Throughout the Games, the Sky Sports News Olympics Panel will bring you analysis across a wide range of sports. Here's what our experts had to say on the stories coming out of London today...
Last Updated: August 9, 2012 10:59am
Leon Baptiste on the battle for men's 200m gold
"After looking at the semi-finals, I'm still going to go with my original prediction with Bolt to win but Blake is looking very, very good. I'm looking for this to be around the 19.6 second range - or maybe even 19.5. That time is incredibly fast - even the great athletes back in the day didn't run as fast as that, other than Michael Johnson. It should be very interesting.
"When I watched Blake (20.01) I just thought 'wow'; it looked as though he was going for a stroll in the park. He was so comfortable and relaxed. Bolt (20.18) was slightly slower but as soon as he came off the bend he was looking around to see where he was - he knew that the work was done. For him it was not about running a fast time, but about finishing first and making sure he got a good lane in the final.
"Unfortunately Christian Malcolm didn't make the final but he would have had to have run a season's best to do it. He was just short of that. Christian's been around for years and he'll be very disappointed with what's happened but he's got the relay to focus on now, so he can go for that."
Click here to watch Darren Campbell's 200m analysis
Sally Gunnell on the barriers blocking Mo Farah's double gold bid
"Even though the 10,000m that he won wasn't a particularly hard or fast race and it won't have taken a lot out of him physically, I think the mental side of it is more of a problem. How do you deal with the excitement and buzz of being an Olympic gold medallist?
"Emotionally you've got to stabilise, you've got to bring yourself down to level and you naturally go on a bit of a dip, so he's really got to deal with that and I think that's what he's found difficult.
"He'll just want to sleep and chill before Saturday's race and hopefully he's been allowed to do that and he's not had to go around all of the press conferences that we've seen all of the other gold medallists do. He'll be hiding away, almost, and I just hope that he can recover.
"But it is a really big ask of him. He is in fantastic shape - don't get me wrong - but I just think that it's so, so tough to mentally pick yourself up to try and win another gold medal."
Campbell Walsh on canoers Rachel Cawthorn and Josefa Idem
"Rachel Cawthorn finished in sixth place in the women's kayak single 500m final, but it was very tight for that bronze medal and for her to be in the mix is great; Britain are having much stronger women's results than we have ever had in flat-water canoe racing.
"Rachel should take inspiration from Josefa Idem, who finished one place above her; the Italian is a 47-year-old mother of two who is competing in her eighth Olympics, having made her Games debut in Los Angeles in 1984. I find that mind-boggling.
"Canoeing is a hugely physical sport and you have to be an extremely fit athlete and work through a huge number of training sessions in the gym; technique is involved but what really wins you the medals and gets you high-placed finishes is that physical preparation.
"When I was in my 20s there was nothing I wanted to do more than train and be the best in my sport, but as I've got older I've realised there are other aspects of life, so it must be hard for Idem on those cold winter mornings and she must think: 'Why am I doing this?'. So for her to be in the mix for the medals is great."
Sally Gunnell on a fine fourth for Lawrence Clarke in the 110m hurdles
"He's a bright prospect. We go on about the medals in athletics and those lovely golds but sometimes we've got to remember that it's really tough to finish fourth.
"Lawrence was really chuffed with that - nobody expected him to get into the final and four years ago he was running 15 seconds and now here he is running 13.3. It's a lovely story. It's really nice to see that somebody who hasn't had any experience whatsoever in the last four years can come out here and really rise to the occasion.
"Yes, there were a few others who didn't quite get through those heats - like Liu Xiang - and Dayron Robles pulled up but that's what the Olympics is about. You need a bit of luck on your side and Lawrence grasped that fourth place. He's a real prospect for the future - he's so young and the next four years should be very exciting."
Edwin Moses on Allyson Felix's victory in the women's 200m final
"It was a fantastic race; you had pure speed with the 100m champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce; the 400m champion, Sanya Richards-Ross, plus Carmelita Jeter who can run 100 and 200m
"It was a great mix of different types of women's sprinters and the best were on the track at one time, which you rarely see in the men's event, but Felix came out on top.
"Allyson had the advantage of being in lane six; she had three fast girls inside chasing her (Fraser-Pryce, Richards-Ross and Veronica Campbell-Brown), plus she could see Jeter on the outside so had someone to lock onto. It was the best possible scenario.
"Jeter did great to get a silver in the 100m and she took bronze in the 200m, but the 2004 and 2008 Olympic 200m champion Campbell-Brown failed to get a medal. She is a very hardworking girl but the new guard has come in.
"What this does, though, is set up a big duel in the women's 4 x 100m relay. United States have a stacked team with six girls that can run fast, but so do Jamaica, and both squads' runners are able to alternate positions. It will be a really good race."
Sally Gunnell on the British women's chances in the 4x400m relay
"We have got quite a strong team. My worry is how Perri Shakes-Drayton can pick herself up after the 400m hurdles. She can run a great leg in that 400m - a 49 second leg - so we really need to get her back at her top form. Realistically we could get a bronze.
"The Americans are top favourites with Sanya Richards-Ross winning the individual and Russia are strong well. We could, and have done in the past, grab the bronze medal. There is an outside chance but it will be tough for those girls."
Last Updated: August 9, 2012 10:59am
Leon Baptiste on the battle for men's 200m gold
"After looking at the semi-finals, I'm still going to go with my original prediction with Bolt to win but Blake is looking very, very good. I'm looking for this to be around the 19.6 second range - or maybe even 19.5. That time is incredibly fast - even the great athletes back in the day didn't run as fast as that, other than Michael Johnson. It should be very interesting.
"Unfortunately Christian Malcolm didn't make the final but he would have had to have run a season's best to do it. He was just short of that. Christian's been around for years and he'll be very disappointed with what's happened but he's got the relay to focus on now, so he can go for that."
Click here to watch Darren Campbell's 200m analysis
Sally Gunnell on the barriers blocking Mo Farah's double gold bid
"Even though the 10,000m that he won wasn't a particularly hard or fast race and it won't have taken a lot out of him physically, I think the mental side of it is more of a problem. How do you deal with the excitement and buzz of being an Olympic gold medallist?
"Emotionally you've got to stabilise, you've got to bring yourself down to level and you naturally go on a bit of a dip, so he's really got to deal with that and I think that's what he's found difficult.
"He'll just want to sleep and chill before Saturday's race and hopefully he's been allowed to do that and he's not had to go around all of the press conferences that we've seen all of the other gold medallists do. He'll be hiding away, almost, and I just hope that he can recover.
"But it is a really big ask of him. He is in fantastic shape - don't get me wrong - but I just think that it's so, so tough to mentally pick yourself up to try and win another gold medal."
Campbell Walsh on canoers Rachel Cawthorn and Josefa Idem
"Rachel Cawthorn finished in sixth place in the women's kayak single 500m final, but it was very tight for that bronze medal and for her to be in the mix is great; Britain are having much stronger women's results than we have ever had in flat-water canoe racing.
"Rachel should take inspiration from Josefa Idem, who finished one place above her; the Italian is a 47-year-old mother of two who is competing in her eighth Olympics, having made her Games debut in Los Angeles in 1984. I find that mind-boggling.
"Canoeing is a hugely physical sport and you have to be an extremely fit athlete and work through a huge number of training sessions in the gym; technique is involved but what really wins you the medals and gets you high-placed finishes is that physical preparation.
"When I was in my 20s there was nothing I wanted to do more than train and be the best in my sport, but as I've got older I've realised there are other aspects of life, so it must be hard for Idem on those cold winter mornings and she must think: 'Why am I doing this?'. So for her to be in the mix for the medals is great."
Sally Gunnell on a fine fourth for Lawrence Clarke in the 110m hurdles
"He's a bright prospect. We go on about the medals in athletics and those lovely golds but sometimes we've got to remember that it's really tough to finish fourth.
"Lawrence was really chuffed with that - nobody expected him to get into the final and four years ago he was running 15 seconds and now here he is running 13.3. It's a lovely story. It's really nice to see that somebody who hasn't had any experience whatsoever in the last four years can come out here and really rise to the occasion.
"Yes, there were a few others who didn't quite get through those heats - like Liu Xiang - and Dayron Robles pulled up but that's what the Olympics is about. You need a bit of luck on your side and Lawrence grasped that fourth place. He's a real prospect for the future - he's so young and the next four years should be very exciting."
Edwin Moses on Allyson Felix's victory in the women's 200m final
"It was a fantastic race; you had pure speed with the 100m champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce; the 400m champion, Sanya Richards-Ross, plus Carmelita Jeter who can run 100 and 200m
"It was a great mix of different types of women's sprinters and the best were on the track at one time, which you rarely see in the men's event, but Felix came out on top.
"Allyson had the advantage of being in lane six; she had three fast girls inside chasing her (Fraser-Pryce, Richards-Ross and Veronica Campbell-Brown), plus she could see Jeter on the outside so had someone to lock onto. It was the best possible scenario.
"Jeter did great to get a silver in the 100m and she took bronze in the 200m, but the 2004 and 2008 Olympic 200m champion Campbell-Brown failed to get a medal. She is a very hardworking girl but the new guard has come in.
"What this does, though, is set up a big duel in the women's 4 x 100m relay. United States have a stacked team with six girls that can run fast, but so do Jamaica, and both squads' runners are able to alternate positions. It will be a really good race."
Sally Gunnell on the British women's chances in the 4x400m relay
"We have got quite a strong team. My worry is how Perri Shakes-Drayton can pick herself up after the 400m hurdles. She can run a great leg in that 400m - a 49 second leg - so we really need to get her back at her top form. Realistically we could get a bronze.
"The Americans are top favourites with Sanya Richards-Ross winning the individual and Russia are strong well. We could, and have done in the past, grab the bronze medal. There is an outside chance but it will be tough for those girls."
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