Maxwell Sanders | Olympic Betting Odds

Will Norway Lead The Gold Medal Count Again For Winter Olympics?

Maxwell Sanders — Mon, 11 Oct 2021 15:13:24 +0000

Norway has +185 odds to lead the Olympic gold medal count in Beijing.
Norway has been top two in medal count in the previous three iterations of the Olympic Games.
Germany is next, with +200 odds, while no other countries have seen odds shorter than +500 yet.

BEIJING - The 2022 Winter Olympics are edging closer and closer, with a start date of Feb. 4, 2022.

Leading up to the Games, online sportsbooks that offer Olympic odds have begun to post betting lines on large scale categories, such as which country will come home with the most gold medals.

Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 - Most Gold Medals

Norway +185
Germany +200
Canada +600
USA +600
Russia +700
China +1500
Netherlands +2000
Sweden +3300
Austria +5000
France +5000
Switzerland +6600
Italy +10000
South Korea +10000
Finland +25000
Japan +25000
Poland +25000

The 2022 Winter Olympics medal odds seem very similar to how the 2018 odds ended up. In the 2018 Games, Norway and Germany tied for the most gold medals with 14 each.

Norway, however, ended up with 39 overall medals to Germany’s 31, and are thus listed first in the official count.

Past Medal Counts For The Winter Olympics

In 2014, when the Olympics were held in Sochi, Russia came out on top, with 11 gold medals and 30 overall medals, beating Norway to the finish by four overall medals, despite both countries ending up with 11 golds to bring home.

The 2010 Olympics was the last time that the Winter Olympics had a true outright gold medal winner, as there were ties for the gold medal category in both 2014 and 2018.

In 2010, however, Norway dominated, winning 14 gold medals, while Germany won 10 gold medals.

If one considers 2014 to be an outlier due to Russia’s home-field advantage, Norway has been the most consistent country in terms of gold medal production for the Winter Olympic Games.

However, 2006 was the last time Norway was not near the top of the gold medal list, although Germany dominated in 2006 to the tune of 11 gold medals, two more than their closest competitor, the United States.

This review of the previous four events of the Winter Olympics should make it clear that Norway is likely going to be at the top of the medal count while Germany is another top contender and other countries outside of the two are considered the longshots.

This seems to match up with the way the odds were set up by sportsbooks - Norway and Germany at the top with no other countries under odds of +500.

However, it seems likely that these betting lines will change and shift as the Games get closer, so smart betting fans might want to jump on any of the better looking odds they see now while they’re still available.

The post Will Norway Lead The Gold Medal Count Again For Winter Olympics? first appeared on Olympic Betting Odds.

U.K. And Hungary Dominate Odds For Modern Pentathlon

Maxwell Sanders — Tue, 03 Aug 2021 17:05:50 +0000

The Modern Pentathlon includes fencing, swimming, equestrian, running and shooting events.
Kate French and Michelle Gulyas have +400 odds to win the women’s event.
Joe Choong and Adam Marosi are the favorites to win the men’s side of the Modern Pentathlon.

TOKYO - The Modern Pentathlon is an event that many are not familiar with, but it’s a unique and intriguing Olympic fixture. First performed at the 1912 Olympics, the Modern Pentathlon was an attempt to update the Pentathlon to the era of the time.

As the original Pentathlon was based on the skills needed to perform as an excellent soldier in antiquity, the modern Pentathlon is built around the skills needed to perform as an excellent soldier in the early 20th century.

Thus, the events it features are epee fencing, freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, cross country running and pistol shooting.

Tokyo Olympics 2021 Odds - Women’s Modern Pentathlon

Kate French +400
Michelle Gulyas +400
Anastasiya Prokopenko +500
Laura Asadauskaite +600
Joanna Muir +700
Elena Micheli +900
Elodie Clouvel +900
Annika Schleu +1000
Marie Oteiza +1000
Volha Silkina +2500

The field for the Women’s Modern Pentathlon is fairly open, with only one competitor having odds longer than +1000.

Kate French, of the United Kingdom, leads the odds boards alongside Michelle Gulyas. French is a decorated competitor, who won gold at the 2013 Modern Pentathlon championships, but fell short at the 2016 Olympics, finishing fifth.

Gulyas, on the other hand, was the upset victor of the UIPM World Cup. The Hungarian claimed this honor in April 2021, and seems to be in fine form coming into this competition.

Gulyas enters this event ranked as the best competitor at the Games by UIPM, with French just behind her.

An interesting diversion occurs here, however, with UIPM giving Annika Schleu the third spot on their rankings, while the online sportsbooks have her near the bottom of the odds boards.

Schleu finished sixth place in 2012 and fourth place in 2016, and this could be her chance to finally win an Olympic medal in Modern Pentathlon.

Tokyo Olympics 2021 - Men’s Modern Pentathlon

Joseph Choong +400
Adam Marosi +500
Valentin Prades +500
Woongtae Jun +500
Valentin Belaud +700
Alexander Lifanov +1000
Pavlo Tymoschenko +1000
Shuai Luo +1000
Ahmed Elgendy +1500
Ilya Palazkov +1500
James Cooke +1500

The men’s Modern Pentathlon odds boards resemble the women’s odds boards in that they both have significantly open fields.

At the top of the Men’s field is Joe Choong of the United Kingdom, who finished 10th in the 2016 Olympics. Choong won a gold medal at the 2019 European Championships, and a silver at the 2018 World Championships - but both were as part of the team event.

At the 2021 World Cup, Choong struck gold, winning the Modern Pentathlon and cementing himself as a favorite on the online sportsbooks.

Another favorite of Olympic betting fans in the men’s field is Adam Marosi. Marosi is a dedicated competitor and is ranked first by UIPM. At the 2021 World Championships in Cairo, Marosi took home the gold medal in the Individual Modern Pentathlon and then helped Hungary win gold in the team event as well.

It’s going to be a battle between the young up-and-comer Choong and the weathered veteran Marosi for Olympic gold in the Modern Pentathlon!

The post U.K. And Hungary Dominate Odds For Modern Pentathlon first appeared on Olympic Betting Odds.

Can New Zealand Continue Its Rowing Dominance In The Olympics?

Maxwell Sanders — Sat, 24 Jul 2021 06:29:26 +0000

New Zealand has been disproportionately successful at rowing in the Olympics.
New Zealand has +135 odds to win the gold medal in the women’s eight.
Emma Twigg has +380 odds to win the women’s single sculls.

TOKYO - When people think of New Zealand, rowing is perhaps not the first thing that comes to mind. However, it is the most successful Olympic sport in the country, and has yielded 24 total medals, with 11 of them being gold.

Granted, athletics has also yielded them 24 medals, but only 10 of those have been gold, meaning that Olympic rowing is New Zealand’s most successful sport.

In the Tokyo Olympics, New Zealand is favored to pick up several more gold medals in the women’s coxed eight rowing and women’s single sculls. These two events happen on Saturday, with coxed eight kicking off at 10:20 p.m. EST, and single sculls a bit earlier, at 10 p.m. EST.

Women's Coxed Eight - Gold Medal Winner

New Zealand +135
USA +210
Australia +430
China +1100
Canada +1100
Romania+2900

In the coxed eight, New Zealand finds itself favored with +135 odds, but a tough United States team with +210 odds prevents them from being favored over the entire field. At the 2019 World Rowing Championships, New Zealand won the gold medal in women’s eight, and many of the rowers on this team were on that team.

They managed to hold off the Americans and the Australians, who finished in third and second place respectively.

This seems like an event at which the Kiwis could pick up a gold medal and add to their already impressive rowing total.

Women's Single Sculls - Gold Medal Winner

Sanita Puspure (IRL) +190
Hanna Prakatsen (ROC) +270
Emma Twigg (NZL) +380
Kara Kohler (USA) +850
Victoria Thornley (GBR) +1100
Magdalena Lobnig (AUT) +1400

Emma Twigg has not won an Olympic medal, and has competed in three previous Olympic Games’, coming in fourth place twice. Twigg won the 2014 World Championships as a single sculler, and a silver medal at the 2019 World Championships.

Sanita Puspure, however, might be a challenge that is too tough to be overcome. Puspure is the reigning world champion, having won in both 2018 and 2019, the last time the World Championships was held.

She is flat-out dominant, and is the biggest barrier to Twigg breaking through to the gold medal, although it is entirely possible that Twigg manages to overcome her, or, failing that, medal in this Olympics for the first time in her career.

For Olympic betting fans, this competition has it all - a solid underdog story, a dominant champion, and great betting odds.

The post Can New Zealand Continue Its Rowing Dominance In The Olympics? first appeared on Olympic Betting Odds.

Why Laurel Hubbard Is Being Overrated In 2020 Olympic Odds

Maxwell Sanders — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 15:05:17 +0000

Laurel Hubbard is the first openly transgender athlete to qualify for the Olympic Games.
At first glance, she’s one of the top contenders to win the gold medal at 87 kg.
However, she has never broken a 300kg total - while several of her competitors are well above that.

TOKYO - Laurel Hubbard is one of the favorites to win the Women’s 87 kg weightlifting gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

Hubbard, who is trans, will be the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the Olympic games.

Some may think that this gives her an undue advantage over the field, but Hubbard actually isn’t even the betting favorite to win in her category.

She clocks in with the second shortest odds at +250, well behind the leader on the Olympic odds boards, Li Wenwen of China.

Women's 87 Kg Weightlifting - Gold Medal

Li Wenwen +100
Laurel Hubbard +250
Tatiana Kashirina +500
Tamara Salazar +600
Naryury Perez +800
Sarah Robles +900
Emily Campbell +1000

Wenwen is the current world record holder in the snatch, the clean and jerk, and, subsequently, total in the 87kg category.

At the Asian Weightlifting Championships, she put up a 148kg snatch and a 187kg clean and jerk, adding up to a 335kg total.

For Americans, that’s roughly 326 lbs for the snatch, 412 lbs for the clean and jerk, which adds up to a 738 lb total.

Hubbard, by contrast, doesn’t even seem to be particularly close to those numbers.

At the 2019 World Championships in Thailand, an event won by Li Wenwen, Hubbard put up a 131 kg snatch, a 154 kg clean and jerk, and a 285 total.

In fact, Hubbard has lower totals than the people below her on the odds boards too.

Tatiana Kashirina, for example, has +500 odds to win the 87 kg Women’s weightlifting gold medal, but has been putting up totals north of 310 kg for almost a decade at this point.

Laurel Hubbard has never broken even a 300 kg total.

At some point, it becomes clear that the reason Hubbard is favored to the degree that she is in this category is that the betting public seems to believe that she is better at this than she actually is.

One can speculate as to the reasons why people believe this, but the numbers don’t lie - Hubbard shouldn’t be the second favorite in this category.

The post Why Laurel Hubbard Is Being Overrated In 2020 Olympic Odds first appeared on Olympic Betting Odds.

How Jayson Tatum Will Help Team USA Land A Gold Medal

Maxwell Sanders — Wed, 16 Jun 2021 19:54:27 +0000

Jayson Tatum has reportedly committed to play for the US Men’s Basketball Olympic Team.
He joins Damian Lillard and Draymond Green on the roster so far.
The commitment of Tatum brings Bradley Beal into the spotlight as a potential member, as the two are well acquainted going back to high school.

LAS VEGAS - Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum will play for the United States Men’s Basketball team in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

The United States tends to be a prohibitive favorite when it comes to Olympic basketball betting, but the injuries in the current NBA season have left the team composition in doubt.

Players like LeBron James and Anthony Davis are seen as unlikely to play, given their need to recover in the offseason. This leaves spots that need to be filled on the roster, which is starting to take shape after Tatum’s selection.

Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum has committed to playing for USA Basketball at this summer’s Tokyo Olympics, league sources tell @YahooSports. https://t.co/Z2md4bqd8z

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 15, 2021

The United States’ odds to win the gold medal in Men’s basketball have not changed much since the announcement.

It seems as though players of Tatum’s caliber are the expected members of the US Men’s Basketball team, and him being on the team is par for the course as far as the online sportsbooks are concerned.

Tokyo 2021 - Men's Basketball

USA -300
Serbia +800
Spain +800
France +1700
Australia +2500
Greece +2500
Lithuania +2500
Argentina +3000
Croatia +5000
Slovenia +5000
Turkey +5000
Venezuela +5000

Tatum’s selection also brings speculation about Bradley Beal playing on the Olympic team to a fever pitch.

Tatum and Beal are old friends from St. Louis, and they were seen as something of a package deal as far as Olympic play goes.

The US Men’s Basketball team could be shaping up nicely with Tatum, Beal, Damian Lillard and Draymond Green.

Beal has yet to commit, while Lillard and Green are committed to the team along with Tatum.

The US Men’s Basketball Olympic Team will be coached by Gregg Popovich, head coach of the San Antonio Spurs.

While all of the stars in the NBA will not be brought to bear, there should be enough star power on the roster to make the United States significant favorites for the gold medal.

The post How Jayson Tatum Will Help Team USA Land A Gold Medal first appeared on Olympic Betting Odds.