Wednesday’s slate of Olympics events includes elite competition in track and field, also known as athletics, which you can bet on at the top-rated sportsbooks.
I am especially interested in the 800m and the 5000m races. But in addition to track, we also get the handball quarterfinals.
For your best bets, I will argue that you should invest in Marco Arop for the 800m, Hagos Gebrhiwet for the 5000m, and Germany in its handball match against France.
Athletics Picks
- Hagos Gebrhiwet ML (+500)
- Marco Arop ML (+900)
Handball Pick
- Germany +1.5 (+100)
*All odds from Bet365 (check our Bet365 Review)
5000m (Athletics)
Wednesday, August 07, 2024 – 05:10 AM ET at Stade de France
Odds
Jakob Ingebrigtsen is favored to win this event. To be completely fair, I think that you can make a good case for him to be favored.
While he could very well have lost – and I do think that this is an important point – he did win the 5000m event in the 2023 World Athletics Championships. He won by about a tenth of a second.
I think the case for making him the favorite, especially a heavy favorite, in this upcoming 5000m relies on his dominance in the 1500m. If you talk with runners, you’ll know that it’s very common to use times ran in other events to judge what one should run in a certain other event.
So, people will argue that Ingebrigtsen should be able to run the best 5000m time because of the extent to which he has dominated in the 1500m, his history of choking in the latter event notwithstanding.
Recent History
The 5000m is a different event than the 1500m, though. Because of its greater length, it requires a different sort of skillset. In fact, it’s commonly classified as a different sort of event altogether, the 1500m being middle-distance and the 5000m being long-distance.
While the difference between the 1500m and 5000m events is not the same as between the 100m and 10000, of course, it is still a significant difference. In order to bet on this event, I firmly believe that we have to place emphasis on how each of these runners has performed at specifically this event.
While Ingebrigtsen is great at the 1500m, what matters to me is that his best time in the 5000m is rather unimpressive. I want to invest in Hagos Gebrhiwet because he looks like the best 5000m runner in the world right now.
Very recently, on May 30 of this year, he ran the second-fastest 5000m ever. His time of 12:36.73 is not something that there is reason to believe any other runner capable of besting.
My main takeaway here is that we are getting the best runner at incredible odds.
Athletics Best Bet: Hagos Gebrhiwet ML (+500) at Bet365
800m (Athletics)
Wednesday, August 07, 2024 – 05:55 AM ET at Stade de France
The Odds
Algerian Djamel Sedjati is listed at -150 to win the 800m.
His recent times offer justification for sharp sportsbooks‘ decision to have him as the favorite. He does appear to be the fastest 800m runner at the moment, and so clearly the best one.
A Different Race
However, what if the fastest overall 800m runner is not the one who is going to win this race? Based on 800m history at the Olympics, we should expect the winner to finish at 1:44 or slower, meaning a few seconds slower than what Sedjati has so impressively done in his most recent races.
In a slower race, we can expect slower 800m runners to be more competitive because they won’t be excluded by a faster finishing time. A lot of runners who otherwise would have been uncompetitive will have a greater chance of winning.
My Choice
My favorite option to win the 800m is Canadian Marco Arop. He is known for his finishing kick. He displayed his finishing prowess last August in Budapest, for example.
Because he is a characteristic strong finisher, he is going to be very comfortable in these Olympics. He’ll be able to separate himself from the rest of the pack in the final moments before the finishing line.
Arop is the best option, especially in view of the prices, to win.
Athletics Best Bet: Marco Arop ML (+900) at Bet365
Germany vs. France (Handball)
Wednesday, August 07, 2024 – 07:30 AM ET at Pierre Mauroy Stadium
France Is Disappointing
France is favored in this match even though the French were fortunate to advance past group play, whereas the Germans won their group with four victories in five matches. The French are favored because betting sites are slow to make adjustments.
While the French have earned their strong reputation over time, the fact is that they are in terrible form at the moment. They are sloppy and otherwise playing well below their reputation.
The Impressive Germans
Germany, on the other hand, has looked very impressive. Its seven-point win over Slovenia, which finished second in its group, says a lot about Germany’s current form.
The Germans are fast. They use their speed to their advantage and are able to impose their style of play on their opponents. Solid on offense and defense, they will be tough for any team to deal with right now, especially for a France side that is struggling in general.
Despite Germany’s superior form, we can get them as the underdog, while oddsmakers continue to overrate the French.
Handball Best Bet: Germany +1.5 (+100) at Bet365
*The line and/or odds referenced in this article might have changed since the content was published. For the latest information on line movements, visit OddsTrader’s free betting odds tool.
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