Olympics Gold Medal Over-Under

One common credo about amateur athletics is that it doesn’t matter whether you win or lose; it matters if you had fun. That thought will be shelved at the 2012 London Olympics as winning and losing matters quite greatly to the athletes and countries involved and one of the ways we, as sports bettors can get in on the action is to wager on medal totals at your sportsbook.

Sure, the Olympics are a good time but there’s a reason why we keep score: it’s a competition. That being the case, one of the hottest competitions we’re expecting to see play out will be the battle for the most gold medals won.

The United States has long been a big winner at the Summer Games and little is expected to change. Odds makers have set their over/under for gold medals at 38.5, which is the highest of any country. That might be a bit high if you recall the 2008 Games as the Americans finished with 36 gold medals, although they did amass the most overall medals with 110.

China, who did gather the most golds in 2008, is facing a total of 36.5. That might seem a bit low considering they reeled in a whopping 51 four years ago but keep in mind that those Games were held on their home soil. The Beijing faithful surely propelled their athletes to new heights and the odds makers are expecting a bit of a drop-off now that the home-field advantage is gone.

Thanks to wikipedia.org for this great picture of a medal ceremony during the 2008 Summer Olympics.

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Next in line is Russia with a total of 25.5, Great Britain at 21.5, Germany at 15.5 and Australia at 14.5. A quick glance back to the 2008 medals table shows that Russia finished with 23 gold medals, Great Britain finished with 19, Germany had 16 and Australia had 14. With Great Britain serving as the host nation, maybe it’s their turn to overachieve in front of their own audience and put on a Games filled with gold.

The 2012 London Games are right around the corner as they commence on July 27th and run through August 12th.

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