The men's 100m final is one of the most hotly talked about events at the London 2012 Games - and Usain Bolt without doubt the highest profile athlete likely to be taking part.

However, for a selection of former athletes interviewed over the race, it is Bolt's Jamaican team-mate and current champion Yohan Blake who is the one to watch.

Former 400m hurdles winner Edwin Moses told reporters: "In track and field we have a saying, 'stuff happens', and you're only as good as your last race. I hate to not vote for Bolt, but I'm not sure the cards are in his favour, I'm going to say Blake too, I think he's the man to beat right now.

"You can't stay on top all the time, you have to kind of let off. Last year was not... He's had to completely regroup, and when you do that you really start from zero, build back up, it's hard to tell what will happen.

"I know that he can't afford to make any mistakes. I think that in the 100 and the 200 you've got a bunch of guys who can get out of the blocks, they're going to get out of the blocks because they know they have no choice. They're not going to win if they don't, and the only way is to get out, try to put pressure on him early and see what happens."

Former 100m winner Maurice Green also rates Bolt's team-mate, and says Usain may be haunted by his past glories: "Blake is going to win.

"The pressures of coming back to an Olympic Games? It's very tough. Especially when you're trying to duplicate what you did four years ago.

"But I would say to that fact, don't think about what you did four years ago, only think about what you're trying to do now, what you've been working on all this year to do. You have to focus on this, you can't think in the past."

Ultimately, however, even the experts cannot predict what will happen on August 5.