why were both their first rounds so rubbish? Hmm...

The favourite, Cuban Yipsi Moreno, qualified top and is extremely consistent. She has taken a medal in every major championship since the Sydney Olympics, that is a fantastic record. In Sydney, she was fourth, then in Athens, she fouled four times and had to be satisfied with silver.

Danisova-Hrasnova is having a good season with four throws over 74m. She is young and still improving. She bombed in Osaka last year, but this time she is into the final stages. (Watch the name - Sportsbet has her listed as two separate competitors!)

The Chinese thrower Zhang Wenxiu qualified most impressively with her first throw. She is only young and with the crowd behind her, an extra metre or two to her PB would not surprise.

Tough market, I favour the young improver Danisova-Hrasnova but would need 6 before I backed her.

Mens 200m (Thursday 00:20)

Bolt by a mile, can't see him breaking Johnson's mark of 19.32 though. He's too busy enjoying winning than worrying about the record at this stage of his career.

Spearman at 5 w/o Bolt is tempting but not quite enough.

Womens 400m Hurdles (Thursday 00:35)

Melaine Walker is unbeaten this year and has cruised through the prelims. Now that she focuses on this event, her form is very strong. Sheena Tosta is the main danger. She had the dreaded inside lane in the semis after scraping through her heat, I think there's a bit left in the tank. I think the fact she is on the immediate inside of Walker is a huge plus - she will be able to see her target all the way.

Watch out for the Polish girl at a big price. She ran third in Osaka behind Rawlinson and Pechenkina running sub 54.

1pt Tosta @6.5 Centrebet, Lasseters, Sportingbet, Sportsbet

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