Early Impressions of Moscow 2013

So the World Athletics Championships kicked off in Moscow today. There were plenty of brilliant early moments; Italy's silver medal in the women's marathon, Mo Farah winning 10,000 m gold and a brilliant beginning to the decathlon competition but I want to focus on the 100 m.

The 100m is much more open this year. Defending champion Yohan Blake is out injured and former record holder Asafa Powell and current world leader Tyson Gay are missing through drug test investigations. Also Kim Collins veteran of many championships and a man in decent current form is not in attendance due to a continuing disagreement with his federation. So that leaves the field (and particularly the silver and bronze positions) thrown wide open. There are plenty of men in good form coming into the championships and there are plenty of young contenders coming through with a point to prove. Obviously the fight for the gold medal seems to be between Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin but if the previous World Championships in Daegu taught us anything, its that anything can happen in the final. However there are plenty of interesting contenders for that last spot on the podium (and possibly even a surprise shot at the top two.) Here at HQ our tip for a medal is America's Mike Rodgers who qualified fastest from the heats in an impressive 9.98 and seems to have been building up very well throughout the season. Also well capable of springing a surprise is Jimmy Vicaut (a favourite of ours) who has been impressively consistent this season and qualified faster than Bolt in a very comfortable 10.06, he even eased up towards the line suggesting he has more in reserve. Jimmy's teammate Christophe Lemaitre shouldn't be written off either, despite an occasionally underwhelming season he qualified well and is capable of producing quality having beat Justin Gatlin earlier in the season. Usain Bolt's relay teammates Nesta Carter and Nickel Ashmeade also qualilfied at 10.11 and 10.12 respectively so a Jamaican sweep is not entirely out of the question. Also an outside bet is Britain's James Dasaolu who despite scraping through in the third fastest loser spot has produced a stunning sub 10 second performance this season. So keep an eye out for possible surprises in the sprinting tomorrow.

Ps: While you're there keep an eye out for high flying world junior champion Gunnar Nixon in the decathlon, he looks like one hell of a talent. Also look out for Pascal Martinot-Lagarde in the 110m hurdlers, he's another youngster with bags of potential.