The Athletics World Championships start in Budapest on Saturday – just a year after the rearranged 2022 edition in Eugene – and we’ve picked out five international stars to watch in Hungary.
Plenty of thrills and spills are expected across 10 days of action and we’ve scoured the Athletics World Championships 2023 betting odds for some top tips.
Fred Kerley (USA)
The 28-year-old led home an American clean sweep in the men’s 100 metres on home turf in Oregan, posting 9.79 seconds in the heats and then 9.86 in the final to edge out compatriot Marvin Bracy.
Kerley arrives in Hungary ranked third in the 2023 ratings, behind Britain’s Zharnel Hughes and Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala, but is 2/1 favourite to come out on top when it matters most.
He had to settle for silver at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, but Italian conqueror Marcell Jacobs has since struggled to reproduce that form and is a 9/1 chance here.
Shericka Jackson (Jamaica)
Jackson continues to impress and is the fastest in the world this year after clocking 10.65 seconds over 100 metres at the Jamaican championships.
It put her joint fifth on the all-time list, 0.16 seconds off Florence Griffith-Joyner’s 35-year-old world record.
Jackson won silver in the 100m at last year’s Worlds and will be gunning for Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s title this time around.
Jackson can be backed at 4/1 to strike women’s 100m gold in the Athletics World Championships 2023 betting odds, with Fraser-Pryce the 19/20 favourite.
Wayde Van Niekerk (South Africa)
The 2016 Olympic and 2017 world champion has fought back from a ruptured ACL, which he suffered playing a charity touch rugby game in 2017.
His 400m time of 44.17secs puts him second on the list this year, behind Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga.
He missed the 2019 World Championships and failed to reach the 400m final at Tokyo 2020 but finished fifth in the final at last year’s Worlds.
Van Niekerk is 7/4 second favourite to triumph in the men’s 400m, with Steven Gardiner the 17/20 market leader.
Mondo Duplantis (Sweden)
The Swede broke his own world pole vault record at last year’s Championships in Eugene, clearing 6.21 metres, and registered 6.22m earlier this year to increase the mark.
Duplantis, who was born in the United States, is also the reigning European outdoor and indoor champion to hold all the major titles available to him.
It would be a major shock if the 23-year-old was beaten in Budapest and he is 1/10 to prevail in the Athletics World Championships 2023 betting odds.
Femke Bol (Netherlands)
A world-leading time of 52.30secs in the 400m hurdles has the 23-year-old clear favourite for the title.
With Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone having pulled out because of a knee injury, the path is clear for Bol to improve on last year’s silver.
A bronze in Tokyo and last year’s European gold in Munich marks Bol as one of the world’s best and she is as short as 1/20 to oblige against weakened opposition.
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