The wait for today has been long. Track day at the Olympics. As I love the distance events, the big one for me will obviously be the Women's 10000. The courage of these runners is stunning to behold. Ratcheting up the face to spit folk out the back. Then as they head down the straight for the bell lap, there are usually only a few "live" chances left in the race. The two big guns are the 5000-10000 world champion Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya, and the defending Olympic champion Turinesh Dibaba of Ethiopia. At the moment, Cheruiyot is the favourite at a slight shade of red, while Dibaba is a 13-10 chance. Next in the market is Eleynesh Oljira at 14-1. So the experts expect this to be the clash of the titans. This will be a ball tear-er. Cheruiyot should just about win it, but I'm hoping the Dibaba can do it again.
To claim these two slender ladies are probably the the name athletes of the 2012 track games, would not be far off the mark. Cheruiyot, who tips the scales at a racing weight of just 38kgs, and known as the Pocket Rocket, sees the battle with the Baby Faced Destroyer as hers to lose. But she will have to be at her best, for when the kick down comes at or around the bell lap, all eyes will be on Dibaba, looking for that famed, electric sprint that took her to the 5000-10000 double in Beijing.