Olympic Preview - Friday, August 10


Day 8 of track and field at the Games of the XXX Summer Olympiad will bring the relays to the fore, with finals in the men's 4x400 and women's 4x100, and the USA's Morgan Uceny runs for gold in the 1500 meters. Another titanic Ethiopia versus Kenya battle is on tap in the women's 5000 meters, America's Brad Walker is part of the always-unpredictable men's pole vault, and the women will be whirling out missiles in the hammer throw.

Scheduled TV coverage

All times Eastern; check your local listings at NBCOlympics.com

NBC	8:00pm-midnight	Finals in Track & Field relays, plus finals in BMX Cycling, a men's Volleyball semifinal, and qualifying in men's platform Diving.
NBC	12:35-1:35am	Finals in the women's hammer throw and 5000m, and a men's Water Polo semifinal match.

Day 8 results
Day 8 Event by Event Updates
Olympic Track & Field Schedule
(all events covered live at NBCOlympics.com)

For a deeper look at each event, check out my blog at tracksuperfan.com.

Let's take a look at the main events one at a time, in chronological order.

Men's Pole Vault final

2:00 PM ET

The favorite here is France's Renaud Lavillenie, but strange things tend to happen in the pole vault. Last year Lavillenie was just as strong a favorite entering the Worlds, but Poland's Paweł Wojciechowski came out the winner--and he didn't make it out of the qualifying round here.

Four years ago Australia's Steve Hooker was dominant, and a year later he took just two jumps to heroically won gold at the Worlds on a badly injured hamstring. Since then, though, he's had a horrible case of the yips. He may finally have his head back together, and if he does he's a threat to win.

Others who could threaten include Brad Walker, the lone US finalist and Germany's Björn Otto. But in general, expect the unexpected.

Women's Hammer Throw final

2:35 PM ET

The best preview of this event on the internet is provided by Martin Bingisser. He points out that while German Betty Heidler has dominated the event over the last two years during the "regular season", she's been beaten at the big championships, including a failure to qualify for this year's European Championships final. The other two major players in this event are Russian Tatyana Lysenko, the 2011 World Champion, and Belarus' Aksana Miankov, the 2008 Olympic champion. Both have put together seasons superior to those leading up to winning their respective gold medals. Others to watch are Poland's Anita Wlodarczyk and China's Wenxiu Zhang.

Men's 4x100m Relay heats

2:45 PM ET

I have described the 4x100 relay as "approximately forty seconds of sheer terror" as there is always a chance for a dropped baton or exchange out of the zone. While recently Team USA has had at least its share of problems in this regard, everyone else is just as capable of bombing out, including the Jamaicans. Trinidad is probably the next best team out there after these two, and Great Britain and Canada are capable of getting into the final.

Women's 5000 Meters final

3:05 PM ET

This should be another great battle between the Ethiopians and Kenyans. Ethiopia brings veterans Tirunesh Dibaba and Meseret Defar, umpteen-time gold medalists and record breakers who have returned to form after battles with injuries. Kenya brings multi-time World Champion Vivian Cheruyiot and Oregon Track Club member Sally Kipyego. The 10k, held last Friday, saw Dibaba run away from Kipyego and Cheruiyot--but Defar was not in that race and comes in fresh. Ethiopia's Gelete Burka could be a factor as well.

Team USA's Molly Huddle and Julie Culley ran well to get to the final, and the crowd will roar for Britain's Jo Pavey and Julia Bleasdale.

Women's 4x100m Relay final

3:40 PM ET

In yesterday's heats, Team USA held out its two fastest runners and still came close to the Olympic record. If the baton gets around the track--and that's always a big if--we could be looking at something very, very fast. The expected order for the final is Tianna Madison, Allyson Felix, Bianca Knight and Carmelita Jeter.

This time around it was the Jamaicans who had baton trouble in the heats, getting very close to passing out of the zone. The second-fastest team in the heats was actually Trinidad, setting a national record in the process. The fourth and fifth best times in the semis were by the Netherlands and Brazil, both also national records.

Women's 1500 Meters final

3:55 PM ET

At last year's World Championships, American Morgan Uceny entered the final as the favorite, but she was tripped up and fell and Jenny Simpson stunned everyone, herself included, with the win. Simpson didn't make the final this time, but Uceny is back and 2009 Worlds bronze medalist Shannon Rowbury came with her. If the race is tactically oriented, the kind that rewards smart racing and a good finishing kick, either is more than capable of winning a medal, possibly even gold.

Two athletes who were not factors a year ago but certainly are now are Turkey's Asli Çakir and Ethiopian Abebe Arigawi. (I'll point out that Çakir, who served a two-year doping ban from 2004 to 2006, is six seconds under her pre-2012 PR, and I'll leave it at that.) Both have run 3:56 this year, while no one else in the field has run under 3:59.

Others to watch are Russians Tatyana Tomashova and Ekaterina Kostetskaya, Kenyan Hellen Obiri, and Britain's Lisa Dobriskey (who is now third-favorite to win according to betting odds in the UK).

Men's 4x400m Relay final

4:20 PM ET

In any normal championship meet, the USA winning the men's 4x400 relay is almost as dependable as the sun rising in the east. But this is no ordinary championship meet; for the first time ever, the USA had no finalists in the men's 400 meters. So if the Americans manage to win this thing, it will be the first Olympic or World Championship relay won with no finalists from the individual race.

Complicating matters further is a shortage of bodies. LaShawn Merritt pulled up lame in the 400 meter heats. Jeremy Wariner has a torn hamstring and is done for the season. During yesterday's heats, Manteo Mitchell broke his leg halfway through his leadoff leg (and still finished with a 46.1 split). So it looks like the lineup will include college stars Tony McQuay and Bryshon Nellum plus a couple of 400 hurdlers, ageless wonder Angelo Taylor and either Michael Tinsley or Kerron Clement.

The team that could beat the USA is the Bahamas. They have three sub-45 legs in Demetrius Pinder, Ramon Miller and open 400 4th-placer Chris Brown, plus a 45.06 guy in Michael Matthieu. Belgium has the Borlee twins, Jonathan and Kevin, but not much else. Great Britain has the depth necessary to make a run at a medal. And Oscar Pistorius runs on a South Africa team that could get on the podium as well.