Winter Olympics Betting – Riesch Ready to Grab Combined Gold

It’s probably fair to say that the Winter Olympics didn’t figure too highly when British bookmakers were compiling their list of potentially lucrative sporting events in 2010. Full marks to a few, however, who have priced up most of the major competitions and have made an effort to attract UK punters unfamiliar with many of the athletes by also quoting on things like which country will top the final medal table and what will be Britain’s eventual medal haul. One also gets the impression that a few of the odds compilers are rather fencing in the dark when it comes to some of the markets and there are opportunities for backers with a little knowledge to back up their judgement. For example, all talk pre-Games in the women’s alpine skiing events has centred around Lindsey Vonn. Undoubtedly, the American is a talent as a record of nine World Cup victories this winter suggests. But bookmakers seem to be almost brushing under the carpet the fact that Vonn has a shin injury which may yet mean her missing the Olympics. One would presume, therefore, that the blonde pin-up would be concentrating her efforts on winning her favourite event the downhill (for which she is a best 2-1 with Paddy Power) rather than risk all in the women’s combined which contains a slalom section. Now I can’t profess to having an insight into the best technique for the slalom but I’m pretty sure all that twisting and turning at high speed is the last thing you’d need if your shins were aching. Slalom, anyway, isn’t Vonn‘s speciality and she shouldn’t be able to challenge Maria Riesch in the women’s combined. Riesch has finished on the podium in six of her last seven World Cup starts overall and has made the frame in four of seven slalom events, while her likely main rival hasn’t even managed to complete in three of this winter’s races in the more technical event. Riesch can still be backed at 2-1 with betfred to win the women’s combined, that price will almost certainly contract in the days ahead. The men’s downhill is the Games‘ blue riband event with skiers bidding to carve their name on a role of honour that includes superstars like Jean-Claude Killy, Franz Klammer and Fritz Strobl. Didier Cuche is the market leader (9-2 with coral) as he bids to become the first Swiss winner of the Olympic downhill since the great Pirmin Zurbriggen in Calgary in 1988. Home favourite Robbie Dixon has been showing up well in training on the Dave Murray piste in Vancouver as he bids to emulate Ed Podivinsky, the only previous Canadian to have won a medal in the downhill, and might be worth an each-way interest with coral at 25-1 as he is only half that price with many of the other leading layers. But this could be the competition in which young gun Carlo Janka finally comes of age. The 23-year-old Swiss showed what he is capable of when winning three World Cup races in as many days in Colorado at the start of the season and, with Cuche slightly hampered with a broken thumb and desperate to succeed in what is probably his last Games, may be able to cash in on the weight of expectation on his team mate’s shoulders. The 14-1 on offer from Victor Chandler and William Hill is simply too good to resist.