The Olympic Games 2014 Odds

Olympic games is often regarded as the most important event in a life of a athlete. Summer Olympic games in London were one of the greatest in the history of sport and justified all expectations. Back in 1921 the Olympic Committee decided to put the Winter games in the sporting calendar. So far some winter sports were included in the Summer Olympics such as figure skating or ice hockey. First games were held in Chamonix France in 1924 and in 2014 we see Russian city Sochi host the XXII Winter games. Up until 1992, Winter Olympics were held the same year as the Summer Olympics, but then it was decided that both games have a four-year circle. Last Winter games in 2010, held in Vancouver, were labeled as extraordinary and were given a positive feedback for promoting fair play and good values and avoiding segregations of any kind. United States were the most successful nation on that games with 37 medals, but hosts Canada dominated in gold medals, winning 14 of them and 32 medals in total. United States still remained the only country to have won at least one medal on every single games. Despite that great achievement, United States are not the most successful country in the history of the Winter games. Norway holds the record with 303 medals, including astonishing 107 gold medals.

Unlike Summer Olympics sports, Winter Olympic games have 15 sports since 1998, when snowboarding and curling were introduced back to the schedule. The sport that is always most interesting for the public and the contesters is definitely alpine skiing. With several competitions in play, it is still a bit early to discuss the potential favorites because the season is still at its peak. But what we can be assure of, is that some skiers will play a big role. For example, in male competition we can see Aksel Lund Svindal making a significant performance. Svindal already won the medal at the Olympic games: in Vancouver the won three medals, one of each shine. Basically Marcel Hirscher, last year’s champion, is the only one that can upset him. Ivica Kostelic and Ted Ligety might compete for the medal too, if they recover from injuries and stay in shape they are today. In women’s competition, surprisingly Lindsey Vonn backed out of the competition to recover from illness she has suffered, but she is hopefully going to compete at the Winter games. Tina Maze, Kathrin Zettel and Julia Mancuso are also the ones to be watched for the Olympics.

Beside Alpine Skiing there are several other disciplines we will especially take an eye out: ski jumping and ice hockey. Ski jumping is one of the most dangerous sports out there and watching those athletes going over 100km/h is astonishing. At 2010 Olympics Switzerland dominated the games, with 2 gold medals from Simon Ammann. For 2014 we are looking at Morgenstern and Schlierenzauer to impress. What is especially interesting about this sport, in 2014 we will have the women’s competition for the first time at the Olympics. We can all agree and salute those brave women, that are willing to compete at ski jumping.

Ice hockey is surely the most competitive and most interesting event of the Winter Olympic games. Canada, United States and Finland dominated both men’s and women’s competition in Vancouver and we probably won’t see anything different this time around. Maybe Switzerland or Norway might try to upset the favorites but that is hardly to believe.

Winter Olympics in Sochi are still pretty far away but some predictions can be made. Austria, Norway, United States and Germany will surely aim for the medals but we can’t forget about Canada or Switzerland who are well known for their Nordic background. What will change until 2014, we will see.

We have already found odds on the ice hockey at the Olympic Games 2014.