The 2008 Olympic Games

This tip and the odds might suprise a few people after all the United States of America have dominated the medal table for the last 3 Olympics and have more medal table wins than any other country.

However there are several very good reasons to expect China to topple them in 2008.

Clearly the very top reason is the location of the 2008 games, its in Beijing. Home advantage cannot be understated enough, just look at Spain, 1 gold medal in 1988, 5 gold medals in 1996 and yet a whopping haul of 13 in 1992 when Barcelona hosted the Olympic games.

There is obviously a huge benefit to being the host nation. Beijing has such a huge problem with pollution they even recently experiemented in banning half the cars from the roads on alternate days. Couple this with the likely heat/humidity and there are going to be some uncomfy athletes. Also the Chinese will not be staying in hotels like many athletes instead relaxing with family/friends.

Then we can look at Chinas recent rise in global sport. Their gold medal haul in the last 3 olympics? 16 (4th place), 28 (3rd place), 32 (2nd place). All of China's potential athletes are sent to special schools to focus on athletics. These schools are operated and funded by the Chinese government. They are likely to leave no stone unturned in their search for olympic champions.

The Chinese have an urge to show the world their system works. The Chinese government has promoted the games to highlight China's emergence on the world stage. The nation may well be downplaying their chances of topping the medal table but for me this is simply a smokescreen. Rumours that the chinese have "hidden away" world class athletes may be a little far fetched but its fair to assume we will see more than 1-2 unknowns romp to Olympic glory this summer

The Chinese team will be bigger for this Olympics than for any other which is more good reason to be hopeful.

Critically the medal table is sorted by gold medals and not total medals. The US will likely win more medals than China but i dont think they will come away with more Golden ones.

I actually suggest you ask your friends to give you odds on China winning the most gold medals. One friend gave me 6/1 a few months ago. As far as tipping here goes i will have to make do with the bookies odds, the best of which i have found currently is Bet24.com 2.50. Its a price worth taking because as the Olympics draws near i expect the Chinese will be odds on favourites.

Please be aware that there are 2 markets, most medals and most gold medals. This pick is for most gold medals, there is a significant difference.

Pick : China to win the most gold medals at the Beijing Olympics
Odds : 2.50
Stake : 9 / 10
Bookmaker : Bettingstar24
Date : 2008-08-08
Match Result :
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