The Bettor’s Guide To The Olympic Track and Field Action in Rio

by LetsRun.com
August 11, 2016

Below we list the 2016 US Olympic track and field team athletes by event and show you both their gold medal odds and the odds that they win a medal of any color. We then tell you what we think of those odds to help you make a wise bet. The athletes listed in bold are the ones that we think are most compelling in terms of a value proposition.

Talk about this guide on our world famous messageboard: From 1 to 60 – We rank the US track athletes gold medal chances. Which of these athletes are worth betting on?

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Odds are taken from  oddschecker.com. (Come back later and we’ll also do the same for the women).

Men’s 100 Gold Odds Medal Odds Comment
Justin Gatlin 9 to 4 1 to 16 We don’t like these odds
Trayvon Bromell 14/1 1 to 1 If we were going to bet on an American, it would be him
Marvin Bracy 50/1 10 to 1 No thanks
Men’s 200
Justin Gatlin 7 to 2 1 to 8 Betting against Bolt in the 200 is stupid
LaShawn Merritt 8 to 1 4 to 7 None of these seem valuable
Ameer Webb 33 to 1 12 to 1 None of these seem valuable
Men’s 400
LaShawn Merritt 9 to 2 1 to 4 None of these seem valuable
Gil Roberts 33 to 1 8 to 1 None of these seem valuable
David Verburg 66 to 1 16 to 1 None of these seem valuable
Men’s 800      
Boris Berian  14 to 1 9 to 4 14 to 1 for the win isn’t bad
Clayton Murphy 33 to 1 8 to 1 The medal odds are tempting
Charles Jock 100 to 1 16 to 1 We think the odds are greater than 16 to 1 that he makes the final
Men’s 1500
Matthew Centrowitz 20 to 1 4 to 1 These odds are VERY tempting. 
Robby Andrews 66 to 1 10 to 1 No thanks
Ben Blankenship 100 to 1 16 to 1 No thanks
Steeple      
Evan Jager 8 to 1 Even We like these odds
Donn Cabral 150 to 1 10 to 1 No thanks
Hillary Bor 150 to 1 40 to 1 No thanks
5000      
Bernard Lagat 20 to 1 8 to 1 We’d consider the medal bet
Hassan Mead 80 to 1 12 to 1 No thanks
Paul Chelimo 100 to 1 20 to 1 No thanks
10,000
Galen Rupp 25 to 1 7 to 4 No thanks
Shadrack Kipchirchir 150 to 1 40 to 1 No thanks
Leonard Korir 250 to 1 40 to 1 No thanks
Marathon      
Galen Rupp 16 to 1 4 to 1 Very tempting
Meb Keflezighi 33 to 1 8 to 1 No thanks
Jared Ward 200 to 1 66 to 1 No thanks
110h 
Devon Allen 7 to 1 11 to 10 We like these odds
Ronnie Ash 20 to 1 7 to 2 No thanks
Jeff Porter 33 to 1 6 to 1 No thanks
400 hurdles
Kerron Clement 15 to 8 4 to 9 Wide open event but we don’t think so
Michael Tinsley 10 to 1 2 to 1 No thanks
Byron Robinson 25 to 1 4 to 1 No thanks
Men’s HJ
Erik Kynard 10 to 1 2 to 1 Maybe to medal
Ricky Roberston 150 to 1 20 to 1 No thanks
Brad Adkins 150 to 1 NA No thanks
Men’s LJ  
Jarrion Lawson 5 to 2 4 to 7 No thanks
Jeff Henderson 4 to 1 4 to 6 No thanks
Michael Hartfield 12 to 1 NA No thanks
Men’s TJ
Christian Taylor 8 to 13 1 to 25 Not quite enough value in the gold medal bet
Will Claye 5 to 2 2 to 7 A victory isn’t inconceivable
Chris Benard 25 to 1 3 to 1 No thanks
Men’s Pole Vault      
Sam Kendricks 6 to 1 1 to 2 Victory isn’t out of the question
Cale Simmons 66 to 1 16 to 1 No thanks
Logan Cunningham 80 to 1 8 to 1 No thanks
Men’s Discus
Mason Finley 100 to 1 20 to 1 No thanks
Andrew Evans 100 to 1 NA No thanks
Tavis Bailey 100 to 1 NA No thanks
Men’s Hammer
Rudy Winkler 200 to 1 50 to 1 No thanks
Kibwe Johnson 200 to 1 50 to 1 No thanks
Conor McCullough 250 to 1 50 to 1 No thanks
Men’s Javelin
Sam Crouser 200 to 1 40 to 1 No thanks
Sean Furey 200 to 1 40 to 1 No thanks
Cyrus Hostetler 200 to 1 40 to 1 No thanks
Men’s Shot Put
Joe Kovacs 3 to 4 1 to 10 Maybe bet him to win
Ryan Crouser 4 to 1 1 to 2 Crouser did beat Kovacs at the Olympic Trials
Darrell Hill 20 to 1 7 to 2 Don’t know enough about it
Men’s Decathlon
Ashton Eaton 1 to 10 1 to 50 Is there a 10% chance he gets hurt or no heights?
Jeremy Taiwo 50 to 1 10 to 1 Nope
Zach Ziemek 80 to 1 20 to 1 Nope

Below you can see all 60 athletes ranked from 1 to 60 in terms of their gold medal odds.

2016 US Men’s Olympic Track and Field Athletes Gold Medal Odds
1 Ashton Eaton (decathlon) 1 to 10
2 Christian Taylor (tj) 8 to 13
3 Joe Kovacs (sp) 3 to 4
4 Kerron Clement (400h) 15 to 8
5 Justin Gatlin (100) 9 to 4
6 Jarrion Lawson  (lj) 5 to 2
7 Will Claye (tj) 5 to 2
8 Justin Gatlin (200) 7 to 2
9 Jeff Henderson (lj) 4 to 1
10 Ryan Crouser (sp) 4 to 1
11 LaShawn Merritt (400) 9 to 2
12 Sam Kendricks (pv) 6 to 1
13 Devon Allen (110h) 7 to 1
14 Evan Jager (steeple) 8 to 1
15 LaShawn Merritt (200) 8 to 1
16 Michael Tinsley (400h) 10 to 1
17 Erik Kynard (hj) 10 to 1
18 Michael Hartfield (lj) 12 to 1
19 Boris Berian (800) 14 to 1
20 Travyon Bromell (100) 14/1
21 Galen Rupp (marathon) 16 to 1
22 Matthew Centrowitz (1500) 20 to 1
23 Darrell Hill (sp) 20 to 1
24 Bernard Lagat (5k) 20 to 1
25 Ronnie Ash (110h) 20 to 1
26 Chris Benard (tj) 25 to 1
27 Galen Rupp (10k) 25 to 1
28 Byron Robinson (400h) 25 to 1
29 Jeff Porter (110h) 33 to 1
30 Meb Keflezighi (marathon) 33 to 1
31 Clayton Murphy (800) 33 to 1
32 Gil Roberts (400) 33 to 1
33 Ameer Webb (400) 33 to 1
34 Marvin Bracy (100) 50/1
35 Jeremy Taiwo (decathlon) 50 to 1
36 Cale Simmons (pv) 66 to 1
37 Robby Andrews (1500) 66 to 1
38 David Verburg (400) 66 to 1
39 Hassan Mead (5000) 80 to 1
40 Logan Cunningham (pv) 80 to 1
41 Zach Ziemek (decathlon) 80 to 1
42 Paul Chelimo  (5k) 100 to 1
43 Charles Jock (800) 100 to 1
44 Ben Blankenship (1500) 100 to 1
45 Mason Finley (discus) 100 to 1
46 Andrew Evans (discus) 100 to 1
47 Tavis Bailey (discus) 100 to 1
48 Ricky Roberston (hj) 150 to 1
49 Brad Adkins (hj) 150 to 1
50 Shadrack Kipchirchir (10k) 150 to 1
51 Donn Cabral (steeple) 150 to 1
52 Hillary Bor (steeple) 150 to 1
53 Jared Ward (marathon) 200 to 1
54 Rudy Winkler (hammer) 200 to 1
55 Kibwe Johnson (hammer) 200 to 1
56 Sam Crouser (javelin) 200 to 1
57 Sean Furey (javelin) 200 to 1
58 Cyrus Hostetler (javelin) 200 to 1
59 Leonard Korir (10k) 250 to 1
60 Conor McCullough (hammer) 250 to 1
Ashton Eaton is the #1 favorite Ashton Eaton is the #1 favorite
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