Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug

[kevshat]

Not sure how many athletics fans we have on PL these days but the European Championships begin on Tuesday and is all live on the BBC so there should be a few decent betting opportunities.

[kevshat]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug One overall outright bet for me before this begins. 5pts Total GB & NI Gold Medals - Over 7.5 5/6 William Hill I think this line is pretty low. The GB coach is aiming for "8-10 gold medals" from this event and looking down the cast list I think we've every chance of fulfilling that target. We've as good as got a guaranteed gold in the mens 10,000m with the two Brits so far clear of anyone else this season and then there's the relays which we usually nail in the Euro's. Dwain Chambers, Philips Idowu, Martyn Rooney, Jenny Meadows and Andy Turner are all big gold medal hopes for GB and that's without mentioning Mo Farah in the 5000m, Laura Turner in the womens 100m and Michael Rimmer in the mens 800m. Then there's the biggest gold medal hope of them all in Jessica Ennis who really should dominate the heptathlon. Sure some of the GB gold hopes won't quite land the big one but some who aren't as well regarded will step up as is always the case. I think we've 10-12 genuine gold medal hopes and so I'm confident we can land at least 8 golds in Barcelona this week.

[bowles10]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug didnt realise this was on, used to love the summer meetings on the beeb with david vine etc we seem to be getting stronger in the female department but lacking in the mens

[kevshat]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug 2 for me to begin with. Fancy a couple in the field events but I'll see how qualifying pans out before getting involved there. 3pts D.Chambers to win Mens 100m Evs Sportingbet Dwain Chambers would've been a lot shorter for this event had the French athlete Christophe Lemaitre not dipped under 10s for the 1st time in the French trials. Having done that all the expectation is on him now in his 1st major championships. Dwain Chambers is a season pro and has performed in many championships so he'll know what it takes to go well in them and with his ban from the Commonwealths and Olympics, this is a rare chance he gets to showcase his talents in a championship. This is far from a 2 horse race. Mbandjock has been performing well in decent company through the summer but Dwain Chambers is running well at the minute and will expect to win this. Chambers romped to 60m glory in the world indoors in the winter and won the 100m in the European team championships earlier in the year. He's bang in form and I think he'll bring home the gold for GB in the 100m. 1pt ew M.Bingham to win Mens 400m 10/1 Blue Square (1/3 1,2) Michael Bingham is another who is keeping good company. He's far from the favourite for this event but I don't believe he's a 10/1 shot either. Belgian Jonathan Borlee is favourite for the event having run a PB of 44.77 in Paris 2 weeks ago. Bingham was right behind him in 4th that night though so why Borlee is a best priced 15/8 and Bingham 10/1 I'll let others decide. It's fair to say Bingham's time this season haven't been the best with a seasons best of 45.08 but as I say he's been in good company on the Diamond League circuit in which he's notched up finishes of 3rd in Shanghai, 5th in Rome, 2nd in Gateshead and 4th in Paris. Martyn Rooney is pretty short at 4/1. He won the European tem championships 400m but Bingham beat him in Gateshead not so long ago. The Irishman Dave Gillick could be the fly in the ointment but Bingham impressed all at the worlds last year when he finished 7th having looked the business in the early rounds. He'll have learnt from that and at 10/1 I'll take him to nail gold or silver in an event which is a lot more wide open than the betting perhaps suggests.

[kevshat]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug Will take one of the field events now. Will leave the women's ones til later. 3pts I.Ukhov to win Mens High Jump 5/6 Blue Square Ivan Ukhov only finished 3rd in the Russian Championships but he comes here in very good form and he's the one to beat for me. But for his bombing out in the worlds last year when he was clearly the man to beat, I think he'd be nearer 1/2 all round. As it is he's as short as 4/9 in places. Ukhov won the world indoors earlier in the year and has picked up a couple of lucrative Diamond League titles in Lausanne and recently in Monaco where he jumped a seasons best of 2m34. Russian champion Aleksander Shustov looks his main danger here but he hasn't been doing the Diamond League circuit which could be key. The pair are 2cm clear of the rest on seasons best but as I say Ukhov, the tall Russian, set a seasons best last time out so he's coming in here in decent nick and even at 5/6 I think he's value to take the high jump crown.

[Jenspm]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug oooo, kev mate, I'm on Lemaitre in this one :O Men's 100m Christophe Lemaitre @ 2.88 - WillHill I'm sorry brits, but I think Dwain Chambers is highly overrated here. Yes, he has some international medals, but he's getting old and hasn't been great since being banned for doping. Christophe Lemaitre is a young french athletics star, currently in massive form. IN Valencia earlier in July, he set national records in both the 100m (9.98) and 200m (20.16). He's only 20 years old, but seems to have hit his form perfectly ahead of this race. To compare, Chambers' best when "clean" is a 9.97, set way back in 1999. He ran in the World Championship earlier this year, finishing sixth at 10.00, never going under 10 throughout the qualifiers and semi's. He also won the European team event, at 10.07, and the 200m at 10.55. All in all, I think Chambers is overrate here for the sole reason of having a big name - Lemaitre has a good chance of winning here, better than odds of 2.88 suggest.

[kevshat]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug 1st gold medal safely tucked away for Team GB courtesy of Mo Farah. 7 to go.

oooo, kev mate, I'm on Lemaitre in this one :O Men's 100m Christophe Lemaitre @ 2.88 - WillHill I'm sorry brits, but I think Dwain Chambers is highly overrated here. Yes, he has some international medals, but he's getting old and hasn't been great since being banned for doping. Christophe Lemaitre is a young french athletics star, currently in massive form. IN Valencia earlier in July, he set national records in both the 100m (9.98) and 200m (20.16). He's only 20 years old, but seems to have hit his form perfectly ahead of this race. To compare, Chambers' best when "clean" is a 9.97, set way back in 1999. He ran in the World Championship earlier this year, finishing sixth at 10.00, never going under 10 throughout the qualifiers and semi's. He also won the European team event, at 10.07, and the 200m at 10.55. All in all, I think Chambers is overrate here for the sole reason of having a big name - Lemaitre has a good chance of winning here, better than odds of 2.88 suggest.

Good luck Jens. Championship experience is a key factor for me. Nothing between the two in the 1st round though. An interesting night in store tomorrow :hope.

[Jenspm]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug wow, what an odds-shift.. Chambers down to 1.73, Lemaitre 3.25 :O

[Wanderer89]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug

wow' date=' what an odds-shift.. Chambers down to 1.73, Lemaitre 3.25 :O[/quote'] Interesting this, i couldn't split these two but the odds are a huge difference. May wait for the semi finals see what happens there but will be keeping my eye on this market!

[Psycho]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug

Interesting this' date=' i couldn't split these two but the odds are a huge difference. May wait for the semi finals see what happens there but will be keeping my eye on this market![/quote'] The reason for this is that Lemaitre is having some sort of leg injury. He pulled up in yesterday's heats and doesn't look good with still couple runs to go, especially with those being couple hours between each other. He says he's ok but it was obvious he has got an injury.

[bowles10]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug 100m final looks between the front 2 and no reason why Mark Lewis Francis should split them but 125/1 in an 8 runner race with sporting bet is worth a 1pt of anyones money! should be a great 10 secs to watch !

[Jenspm]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug Had a solid qualifying run today Lemaitre, 10.07 in 1.2 m/s headwinds with a bad start. Chambers had full control as well, easing in at 10.10. Will be a close one, good luck to all involved :ok

[bowles10]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug

100m final looks between the front 2 and no reason why Mark Lewis Francis should split them but 125/1 in an 8 runner race with sporting bet is worth a 1pt of anyones money! should be a great 10 secs to watch !

MLF ran out of his skin there, not a bad 125/1 shot! think he was close to 3rd

[Jenspm]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug Lemaitre looked extremely nervous before the start, I'm amazed he kept calm after that bad start.. Slow race, but a nice win anyway :)

[Jenspm]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug

MLF ran out of his skin there' date=' not a bad 125/1 shot! think he was close to 3rd[/quote'] He came 2nd, actually :loon great call mate

[bowles10]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug

He came 2nd, actually :loon great call mate

2nd :eek 5 men on the same time worth a small punt especially with the conditions

[staffy]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug Wow. Well done mate. :nana:beer

[Jenspm]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug Continuing with Lemaitre into the 200m before the odds drop. Men's 200m Christophe Lemaitre @ 1.83 - sportingbet I was really impressed by Lemaitres show in the 100m today. Despite having a bad start, he kept his cool and raced in to take the win. He looked nervous pre-start, but with a first win under his belt I think he'll be more relaxed coming into the 200m, and let's face it - the field isn't too strong. His main oponent is "Norwegian" Ndure, who notoriously chokes in any competition of any value. As I said earlier, Lemaitre also tied the 200m national record earlier this year at 20.16. Ndure has done a 19.89, but that was two years ago. Since then he's had troubles with his hamstring. Lately he's had problems with the start (as we saw today), and when that happens he starts stressing and messes it all up. Imo, Lemaitre should ride into another win here.

[kevshat]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug Great call with Lemaitre last night Jens. Hasn't been a good comp for me so far with Ukhov finding one too good. Phillips has made it 2 golds for GB though. Going with one in the Womens 100m. 3pts V.Mang to win Womens 100m 11/10 Betfred Times and performances in this competition so far suggests this is a two horse race between the French girl Veronique Mang and the German Verena Sailer. Sailer has been quicker than Mang in both rounds so far but she was only 0.07 ahead of Mang in the semis yet Mang ran with a +1.0m/s wind while Sailer was being carried by a 2.2m/s wind. Had they had the same wind you've got to think that 0.07 Mang trailed by would have been made up and some. It was the same in the 1st round. Mang ran into a -1.9m/s wind and Sailer just -1.5m/s. Of the 8 finalists, Mang was the quickest through the year coming into this event and now that these two are finally in the same race and experiencing the same conditions I expect Mang to beat Sailer who could be found out stuck in between two French women. At odds against I'm happy to take Mang in what looks like a straight match up.

[RussP]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug Getting into the spirit of this now and am going to stay loyal to our boys tomorrow with 3 bets, all with excellent medal chances. M.Rooney to win 400m, 1pt EW @ 9/1 BlueSq (1/3 odds 1-2) M.Bingham to win 400m, 1pt EW @ 11/1 Paddy Power (1/3 odds 1-2) Jonathan Borlee is deservedly favourite here but no surprise to see the Brits giving him plenty to do. Poor lane draws but Bingham has gone well from wide before and that might just suit. Looks a really controlled runner under the guidance of Michael Johnson and ran well in the semis, never in any danger. Rooney, meanwhile, might just surprise with the pressure off. Awful in the semis and will thank his lucky stars he's made the final. With no expectations, we might just see that undoubted ability. With break even guaranteed if either finish in the top 2, I'll take this bet here. T.Lancashire to finish top 3 in 1500m, 2pts @ 9/4 Ladbrokes Qualified 6th fastest for the final but was mightily impressed with him in the semis. Ran a super controlled race, positioned well throughout and looked all over the easy winner before easing right down in the straight. Tactically, he was very mature indeed and I think he's got every chance of being the top Brit here, despite Baddeley being impressive. Would rather take 9/4 on Tom rather than 4/9 on Andy. The Spanish hold a strong hand but pressure in front of their own fans could tell.

[kevshat]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug

Getting into the spirit of this now and am going to stay loyal to our boys tomorrow with 3 bets, all with excellent medal chances. M.Rooney to win 400m, 1pt EW @ 9/1 BlueSq (1/3 odds 1-2) M.Bingham to win 400m, 1pt EW @ 11/1 Paddy Power (1/3 odds 1-2) Jonathan Borlee is deservedly favourite here but no surprise to see the Brits giving him plenty to do. Poor lane draws but Bingham has gone well from wide before and that might just suit. Looks a really controlled runner under the guidance of Michael Johnson and ran well in the semis, never in any danger. Rooney, meanwhile, might just surprise with the pressure off. Awful in the semis and will thank his lucky stars he's made the final. With no expectations, we might just see that undoubted ability. With break even guaranteed if either finish in the top 2, I'll take this bet here. T.Lancashire to finish top 3 in 1500m, 2pts @ 9/4 Ladbrokes Qualified 6th fastest for the final but was mightily impressed with him in the semis. Ran a super controlled race, positioned well throughout and looked all over the easy winner before easing right down in the straight. Tactically, he was very mature indeed and I think he's got every chance of being the top Brit here, despite Baddeley being impressive. Would rather take 9/4 on Tom rather than 4/9 on Andy. The Spanish hold a strong hand but pressure in front of their own fans could tell.

Good luck mate. You Lancy folk back anything with Lancashire in the name don't you :lol:lol. Good card on Friday so I'm hitting a few. Already on Bingham and hoping he does the bizzo but he's been done up like a kipper with the lane draw :@. 4pts S.Feofanova to win Womens Pole Vault 5/6 Stan James Svetlana Feofanova's trophy cabinet would be a lot more stocked up if it wasn't for Yelena Isinbeyeva's presence in the event in the last few years but she's not here this week so this is the Russian's chance to claim another championship. This won't be easy though, the field is still a very competitive one but Feofanova beat most of the dangers in Monaco a couple of weeks ago and is coming into this championship in good nick having won in Gateshead and in the European team championships earlier in the year. German, Silke Spiegelburg could be her main danger but Feofanova has plenty of major championship experience. She's got 5 world and olympic medals and at 30 this could be her last chance of success. Even at odds on I still think the Russian is worth taking to win this competition. 3pts K.Ustalova to win Womens 400m 11/4 Ladbrokes The semi finals of this competition highlighted the real weakness of the event but one person who can take advantage of that is the Russian champion Kseniya Ustalova. Of those in this final Ustalova was the quickest coming into the event and although she wasn't the fastest qualifier for this final I don't think she can complain with her lane draw. She's got the other two Russian's either side of her so she'll be able to keep tabs on the other market leaders. The Italian Grenot is in lane 6 so Ustalova will have her in her sights too. From lane 4 I think she can control the race and if this is, as I suspect, between the 3 Russians then with the perfect lane draw and having recently beaten both her compatriots in the Russian trials, I'll take Ustalova to nail the gold medal in the womens 400m. 1pt ew J.Meadows to win Womens 800m 6/1 Boylesports (1/3 1,2) Jenny Meadows was 3rd at the world championships last year and she'll be looking to go two better here. This promises to be a cracking race with less than a second splitting 7 of the 8 finalists from the qualifying rounds. As with all 800m races tactics look sure to decide the winner. Maria Savinova has been the standout performer of these this season. She's the only one in the field to go under 1.58 this year but she didn't look totally convincing in the qualifiers. Meadows finished ahead of the Russian in the world championships last year and if she runs her race in this final, and tactics is one of her strengths, then I think this is there to be won for her. Britain's other finalist Jemma Simpson rates as a danger on season form but in the bigger races I just prefer Meadows who manages to keep a calm head in the heat of the battle. Savinova should win this race if season form is anything to go by but this is the 800m, it's not set in stone. Even if she does win then the silver medal is up for grabs and at effectively 2/1 for that silver medal I'll take Jenny Meadows in this one. 2pts A.Baddeley to win Mens 1500m 9/4 Boylesports 2pts T.Lancashire to finish in the top 3 9/4 Ladbrokes These two Brits had the best times this year coming into this event and they've done nothing to dissuade me that they'll be there or thereabouts when the medals are dished out. It's hard not to be impressed with Andy Baddeley so far. He's tracked his opponents, made his move and then finished off his races. Tom Lancashire was superb in the semi final. He came 3rd but if he needed to win having kicked for home early, he could've done. He chose to save something for the final and that's to our advantage price wise here. He's a very talented athlete who can definitely make it onto the podium. The danger to the English duo are the Spaniards but as Russ said earlier the Spaniards will be under pressure from the home crowd. Baddeley's looked really good so far and you feel there's more to come from him. He could lead home a British 1-2 here but whether Lancashire comes 2nd or 3rd I'm not sure, or indeed bothered. I feel he's a cracking price to land a medal but I feel Baddeley will be just too strong and pip him to the gold.

[Deano86]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug What price Gibilisco (Italian pole Vaulter) to win a medal? Oh and Schwarzer for the Gold in the 50km tomorrow. Hoping :)

[Deano86]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug Bezabeh is a cracking price at 4/1 to win the 5000m. Of course Farah is the class act of he field, but Bezabeh has run the fastest in europe this year, so just for value thats a good price.

[Jenspm]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug

Continuing with Lemaitre into the 200m before the odds drop. Men's 200m Christophe Lemaitre @ 1.83 - sportingbet I was really impressed by Lemaitres show in the 100m today. Despite having a bad start, he kept his cool and raced in to take the win. He looked nervous pre-start, but with a first win under his belt I think he'll be more relaxed coming into the 200m, and let's face it - the field isn't too strong. His main oponent is "Norwegian" Ndure, who notoriously chokes in any competition of any value. As I said earlier, Lemaitre also tied the 200m national record earlier this year at 20.16. Ndure has done a 19.89, but that was two years ago. Since then he's had troubles with his hamstring. Lately he's had problems with the start (as we saw today), and when that happens he starts stressing and messes it all up. Imo, Lemaitre should ride into another win here.

Wow, that was close. But oh, how I love Christophe Lemaitre :)

[CurlyMcfizzle]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug I can't believe how much Lemaitre's straight line speed saves him in the 200m, he's always way behind after the first 100. Andy Turner was going @9.2 on Betfair just before the 110m final, wish i'd backed him!

[kevshat]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug Frustrating championships for me personally with so many near misses. A great one for Great Britain though. I fear I'll have another near miss on the gold medal bet too. 6 so far and I fancy one strongly tonight but will need to find a surprise somewhere to have it landed. One for tonight so far. 6pts GB to win Mens 4x400m 1.86 Betfair I think GB should be a lot shorter than this. We qualified in fine style and very comfortably and yet we rested the silver and bronze medallists from the individual 400m. This looks like a two horse race between us and the Belgian's. Belgium also qualified comfortably but they included the gold medallist and only look to have his brother Jonathan Borlee to come into their side. Britain could, if they wanted, include the winner of the 400m hurdles but even without him, 2nd and 3rd from the individual along with a semi finalist in Williams and a very good relay runner in Tobin is a very good team. This quartet are used to medalling in global championships and if they don't medal against the American and Caribbean nations they push them mighty close. There's nothing of that standard in this field and barring no hiccups with changeovers which shouldn't happen in 4x400m then I think GB will win the final gold of the championships.

[RussP]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug G.Kanter to win Mens Discus, 6pts @ 7/4 Skybet I can honestly say I don't know much about this lot but the Estonian looks the class act here. Has the longest distance this year, is 3rd on the all time list, has been Olympic & World Champion. Only person to have thrown over 70m this year and could easily dominate this. Can't believe we are getting almost 2's here and, if he maintains his season form, there's no one to touch him. Big chance. S.Sdiri to win Mens Long Jump, 2pts @ 5/1 Bet365 An open looking final, I just can't ignore 5's on the Frenchman when others go almost half that price. Only 2 have jumped further this season and by the tiniest of margins. The French are doing pretty well this week and I feel this one could add to the tally. Is capable of producing a big jump and is in the winning habit, taking 6 of his 8 events this term. 5's is just too big here. A.Bekele to win Womens 5000m, 3pts @ 3/1 Bet365 3 Turks in the final and Abeylegesse is the fav, having taken the 10,000m earlier in the week. Bekele's main rivals here are her teammate and the Portuguese athlete Jessica Augusto. However, both of those might be feeling the effects off their 10,000m exertions so I'd prefer the fresher Bekele. Is pretty quick too, accomplished at shorter distances and I feel she may just have the finishing kick to take this.

[Deano86]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug Howe to win long Jump to give Italy a Gold :) About 3/1 in most bookies.

[kevshat]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug

Howe to win long Jump to give Italy a Gold :) About 3/1 in most bookies.

Why is he going to win?

[Deano86]

Re: Athletics: European Championships 27 July - 1 Aug Ignore his seasons best, which at 8.16 isnt even far behind this rather average field. He has came back from injury. His 8.16 came in the last round at the Italian championships when he needed it to win Gold (Formichetti was leading with 8.10)... he is the reigning champion and a proven big performer. If he is fit enough, which he seems to be with his 8.15 in 1st round of quali. He should go very close to winning the Gold. On another note RussP is also totally correct that Sdiri can not be ignored at 5s just for value because he is indeed 3s in most bookies.