Saturday's Olympic Games predictions: Kipchoge's marathon crown under threat

Three things to watch out for in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on Saturday.

Best bet

Australia to beat Slovenia in men's basketball bronze medal match
1pt 13-10 bet365

Doubts over the fitness of Slovenia's Luka Doncic could give the Boomers an edge in what should be a tight affair.

Men's marathon

Saturday, 11pm

Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge is odds-on to defend the title he won in Rio, but this doesn't look an easy race to predict.

World record holder Kipchoge is 36 and not running as well as he was a couple of years ago, but then the same is true of Lelisa Desisa, who heads a strong Ethiopian contingent.

Kipchoge's compatriot Lawrence Cherono has to be a danger, as does home hope Suguru Osako in a country where they love their marathon runners. Callum Hawkins, the pick of the Brits, could conceivably squeeze into the top ten.

They moved Saturday's women's race forward because of extreme heat so be aware the start time may shift.

Men's keirin

Heats start Saturday 7.50am; final Sunday 4am

This is one of the odder events from the velodrome though one that Team GB are particularly good at – it's only been around since 2000 and the Brits have won it three times.

The most recent of those victors was Jason Kenny and he will be looking to successfully defend his crown. If he does then Team Kenny – Jason and wife Laura – will have won an incredible 12 Olympic golds between them.

This event is where six riders are paced out by a motorcyclist, who, lap by lap, increases his speed from 30kmh to 50kmh before bailing out to allow the six riders to go off on a high-speed sprint.

The keirin is one of the most popular betting events in Japan, where last year £8 billion worth of bets were struck on it.

Women's boxing

Sunday from 6am

In amongst the new-fangled events, the climbing and surfing and skateboarding, the originals sometimes get overlooked – like water polo, for example.

To the Americans and Spain, however, Saturday's aquatic showdown is a big deal with the US 2-9 to defend their title but forget the water fights and get up early for the boxing finale on Sunday.

Lauren Price takes on Li Quan in the middleweight final, while Irish flag bearer Kellie Harrington is 7-4 to overcome Brazil's Beatriz Soares Ferreira.

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