Canadian Medal Hopes & Odds At 2016 Rio Olympics

The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro are a little more than a month away, with the opening ceremonies happening on August 5th. Team Canada had a disappointing result from a gold medal perspective four years ago at the London Games. Will fortunes improve in South America? On Sports Interaction’s Olympic odds, Canada has an over/under of 2.5 gold medals for Rio.

Odds Favour Fewer Total Medals Than London

In London, Team Canada took home 18 medals but just one gold, its fewest gold haul since hosting the Summer Games in Montreal in 1976. The gold went to Rosie MacLennan, who won Canada’s first-ever Olympic gold in trampoline. MacLennan, from King City, Ont., had the best score of her career to beat China’s 2008 Olympic gold medalist, He Wenna. MacLennan won gold last month at the Trampoline World Cup in Switzerland with the second-best score of her career in the final. She will be in Rio to defend her gold.

The Canadian Olympic Committee entered the 2012 Games hoping for a Top-12 overall medal finish but Canada was one spot back of that in 13th. A total of 12 of Canada’s 18 medals were bronze. By comparison, in Beijing in 2008 Canada totaled 19 medals: three gold, nine silver and seven bronze. The country’s record haul was in the 1984 Los Angeles Games — which were boycotted by the Soviet Union and its allies, thus making the competition easier — with 44, including a best-ever total of 10 gold medals.

On the 2.5 gold medal total for Rio, the over is a slight -125 favourite on betting odds. Canada is given a total medals count of 17.5 (team medals count as one), with the under a -125 favourite.

Canadian Men’s Olympic Basketball

There are a few individual event specials currently available for Olympic betting. In men’s basketball, Team Canada is +5000 to win gold. The team was 4-1 at the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games, winning a silver medal. The Canadians also played in the 2015 FIBA America’s Championship in Mexico City, going 8-2 and winning the bronze. In nine Olympic appearances, Canada has only a single medal in men’s basketball: silver at the 1936 Games in Berlin.

The 2016 team has yet to qualify for Rio. It competes for a spot next week in Manila. That squad recently got a boost when Cleveland Cavaliers big man Tristan Thompson said he would play. Thompson played a key role in the Cavaliers upsetting the Golden State Warriors for their first NBA title. Thompson last played for national team at 2013 FIBA Americas tournament. Canada’s team features three other NBA players in Cory Joseph (Toronto Raptors), Tyler Ennis (Milwaukee Bucks) and Joel Anthony (Detroit Pistons) as well as former No. 1 overall draft pick Anthony Bennett. However, the best Canadian player, Minnesota’s Andrew Wiggins, isn’t playing for Team Canada this summer. Canada’s first game is July 5 vs. Turkey. It hasn’t qualified for the Olympics in men’s basketball since 2000. Only the winner of the July 4-10 tournament qualifies for Rio, and the French team is considered the favourite.

Canadian 100-Metre Men’s Dash

Bettors also can wager on how Canadian Andre De Grasse fares in the Olympic 100-metre dash. De Grasse, from Markham, Ont., won both the 100- and 200-metre 2015 NCAA titles with USC, double gold at the Pan Am Games and then tied for bronze in the 100-metre race at the 2015 world championships. He was the first Canadian to reach the podium in that event at the worlds since 1999. In mid-June, De Grasse swept the 100- and 200-metre races at the Harry Jerome International Track Classic.

De Grasse is +3300 to win the 100 metres in Rio with Usain Bolt, likely the greatest overall 100-metre Olympic champion in history, the clear favourite at -189. De Grasse is a co-favourite at +350 to finish in the highest position when Bolt and Justin Gatlin are removed from the equation.