The Olympic Games – Winter

It’s easy to forget that there are two different Olympic games for able-bodied athletes, the Summer Olympics, which last took place in Japan (and which features in the second part of this article) and the Winter Olympics. The Winter Olympics are a much smaller event than the summer games, attracting fewer athletes and having a very different set of events to contest. However, these events are no less exciting or competitive than those contested in the Summer Olympics. Looking at the Beijing Winter Olympics, here’s some facts about the games, together with a look at some of the events Team GB may stand a chance of landing a medal in according to the odds available at bet365 Sport.

Beijing Winter Olympics 2022

2022 Winter Olympics Fact file

• Hosts – Beijing, China
• Official Opening – Friday 4^th February
• Closing Ceremony – Sunday 20^th February
• Nations Competing – 91
• Athletes Competing – 2,871 (1,581 male, 1,290 female)
• Events – 109 (A total of 109 Gold, Silver and Bronze medals are available)
• New Events – 7

The 15 disciplines and the number of gold medal opportunities in each are as follows:

• Alpine Skiing – 11
• Biathlon – 11
• Bobsleigh – 4
• Cross Country Skiing – 12
• Curling – 3
• Figure Skating – 5
• Freestyle Skiing – 13
• Ice Hockey – 2
• Luge – 4
• Nordic Combined – 3
• Short Track Speed Skating – 9
• Skeleton – 2
• Ski Jumping – 5
• Snowboarding – 11
• Speed Skating – 14

Who Are Team GB’s Best Medal Hopes In Beijing 2022?

A quick look at the betting for some of the events in Beijing 2022, reveals that bet365 Sport have priced the following British squad members as having a real chance of landing a medal at the games.

Curling

Team GB has a strong chance in all three events in this popular tournament with Eve Muirhead’s team hoping to go better than the bronze they landed in Sochi in 2014 I the women’s event, while the men’s and mixed pairs team of Brucie Mouat and Jennifer Dodds are also amongst the favourites with bet365 Sport. The latter have reached the semifinals of the Mixed Doubles tournament.

Bobsleigh

While the German team led by Francesco Friedrich are the short odds favourites to win the event, there are hopes that Brad Hall could challenged in the Two and Four Man events. Hall finished fourth in the World Cup standings this past season and but there are hopes he could improve on that in Beijing.

Alpine Skiing

Having become the first man to win a World Cup event this year, Dave Ryding is a 33/1 chance to win the Men’s Slalom however there are many who feel his medal hopes are much brighter after a superb season. Others to look out for include Laura Deas in the Skeleton, Kirsty Muir in the Freestyle Skiing, Charlotte Bankes in the Snowboarding and Ellia Smeding and Cornelius Kersten in the Speed Skating. The home nation China is expected to have a strong Winter Olympics in Beijing but it is Norway that are most people’s favourites to land the most gold medals at the event while the likes of Germany, Austria, Italy and other Scandinavian nations are also expected to fare well.

The Olympic Games – Summer

The global sporting event of The Olympic Games featured thousands of competitors across a wide variety of sports events, many of which are likely to be of keen interest to betting fans. While the format of some of the blue-ribbon events of the games makes it difficult to enjoy a wager on the outcome, at least until the final has been decided, there are several events where you can enjoy a bet right now and of course, while the tournament is in progress. In this article, we are going to explore about how the Olympic Games are being covered by bet365 Sports as at first glance, you may not even be aware that the company is offering extensive betting across a wide variety of tournaments at the games. Then we are going to take a look at some of the good value betting markets available right now, including events which feature some potential Great Britain and Northern Ireland gold medal prospects. As always, interest in the games is also going to be very hot across the United States as the U.S. seek to top the medal table once again after sending a very strong team of athletes to Japan for the Olympics. If you would like the latest betting on the tournament, check out BetRivers PA for a wide range of bets. Let’s now begin our look at the Olympics on bet365, starting with the very simple task of finding where the Olympic events to bet on are located on the site.

Where Can I Bet On The Olympics At Bet365?

At first glance, you may be inclined to think that bet365 are not covering the Olympics as there is not a dedicated section to the games on the site. However, as you find with other big sports events like the FIFA World Cup, the different Olympic events are listed in the relevant sports section. So for example, if you wanted to bet on one of the Olympics diving competitions, then you would need to visit the diving section to find the markets specifically for the Olympics. Follow this example and you won’t have any issues locating the different Olympic events that bet365 are offering markets on, however with different events taking place at different times over the next few weeks, you may find events added to the schedule as their start date gets closer. So what are the events that are available for you to bet on now, particularly those that are going to be of interest to those that bet on sports regularly?

Olympic Soccer Tournaments

Although perhaps not as big an event as the Copa America or Euro 2020, the Olympic Soccer tournament is a very big deal for the countries that have earned a place to compete.

• Men’s Tournament

The men’s event sees 16 teams qualified for the event and they have been drawn into four groups of four initially. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the quarterfinals, which will then be contested on a straight knockout basis until the Bronze Medal Match and the Gold Medal Match which will be contested on the 6^th and 7^th August respectively. The Groups are as follows:

• Group A – Japan, South Africa, Mexico, France
• Group B – New Zealand, South Korea, Honduras, Romania
• Group C – Egypt, Spain, Argentina, Australia
• Group D – Brazil, Germany, Ivory Coast, Saudi Arabia

Group stage matches will take place on the 22^nd, 25^th and 28^th August.

Bet365 Odds & Tip

Spain are the 2-1 favourites to win the tournament just ahead of Brazil at 11/4 with France a 5/1 shot, Argentina and Japan both 8/1 and Germany a 9/1 chance. Outside of that the odds tail off quickly with South Korea a 16/1 shot and then Romania rated as a 40/1 chance. Looking at the quality of the squads selected for this event, it is hard to argue with those odds and my money would be on Spain clinching a gold medal in this event.

• Women’s Tournament

The women’s tournament is slightly different to the men’s as it features 12 teams drawn into three groups of four. However, unlike the men’s event, all the top teams in the world will be competing at full-strength in the tournament which arguably makes it a better quality event. The groups in the women’s tournament are as follows:

• Group E – Japan, Canada, Great Britain, Chile
• Group F – China, Brazil, Zambia, Netherlands
• Group G – Sweden, United States, Australia, New Zealand

The top two teams in each group will qualify for the quarterfinals, along with the two best third-placed teams from the qualifying tournament. Matches will be played on the 21^st, 24^th and 27^th August in the group phase.

Bet365 Odds & Tips

Unsurprisingly, the USA Women’s team are 4/7 shots to win the event that they have dominated over the years. The Netherlands are ranked as 6/1 shots, with Great Britain 8/1 Sweden 12/1, Brazil and Japan 14/1 with Canada and Australia both 25/1 chances. It’s hard to look past the United States to land a fifth gold medal in this event since it became part of the games in 1996. Only Norway (2000) and Germany (2016) have stopped the US winning the tournament and they have won 25 of the 32 games that they have competed in at the Olympics. They are the clear and obvious pick to win here.

Other Olympic Markets For Team GB Fans

If you are looking to back some of Team GB’s biggest medal hopes in events at Tokyo, then there are some markets already well worth a look for you. In the Taekwondo 57kg tournament, Jade Jones, the gold medallist at both the 2012 and 2016 games is back to defend her title and she is the hot favourite to land the gold medal once again at 13/20. Ah-reum Lee (9/2) and Zhou Lijun (11/2) should be her biggest rivals for gold. There’s also some good bets on British divers available. You can back Great Britain’s women in the Synchronized 3m Springboard event at 12/1. Team GB is also expected to challenge in the men’s event and also in the men’s 10m Synchronized Platform. Tom Daley is a 4/1 chance in the 10m Platform individual event, while Jack Laugher is a 9/2 shot in the 3m Springboard, although in all the diving events it does look like Chinese athletes will dominate. In Rowing, the Great British Men’s Coxless Four is a 13/20 favourite to win gold, and Team GB are also the 5/4 favourites in the Eight with Cox event, just ahead of Germany. In the women’s event, the GB Women are 7/4 favourites in the Lightweight Double Sculls and the Coxless Pair could also be in with a chance of a medal. Great Britain is also strong in a number of swimming events with Duncan Scott the 3/1 favourite in the 200m Freestyle, while the incredible Adam Peaty is a seemingly nailed on 1/20 to win gold in the 100m Breaststroke. So remember to keep tabs on your favourite Olympic sports over the next few weeks to ensure that you can try and back some Team GB athletes to medal success!