Olympics enhanced treble: Why Rutherford, Ennis-Hill, Farah can repeat Super Saturday

Although retaining his European title in Amsterdam earlier this summer, Rutherford now must battle the world, or specifically American trio Jarrion Lawson, Jeff Henderson and Marquis Dendy, however.

It’s 10/1 bar that quartet in the men’s Long Jump betting, with only last year’s World Athletics Championship runner-up Fabrice Lapierre of Australia shorter than 14/1.

These five are the likely medal contenders, and Rutherford – discounting a wind assisted mark of 8m 36cm – has recorded a season’s best of 8m 31cm, which was his winning jump at London 2012.

Although only joint seventh best from legal efforts in terms of distance for 2016, it proved far enough at the last Olympics, and that has been the case when Rutherford has competed since.

Doing enough to win competitions is what is required in the sandpit. The world record isn’t under threat like with the Triple Jump, but Rutherford gets the job done and that is what attractive about him from a Long Jump betting perspective.

Jessica Ennis-Hill fancied for Heptathlon

Moving on to the Heptathlon leg of the Olympics enhanced treble, Ennis-Hill is the only course and distance winner at this level. Her opponents think they can beat her across seven events and two days, but the Briton knows she can best them.

A lot in sport depends on your mentality, and supermum Ennis-Hill has already achieved remarkable things in track and field. Regaining the world title, for example, little more than a year after giving birth to her son is among the most impressive.

It means you can never count Ennis-Hill out, and it’s no wonder Coral go 11/10 on Ennis-Hill being a two-time Heptathlon champion at the Olympics.

Canadian counterpart Brianne Theisen-Eaton is the reigning Commonwealth champ in this gruelling multi-discipline event, but that Glasgow Games Gold always has the absence of Ennis-Hill hanging over it.

Handing defeats to Theisen-Eaton at London 2012 and in Beijing last summer means that it is possible fellow Team GB athlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson is Ennis-Hill’s main rival.

There is no doubting the medals should go to this trio, but in what order? Johnson-Thompson’s impressive field displays at the London Anniversary Games cannot wholly exorcise her high-profile Heptathlon errors of 2015; namely that inability to record a legal Long Jump.

Installed as the lady most likely to challenge Ennis-Hill at 9/4, Johnson-Thompson has to demonstrate she has learned from her mistakes. Until then, the jury is still somewhat out and reliable Ennis-Hill is a worthy inclusion in our Olympics enhanced treble.

Mo Farah best in long-distance show

When it comes to long-distance running, Farah is now already established among the all-time greats. He may not have the world record times of Haile Gebrselassie (6) and Kenenisa Bekele (8), but his medal haul at athletics majors (7) is between these legends.

Doing yet another 5000m and 10000m double would see Farah further surpass the Ethiopian icons, with Bekele’s back-to-back twin successes of Beijing 2008 and Berlin 2009 already eclipsed by the Briton.

Rivals from Africa have already tried all sorts of tactics to disrupt his rhythm in previous races, yet Farah has always responded. His dominance of long-distance track events is akin to sprint kingpin Usain Bolt.

Given this sustained spell at the top of his game, Farah looks to be the dead cert element of our proferred Olympics enhanced treble. He’s gone from strength to strength since London 2012, and there’s an irrepressible quality to this athlete.

Don’t let the Mobot fool you, Farah is always in fantastic shape for major championships. Let’s not forget he’s also come through adversity, being questioned in a way that the other included athletes haven’t experienced.

Coach Alberto Salazar’s doping exposure could’ve easily damaged the credibility of Farah last year, yet he responded by hitting back and doing most of his talking on the track with a third consecutive major double.

It’s for those reasons – and the qualities outlined about Ennis-Hill and Rutherford above – that superb 7/1 odds say this Olympics enhanced treble can come off for patriotic punters.

Related

If it’s more Olympics tips you’re after, then check out the athletics section of Coral news.