Athletics betting doesn’t get any bigger than during the Olympics. Punters who forget about the world’s best sprinters and distance runners suddenly take notice when the Games are on TV.
It doesn’t take long to figure out who the favourites are, and find an athlete with an amazing back story that you feel earns them the right to win gold.
Whether it’s the 100m final or a heat for the 4x400m relay, betting on athletics has never been easier at Paddy Power.
This guide will explain how to bet on athletics, what are the biggest races to look out for, and how you can improve your knowledge to place smarter bets.
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How to bet on Olympics athletics
Betting on athletics at the Games is relatively straightforward. Paddy Power offers markets on the winner of each race, so effectively all you have to do is predict who will claim gold at the end of it.
That makes things pretty simple, meaning you can easily bet on athletics even if you’re new to sports betting.
To get going, simply join Paddy Power and charge your account, before heading to our athletics odds page. Find the market you fancy backing and select your athlete, then enter your stake in the bet slip before completing the bet!
Remember, the Olympics is live on TV so you can follow all the action as it unfolds and keep track of the odds changes to see if it’s worth backing someone else, or doubling down on your bet.
Now, let’s look at three Olympic athletics events that are worth following every four years…
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Men’s 100m final
It’s up there with the World Cup final and the Super Bowl. The men’s 100m final is one of the most-watched sporting events on the planet and betting on the winner isn’t always easy.
For years the go-to option was Usain Bolt but nowadays the field is wide open. That means betting on the 100m final can be a little tricky. It requires some background research on the times the world’s fastest men are setting, as well as tracking the heats.
The 100m is such a short event that generally those who perform best in the heats will nail the podium places. In 2021 Marcell Jacobs became the first 100m runner in two decades to win gold despite not being the bookies’ favourite.
It’s usually worth going with the odds here.
Women’s 100m final
If you’re looking for a sure-fire bet at the next Olympics then backing a Jamaican to win women’s 100m gold is staring you in the face. Jamaica dominate this competition, as well as the 200m.
What makes the 100m so spectacular, though, is the lottery among the Jamiacans on who could win. Between 2000 and 2021 eight Jamaicans won 13 of the 18 medals available in this event. That shows the depth of talent in this race and means bettors can rely on Jamaicans to dominate the podium places. The odd American might pop up as a challenger here but this, in reality, is Jamaica’s race.
This is good news for bettors who like some consistency. You can focus your research on the Jamaicans knowing one will win, but still get good odds because there’s never a guarantee who from the pack will emerge victorious.
Men’s and women’s 400m hurdles
Hurdles races at the Olympics are notoriously difficult to bet on. After all, there’s the added variable in these races of 10 obstacles to vault over while sprinting as fast as you can. No wonder hurdlers get used to falling over.
The presence of hurdles greatly impacts the men’s and women’s 100m races, but they add even more complications for the 400m. That’s because athletes must keep to their stride and nail each hurdle perfectly if they are to come round the bend with any chance of winning a medal.
This isn’t easy, and big favourites can often miss a podium place altogether because they timed their runs badly.
So, if you’re betting on hurdles then it’s worth looking at a few outsiders in the odds. You never know who might emerge as a frontrunner down the home straight.
> Bet on athletics at Paddy Power today
Olympics betting guides
- Olympics Tips: Paddy’s guide to betting on Olympics every four years
- How do Olympics odds work?
- What is Olympics betting and how does it work?
- Olympics Tips: How to bet on swimming
- Olympics Tips: How to bet on rowing
- Olympics Tips: How to bet on the medals table when USA will probably win