2020 Olympic Men’s Track 200m Final Odds, Preview & Best Bet

• The Olympics Men’s 200-meter gold medal race has a couple of favorites, including the battle between Noah Lyles and Andre De Grasse
• Could Kenneth Bednarek be the one that provides a bit of a surprise or someone else?
• Check out the odds, analysis, and betting predictions below

The men’s 200-meter dash could be an intriguing event to predict in these Olympics. Now, the race for the gold medal begins at 8:55 am ET on Wednesday.

All events take place at Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. They will be live or streamed on NBC, NBCSN, NBC Olympics, and Peacock. Here are the odds for the men’s 200-meter dash along with our best bet.

Tokyo 2020 Men’s 200m Odds to Win Gold

All odds as of August 3rd at DraftKings

Do We Look Out for Erriyon Knighton Yet?

The semifinal heats featured a twist or two that stuck out but maybe at least a look at the first-time Olympian in Erriyon Knighton. Knighton won his heat with a time of 20.02 seconds yet he was alluded to in our preview as someone to at least watch.

Erriyon Knighton is 17… and he just ran as though he has been around for 10 yrs, easily breezing past the field to win heat 1 of men's 200m in a time of 20.02s. Rasheed Dwyer just edges out Nigeria's Divine Oduduru to earn 2nd spot in 20.13s, and the latter 3rd in 20.16s pic.twitter.com/OPapXyDK44

— Making of Champions (@MakingOfChamps) August 3, 2021

The problem for Knighton is there is a ton of competition in this 200m Final. There are the other two Americans – Noah Lyles and Kenneth Bednarek. Consider that the best time of the entire heats was just run by Andre De Grasse. However, Knighton is so young that literally none of this may phase him.

Then there was the second semifinal where the aforementioned Lyles, Andre Brown, and Joseph Fahnbulleh, ran a 19.99. Lyles and Brown definitely coasted a bit in those last 20 meters or so.

It is going to be one electric Final ladies and gentlemen because almost out of nowhere, this happened in the last semifinal heat.

Andre De Grasse Blazes the Field in Semifinal Heat

It is anyone’s guess what may happen in the final of the 200-meter race. However, Andre De Grasse (CAN) just set a Canadian record and posted the world’s best time this year. It was a run that makes one think maybe this is his race to lose. Consider that this may be his last chance at a gold medal (Olympics wise), he picked quite a time to come up with an incredible run.

Andre De Grasse with a Canadian record of 19.73 in his semifinal of the 200m — and he even pulled up at the end. He breezes through to the final set for Wednesday at 8:55 a.m. ET.

— Jackie Spiegel (@jackiespiegel93) August 3, 2021

Again, runners sometimes forget the flow of a race but De Grasse knows what is at stake. He finished second behind Usain Bolt at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. This is definitely believed to be his moment to shine. The Canadian even let up a bit at the very end of the heat.

That suggests De Grasse may have a little more to go faster. Unlike in the 100 meters, one kind of knew DeGrasse would run in the 9.88-9.92 range almost every heat. This is just what he did en-route to a medal. The 200 m could be different.

De Grasse still faces some extremely stiff competition.

Others to Watch and Best Bet

This field features a lot of firepower. For example. Noah Lyles ran a 19.5 in Montreal two years ago and has gone sub-19.75 this year. Kenneth Bednarek just went 19.83 in his semifinal heat and left some room for more. Divine Oduduru ran a 19.73 in Texas two years ago but did not qualify for the Final. That is how good this field is.

Risky stuff from Noah Lyles. Had the race wrapped up and took his foot off the gas big time. Still got through on time, but what an unnecessary sweat. Going to get a poor lane draw for tomorrow, but still think he wins. De Grasse & Knighton impressive though.

— Dillon Barrow (@dillon_barrow89) August 3, 2021

Can Lyles live up to the hype? There is zero room in the Final to have even an off few strides. There is so much to digest as far as predictions because there are favorites and surprises all mixed in.

The hardest thing is to automatically discount certain runners at this point. Again, the track is running fast and without any wind aid. The semifinal heats featured a slight wind of +0.2m/s. The final expects about the same on Wednesday. Noah Lyles remains our pick to take gold narrowly over Andre De Grasse.

• The Pick:  Noah Lyles (Team USA at +160), Longshots:  Kenneth Bednarek (Team USA at +330), Joseph Fahnbulleh (Liberia at +2500)