After blanking Australia in their opening game of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games on Wednesday afternoon the Canadian women’s soccer team has seen a slight improvement on their odds to win the gold medal in the competition at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Canada got goals from Janine Beckie (in the first minute) and Christine Sinclair (in the 80th minute) in their 2-0 win over Australia on Wednesday, in a game played two days before the official kickoff of the Olympic Games in Rio.
The Canadians had opened the tournament at +1200 (bet $100 to win $1200) on the odds to win the gold medal in soccer, and improved to +1000 on those betting lines with their victory over the Australians. Canada and Australia are in Group F along with Germany and Zimbabwe; the Germans routed Zimbabwe 6-1 in their opening matchup on Wednesday and sit as the +310 second-favourites on the odds to win the gold medal at the tournament.
It’s the Americans, however, that are the +135 betting favourites at the women’s soccer event. They beat New Zealand 2-0 in their opening game on Wednesday night. The United States and New Zealand are in Group G along with France and Colombia, while Group E of the tournament consists of host Brazil along with Sweden, South Africa, and China.
Canada next faces Zimbabwe on Saturday before they’re tested against Germany to wrap up group stage action next Tuesday. The top two teams in each of the three groups along with the two best third-place teams advance to the quarter-finals of the tournament late next week.
The Olympic Games officially get underway with the Opening Ceremony on Friday night, leading into just over two weeks of competition which for the first time since 1904 includes golf. Henrik Stenson of Sweden is the +575 favourite on the odds to win the gold medal in golf, with each of Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, and Dustin Johnson deciding to skip the event.
Lydia Ko of New Zealand is the +310 favourite to win the gold medal in the women’s golf tournament in the second week of the Olympic Games, with Canadian Brooke Henderson listed third at +1300. Fellow Canadian Alena Sharp is set at +8000 odds to claim the gold medal in Rio.
Other notable Rio 2016 odds at the sportsbooks include Usain Bolt at -200 to win the 100m and at -300 to win the 200m – making him the betting favourite for both events. As well, Michael Phelps is the even-money favourite to win the men’s 100m butterfly event, and he’s also -110 chalk over Ryan Lochte (+200) on the odds to win the 200m individual medley.