Usain Bolt thinks he is #1, but all will be decided on Sunday
LONDON, England ● The men’s 100m final is the blue riband event of any Olympic Games and is the highlight of another action-packed schedule on Day 9.
After false-starting in the World Championships final last year, defending champion Usain Bolt has a point to prove but faces strong competition from the likes of countrymen Yohan Blake and Asafa Powell, plus Tyson Gay of the USA.
It promises to be a great night in the Olympic Stadium with the finals of the women’s 400m, men’s 3000m Steeplechase, women’s Triple Jump and men’s Hammer Throw also taking place. The streets of London also provide a familiar setting for the women’s Marathon at 11am.
There are three finals in the Artistic Gymnastics and Host Nation Great Britain could claim their first ever Olympic gold in the sport in the Pommel Horse final.
Louis Smith, who topped qualifying with a score of 15.800, is looking to upgrade the bronze medal he won in Beijing four years ago and is set to do battle with his rival, double world champion Krisztian Berki.
China’s Zou Kai is also looking to defend his men’s Floor Competition title when he takes on newly-crowned Olympic All-Around champion Kohei Uchimura.
In the women’s Vault, McKayla Maroney, who helped the USA to Team gold on Tuesday, is hot favourite to add the Olympic title to her world crown.
The men’s Singles final in the Tennis is a repeat of the Wimbledon showdown exactly four weeks earlier at the same venue as Roger Federer takes on Andy Murray, while the Briton will be back in action following this in the final of the Mixed Doubles alongside Laura Robson.
The men’s Badminton Singles final is a repeat of the Beijing showpiece of four years ago between all-time greats and rivals Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei, who is bidding to win Malaysia’s first Olympic gold in any sport.
In the men’s Doubles, Denmark’s Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen could claim only Europe’s second Olympic Badminton gold when they take on China’s top seeds Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng.
Hockey heavyweights Germany and the Netherlands face-off against each other with top spot in Pool B at stake, while the stand-out match in Pool A sees world number ones Australia go head-to-head with Great Britain.
In Sailing, Britain’s Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson are guaranteed a place on the podium and head into the medal race of the Star class with an eight-point lead over Brazil’s Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada.
In the Finn class, Ben Ainslie goes for a fourth Olympic gold but heads into the final race two points behind Denmark’s Jonas Hogh-Christensen.
Further gold medals are up for grabs in the Velodrome in the men’s Omnium, the women’s 3m Springboard Diving at the Aquatics Centre and the men’s Team Foil at ExCeL.
The finals of the men’s 50m Pistol in Shooting, the women’s +75kg event in the Weightlifting and the 55kg and 74kg categories in the Greco-Roman Wrestling add to the drama in store.