Each day our exclusive MATCH OF THE DAQ service previews the big match of the day – usually a televised game.
As well as the preview we also bring you the head to head records of the two teams as well as a recommended bet on BETDAQ for the match.
Men’s Javelin Final
Olympic Athletics
K.O 19.20, BBC 1
QUALIFYING DISTANCES (PERSONAL BESTS)
World Record 98.48 Olympic Record 90.57
1 Vitezslav Vesely (Czech Republic) 88.34 (88.34)
2 Andreas Thorkildsen (Norway) 84.47 (91.59)
3 Tero Pitkamaki (Finland) 83.01 (91.53)
4 Oleksandr Pyatnytsya (Ukraine) 82.72 (86.12)
5 Spiridon Lebesis (Greece) 82.40 (83.02)
6 Stuart Farquhar (New Zealand) 82.32 (86.31)
7 Roderick Genki Dean (Japan) 82.07 (84.28)
8 Ari Mannio (Finland) 81.99 (85.70)
9 Julius Yego (Kenya) 81.81 (81.81)
10 Antti Ruuskanen (Finland) 81.74 (87.33)
11 Keshorn Walcott (Trinidad and Tobago) 81.75 (82.83)
12 Tino Haber (Germany) 80.39 (83.46)
PREVIEW
Jan Železný’s mammoth javelin world record of 98.48 from 1996 is unlikely to be beaten in a hurry, with none of the current generation of throwers looking capable of producing 90m + throws on a regular basis. Železný’s Czech Republic compatriot and current European champion, Vitezslav Vesely, led qualifying with a distance of 88.34 and that was well clear of Andreas Thorkildsen in second
Those are the two most prominent in the betting market for this evening’s final but it really looks like the imposing 29-year-old Vesely’s to lose. He got into a good rhythm in Wednesday’s qualifying and didn’t seem to feel the pressure as he has done in previous major tournaments. Norwegian Thorkildsen holds the biggest personal best of the finalists and is the only thrower to have held all three titles of European champion, World champion and Olympic champion concurrently. He has nearly four metres to find with Vesely on London form so far though and may just have to settle for silver this time around.
Finnish athletes have a fantastic pedigree in the javelin, being responsible for seven gold medals, 14 places and two medal clean sweeps in Olympic history. Their challenge this time around comes from Tero Pitkamaki, Ari Mannio and Antti Ruuskanen. Pitkamaki is a class act on his day but aside from a glorious 2007 season, where he was crowned World champion and European Athlete of the Year, he has largely disappointed on the big stage and was only third in Beijing.
Mannio and Ruuskanen probably need a few more years of development before they can be considered credible candidates for glory. It would be a surprise to see the likes of Tino Haber, Julius Yego and Spiridon Lebesis challenging for gold.
All things considered, Vesely looks near enough a banker, with a repeat of his qualifying distance probably going to be enough to secure victory, and, at 1.61 on BETDAQ, he looks a great price.
RECOMMENDATION: (1-10 points)
Back Vesely at around 1.61 on BETDAQ: 6 points
Thursday: -3.00
AUGUST RETURN TO DATE: +5.64 points
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