With 49 different events from the women's 3000-meter steeplechase to the men's shot put, track and field has far more than five athletes to watch, but here are some of the most-watched.
1. Yohan Blake, Jamaica (sprinter)
The man to watch on the track in London, as in Beijing, is clearly Usain Bolt. In Beijing, the Jamaican not only won the gold in the 100- and 200-meters, but set world records doing it. Enter Yohan Blake, whom Bolt calls the "Beast." The reason? "Because when you're sleeping, I'm working," Blake told the British newspaper the Guardian. That work ethic has made him perhaps the co-favorite for the 100- and 200-meters in London with Bolt. In the Jamaican trials, Blake won both races.
In fact, Jamaica has a decent chance of sweeping the men's 100 meters, with Asafa Powell also a medal contender. American Tyson Gay, for one, hopes to break up that trio. But if the Jamaicans can manage it, they will match what their women did in Beijing, taking gold, silver, and bronze in track and field's showcase event.
2. Ashton Eaton, USA (decathlete)
The winner of the Olympic decathlon, it is often said, wins the unofficial title of "world's best athlete." This year, that could be American Ashton Eaton. He certainly made a statement at the US Olympic trials, where he scored 9,039 points, breaking an 11-year-old world record. In London, as at the Olympic trials in Oregon, Eaton's top competition could be American Trey Hardee. Indeed, had not defending Olympic champion Bryan Clay made mistakes in the hurdles and discus, America would have a chance to sweep the medals. As it is, Clay failed to qualify.
Historically, the decathlon has been good to America. It was what got Bruce Jenner on a box of Wheaties, of course. And an American has stood atop the podium 12 of the 22 times a decathlon medal has been handed out since 1912. From 1936 to 1960, an American won the men's decathlon at every Olympics ? a six Games winning streak.
3. Jessica Ennis, Britain (heptathlete)
As the top British gold-medal favorite in what is arguably the Summer Olympics' biggest sport ? track and field ? Jessica Ennis stands to be perhaps the face of the games for the host nation. She is currently ranked No. 1 in the world, but two Eastern Europeans stand right beside her as the best heptathletes in the world, Tatyana Chernova of Russia and Nataliya Dobrynska of Ukraine. (The heptathlon is the women's decathlon, but has only seven events compared to the decathlon's 10.)
She is well aware of the pressure of potentially being Britain's Cathy Freeman, the gold-medal-winning Australian sprinter who provided the Sydney Olympics with perhaps their most iconic moment. "Because of the expectation and pressure, I think anything but gold, everyone would view that as a failure and I'm aware of that," Ennis told London's Evening Standard.
4. Yelena Isinbayeva, Russia (pole vault)
Yelena Isinbayeva leaves no doubt that she is a diva. But as often as not, she also leaves no doubt of her skill. The Russian pole vaulter is the two-time defending gold medalist and widely considered the best ever. Widely loved? Maybe not as much.
Part of Isinbayeva's game plan is to try to psyche out the competition by not taking any easy vaults. Most competitors start vaulting at relatively low heights to help get them warmed up. Not Isinbayeva. She starts only when the heights start getting difficult, and until then, she lies on the infield of the track with her back to the competition and a towel over her head as though to signal her complete disdain for her competitors. Those competitors, including British favorite Holly Bleasdale, have said they are not amused.
Often, it works, though. She's broken her own world records 28 times. Sometimes, it doesn't. At the 2009 world championships, she failed to make a single vault. The same thing happened in a Olympic warm-up event in Monaco earlier this month.
Which Isinbayeva will show up at the 2012 Olympics? Who knows. But London could be her last Games. She's suggested she may retire.
5. Allyson Felix, USA (sprinter)
Allyson Felix is the Michelle Kwan of the 200 meters, you might say. Humble, unfailingly polite, and enormously talented, Felix is the best 200-meter sprinter of her generation ? but she has never won Olympic gold. Twice, she has finished second.
"I've never gotten over it," she said at a pre-Olympics media summit. "I don't want to. It's motivation."
Both times, the winner was Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown, and with Jamaica seeking to replace the US as the world's top sprinting nation at these Games, the race takes on an added significance.
Felix will also run in the 100 meters after she controversially tied for third with Jeneba Tarmoh at the US Olympic trials. With only three US sprinters allowed in the 100 at the Olympics, and no formal procedure for breaking a tie, the governing body of US track and field suggested a run-off. Tarmoh declined, conceding the spot to Felix.
Felix is not considered a medal favorite in the 100, but the race could help her improve her start times in the 200. In the 200, she has a reputation of relatively slow starts and strong, winning finishes.
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/olympics-track-field-5-athletes-watch-202818538.html
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