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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

World Indoor Preview: Men's Field

High Jump
Top five competing athletes in the Superfan rankings...
Ivan Ukhov RUS
Jesse Williams USA
Yaroslav Rybakov RUS
Jaroslav Bába CZE
Dusty Jonas USA
Samson Oni GBR

Who will win the medals...
Gold: Ukhov
Silver: Williams
Bronze: Jonas
These are the most consistent jumpers of the indoor season.

Pole Vault
Top five competing athletes in the Superfan rankings...
Steven Hooker AUS
Renaud Lavillenie FRA
Malte Mohr GER
Alexander Straub GER
Steven Lewis GBR

Who will win the medals...
Gold: Hooker
Silver: Laillenie
Bronze: Mohr
The top two are pretty safe bets. Mohr is the most consistent after them, but this is always a tricky event to forecast.

Long Jump
Top five competing athletes in the Superfan rankings...
Irving Saladino PAN
Godfrey Khotso Mokoena SEN
Salim Sdiri FRA
Mitchell Watt AUS
Yahya Berrabah MAR

Who will win the medals...
Gold: Sdiri
Silver: Wilfredo Martinez
Bronze: Saladino
Saladino hasn’t competed yet this year; Mokoena has but hasn’t done a whole lot. Sdiri and Martinez have been the stars of the limited indoor campaign.

Triple Jump
Top five competing athletes in the Superfan rankings...
Alexis Copello CUB
Arnie David Girat CUB
Fabrizio Donato ITA
Teddy Tamgho FRA
Christian Olsson SWE

Who will win the medals...
Gold: Copello
Silver: Olsson
Bronze: Donato
Olsson is rapidly improving, but Copello is still capable of beating him. Donato is the world leader.

Shot Put
Top five competing athletes in the Superfan rankings...
Christian Cantwell USA
Andrei Mikhnevich BLR
Tomasz Majewski POL
Ralf Bartels GER
Pavel Lyzhyn BLR

Who will win the medals...
Gold: Cantwell
Silver: Mikhnevich
Bronze: Bartels
Cantwell appears almost unbeatable. Mikhnevich has thrown far but hasn’t faced anyone tough. Majewski has competed well below his usual level so far this year.

Heptathlon
Top five competing athletes in the Superfan rankings...
Oleksiy Kasyanov UKR
Leonel Suárez CUB
Aleksey Drozdov RUS
Andrei Krauchanka BLR
Trey Hardee USA

Who will win the medals...
Gold: Hardee
Silver: Kasyanov
Bronze: Drozdov
As in the sprints, indoor competition affects the decathlon rankings only slightly. As such, Suarez isn’t likely to place as high as he is ranked. Hardee is down in fifth mostly because he hasn’t done a full heptathlon this year, but his individual event results have been impressive.

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