What Will Be The Best Events To Watch And Have A Bet On At The Olympics?

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics will officially be opened on Friday, but the games have already got underway today for the women’s soccer teams, while the men’s tournament will get underway tomorrow at various venues across Japan.

So with a good few weeks of top sporting events to look forward to, what are going to be the top events at the Japan 2020 Olympics? Who will emerge as the superstars of the game and who is likely to do Team GB proud by landing a medal in their chosen event?

Bet365 Sport have updated their site to have a brand-new Olympics 2020 section right at the top of the home page which makes it exceptionally easy to find all the different Olympic markets available on the site and the bets you can make at any point before, during and after the games.

So what are going to be the big events of the Olympic Games for sports fans all over the world, and those based in the UK especially? Here’s our preview of some of the best events to watch for UK-based punters and fans.

Track & Field

The track and field events are usually the ones that people most look forward to at the Olympics. In the sprints, Dina Asher-Smith is Britain’s best hope of a medal in both the 100m and 200m women’s events and while we may not have a great chance of a medal in the individual men’s sprints, the 100m relay team does stand a great chance of a medal in both the men’s and women’s events.

Other star names to look out for representing Team GB include Laura Muir in the 1500m, Elliot Giles in the men’s 800m and Katarina Johnson-Thompson who will be going for a gold in the heptathlon despite suffering a nasty Achilles injury back in 2021.

In the field events Holly Bradshaw has a good chance of a medal in the pole vault for Team GB.

Stellar athletes to look out for and their events on the track and field at the Olympics include Swedish pole vaulting sensation Armand Duplantis, Norway’s 400m world record holder Karsten Warholm, and Jamaican sprint sensation Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Shaunae Miller-Uibo from the Bahamas is another who will star in the 200m and 400m.

Letsenbet Giday should be a standout performer in the women’s 5,000m and 10,000m as she holds the world record for both events.

Team GB also stands a good chance in the 4x400m relay boasting one of the strongest quartets in the world in both the men’s and women’s events.

Cycling

Team GB has been particularly strong in cycling over the years, and it is the husband and wife team of Jason and Laura Kenny that will likely spearhead the teams push for gold in Japan in the velodrome. Both are multiple gold-medal winning athletes and both will have their focus fixed on adding to their already impressive haul of medals.

Geraint Thomas, Ed Clancy, Elinor Barker and Katie Archibald will all also be looking to add more Olympic medals to those that they have already won. There are a number of other riders who are also seeking their first Olympic medal at the Tokyo games.

Boxing

Team GB have a strong boxing squad of 11 competitors with Lauren Price at middleweight and Pat McCormack at welterweight rated by many as the best chances to land gold. However te likes of Galal Yafai, Luke McCormack, Ben Whittaker, Cheavon Clarke, Charley Davidson, Caroline Dubois and captain Frazer Clarke will all feel they stand a chance of a medal.

Soccer

With no team in the men’s event for Team GB, this looks like being a tournament in which the big names dominate. Spain are the favourites at 2/1 with bet365 Sport, while Brazil are 3/1 shots just behind them. Other nations in with a chance of gold include the likes of Germany, Japan, France and Argentina, with the Ivory Coast looking a potential dark horse to go deep in the tournament.

There are 12 teams competing in the women’s event, which got underway today and which saw the hot favourites for gold, Team USA, suffer a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Sweden. You can expect the odds on the US to drift out, while Sweden’s will come in after that surprise result with teams like the Netherlands, Great Britain, Japan, Canada and Brazil will also likely attract more backing.

Basketball

For many, many years, Team USA dominated this event but this year, their team has had a few hiccups heading into the Olympics, including two defeats in warm up games against Australia and Nigeria. As such, the fact that they remain 1/5 odds on favourites for the basketball title in the men’s event remains somewhat puzzling.

Sure, the team will be bolstered by four more players joining the eight already in Japan for the event, but there’s not quite the aura of invincibility about this US team and after losing to France at the 2019 World Championships, the belief is that they are beatable.

With many teams now boasting a smattering of stars who play in the NBA, as well as at a high level in Europe, this could be a very competitive event with the likes of Spain, France and Australia all in with a real chance of surprising the hot favourites.

Other Events

Other events that feature either one or more Team GB hopefuls include rowing, where we have a number of medal hopefuls across numerous events in both the men’s and women’s races. We also have a decent shout of a medal in the women’s hockey event.

In the water, we have probably the best chance of a gold medal of any athlete competing for Team GB in the form of 100m breaststroke world record holder Adam Peaty. But we have strong competitors in other events for both men and women, as well as Tom Daley and Jack Laugher going for medals in the diving.

We also have Max Whitlock attempting to earn more gold in gymnastics and Charlotte Dujardin and co going for gold in the Team Dressage event.

It promises to be an exciting few weeks of sport in Japan, so let’s hope that we can land another haul of Team GB gold medals.