Olympic betting: Four track and field events where Team USA isn't the betting favorite

Women's 200M

Team USA has three runners listed high up for this event: Gabrielle Thomas (+160) and McKenzie Long (+470), plus Brittany Brown who comes in as a +1600 long shot.

None of them are listed as favorably as Jamaica's Shericka Jackson, who FanDuel lists at +130.

Jackson is the 200M world champion and responsible for three of the four fastest times ever recorded. Her road to the Paris Games has been highlighted by breaking the all-time record, which has been held since 1988 by Florence Griffith-Joyner.

All of that being said, there is some added intrigue surrounding Jackson less than a month before the Summer Games. She was pulled from a race at the Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix with an apparent injury. It isn't clear yet whether the move was precautionary or if it will impact her participation in Paris.

Keep an on the odds for the women's 200M. If Jackson really is injured, they could be swinging in the U.S.'s favor.

Men's and Women's Pole Vault

Women have only participated in this event since the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and the U.S. impressively took home gold that year. This time around, defending gold medalist Katie Moon is listed at quite favorable +200 odds at FanDuel behind Great Britain's Molly Caudery at +145. Moon has since won gold at the World Athletics Championships in 2022 and 2023, so she could be worth your bet to repeat at the Paris Games. 

On the men's side of this event, things are a bit uncertain. Team USA men haven't won this event since 2004, and their best bet this Olympics is Sam Kendricks who is a +1600 long shot. Armand Duplantis is heavily favored at -2400 odds to win gold for Sweden — even though he was born in Louisiana — and since he recently set the world record for the highest pole vault, he is the athlete to beat in this event.

Women's Hammer Throw

Team USA has never medaled in this event. In fact, they have been disqualified more times than they have placed and have never finished better than sixth. However, the U.S.'s DeAnna Price — who finished eighth at the Tokyo Games — has the second-shortest odds of winning gold in Paris at +185. Only Canada's Camryn Rogers has shorter odds, although they are significantly shorter at -125.

Rogers and Price are well acquainted. The 24-year-old Canadian attended the University of California at Berkeley and is a three-time NCAA hammer throw champion. She bested 30-year-old Price, who is the American record-holder in the event, at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon in May. 

Price finished eighth in Tokyo in 2021 while Rogers finished fifth. While Price is reasonably priced — no pun intended — reasonably to win gold in Paris, it looks like her Canadian opponent is the athlete to back in this event.

Men's 100M

Lyles' fall from the favorite spot at FanDuel likely has less to do with his own abilities and more to do with how good Thompson is. The Jamaican was 0.06 seconds faster in Jamaica's Olympic trials than Lyles was in Eugene, which the CBC notes is "a massive gap for elite sprinters." 

This event has become a must-watch for the Paris Games. Lyles loves the spotlight and has a track record of tit-for-tat with Olympic great Usain Bolt, so the potential drama of a Lyles-Thompson standoff is gaining real steam. 

Which one of them should you bet on? You still have a few weeks to place your bets before the Men's 100M event on Aug. 3.