Over the next two weeks, sports betting will be magnifique. Not only do we get pennant races heating up in Major League Baseball and the countdown to the NFL and college football seasons, we also have the Paris Summer Olympics.
From Cinderella athletes you’ve never heard of and may never hear from again, to true sports legends, the Olympics has something for everyone.
In case you aren’t a regular follower of archery, you should know that South Korea is to archery what the United States is to basketball. They are the heavy favorite to win both team competitions, with the men at -400 and the women at -500. The South Koreans have dominated the archery Olympic competition since the 1988 games in Seoul, and naturally their mixed archery team is also the favorite for gold, paying -285.
You may have never considered betting on fencing, but American Nick Itkin might change your mind. He’s the second betting favorite to win individual foil, paying +500, and his teammate Alexander Massiaslas is at +800. The United States is +275 to win the team foil competition, hoping to follow up on their bronze medal performance at the Tokyo Olympics.
Top Women to Watch
Simone Biles is back, and the woman who now has five different gymnastics moves named after her is the favorite to win another Olympic all-around championship at -500. American Sunisa Lee, who won the all-around competition in Tokyo, is +650.
Anchored by those two stars, the U.S. women are favored to win the team competition, paying -285, to +300 for China, and +750 for Great Britain.
In the pool, the U.S. women are led by Kate Douglass, the winner of four gold medals at the world championships the last two years. She’s the two-time defending champion in the 200m individual medley (she’s +200 to win gold in Paris), and she will also compete in the freestyle, breaststroke, and a pair of relay races.
Douglass has a chance for an incredible Olympic Games, while Katie Ledecky has a chance to cap a historic Olympic career. Ledecky is a 10-time Olympic medalist, she has seven career golds, and with two more medals and one gold, she will catch Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres for the most in history.
Ledecky is the heavy favorite in the 800m freestyle (-400), and an even heavier favorite to win the 1500m freestyle (-3500). In the 400m freestyle, she has some competition. Australian Ariarne Titmus is the favorite at -250, and Ledecky and Summer McIntosh from Canada are both +350.
In track and field, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is the world record-holder in the 400m hurdles, and she is -575 to defend her title. Sha-Carri Richardson was suspended for the last Olympics because of a positive marijuana test, and she is -225 to win the 100m this summer. The last American to claim the title of “world’s fastest woman” was Gail Devers in 1996.
In tennis, Coco Gauff missed the last Olympics because of a positive COVID-19 test. She is +650 to win the gold in Paris, which ranks her second behind the heavy favorite, Iga Świątek of Poland. The four-time French Open champion is -200 to win her first Olympic gold medal.
Top Men to Watch
On the men’s side of the tennis tournament, Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz is the favorite at -125. He’s already got a French Open win and Wimbledon win this year. Serbian Novak Djokovic is the second betting favorite at +300. He was just beaten in straight sets by Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final.
There is going to be a showdown in the pool for the 100m freestyle title. American Jack Alexy was a surprise silver medalist at the world championships last year, and he is +600 to improve to gold in 2024. The favorite is Zhanle Pan of China at +100, followed by Romanian and world record holder David Popovici at +160. The defending Olympic champion is Australian Kyle Chalmers, and he is paying +900.
The United States is the heavy favorite when all of these great swimmers compete in the 4x100m freestyle relay. The U.S. is paying -700, Australia is +600, and China is +900.
On the track, all eyes will be on American Noah Lyles. He was the bronze medalist in the 200m in Tokyo, and just last year, he won gold at the worlds in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay. He was the first runner to complete that triple-gold combo since Usain Bolt. His stiffest competition to win gold in those three events in Paris is Jamaican Kishane Thompson in the 100m. Thompson has run the fastest time this year, and is the favorite at +100. Lyles is paying +160 in the 100m.
Who is the best golfer in the world? Scottie Scheffler, Masters champion and winner of six tournaments this year, or Xander Schauffele, winner of the PGA Championship and The Open Championship last weekend? The Olympic betting odds give the nod to Scheffler, making him a +330 favorite to win gold. Schauffele, the gold medalist in Tokyo, is tied for second with Rory McIlroy, and paying +600.
With over 25 years of experience as a distinguished sports writer for renowned platforms such as Fox Sports and ESPN, Kyle Garlett is a sports betting specialist who has been at the forefront of documenting the global surge in sports betting and online gaming. Based in Denver, Colorado, Kyle hosts an NFL betting YouTube show and podcast. Kyle also has two sports books published by HarperCollins.
Kyle graduated the Azusa Pacific University in 1996 with a B.A. Degree in Communication and Journalism.
