Opening Odds to Win Most Gold Medals at 2020 Olympics & Over/Unders for Each Country
- Prop bets for most gold medals have been released for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo
- Can the USA better its Olympics-best gold medal total of 46 from the 2016 Rio Summer Games?
- Get the odds on this and the over/under totals for other leading countries in the tables listed below
The Summer Olympics have belonged to the United States at the past two Olympiads. This trend is favored to continue during the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Summer Games.
Team USA is established as the overwhelming odds-on -900 favorite to take the title of most gold medals won again, their gold medal bar set at 48.5.
Odds to Win Most Gold Medals at Tokyo 2020 Olympics
| Country | Odds |
|---|---|
| USA | -900 |
| China | +800 |
| Japan | +1000 |
| Great Britain | +1200 |
| Australia | +4000 |
| Germany | +4000 |
| South Korea | +4000 |
Odds taken Feb. 13th
The 2020 Summer Olympic Games get underway July 24th and run through August 9th.
USA All the Way
The United States has ruled over the Summer Games in five of the past six Olympiads. At Rio in 2016, Americans claimed a leading 46 gold medals. That was 19 better than second-place finisher Great Britain.
Four years earlier in London, US athletes also stood atop the podium 46 times. China was next with 38 gold medals.
It was the Chinese that overcame American dominance on home soil at Beijing in 2008. China captured a leading 48 gold medals at that Olympiad. The USA was a distant second with 36.
The USA edged China 36-36 in Athens in 2004. American athletes also ruled the gold medal table at Sydney in 2000 and at home in Atlanta in 1996.
Pick: USA (-900).
Russian Absence Will Impact Medal Counts
As a country, Russia is banned from the 2020 Summer Olympics. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced the Russian ban on Dec. 9th, 2019. Russia was barred from participation in all international sport for four years.
WADA discovered manipulation in data provided to them by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency. Russian authorities altered the information delivered to WADA with the goal of covering up participation of many elite Russian athletes in a state-sponsored doping scheme.
Russia is currently appealing this ban. Russia was barred from the 2018 Winter Olympics for similar reasons.
Russian athletes who can provide a clean drug test will be permitted to compete independently in Tokyo.
Russia won 19 gold medals at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio. Many of those medals must now be considered up for grabs in Japan.
2020 Summer Olympics – Total Gold Medal Wins By Country
| Country | Line | Over Odds | Under Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 13.5 | -120 | -120 |
| China | 37.5 | -120 | -120 |
| France | 11.5 | -120 | -120 |
| Germany | 14.5 | -120 | -120 |
| Great Britain | 18.5 | -150 | +110 |
| Italy | 8.5 | -120 | -120 |
| Japan | 21.5 | -130 | -110 |
| Netherlands | 9.5 | -150 | +110 |
| South Korea | 9.5 | +100 | -140 |
| USA | 48.5 | -110 | -130 |
Three countries – the USA (46), Great Britain (27) and China (26) – won at least 20 gold medals at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. The same three countries were over 20 gold medals at London in 2012.
In fact, in every Summer Olympiad since 1988, only three nations were able to win as many as 20 gold medals.
USA Hoping For 1984
Some Americans are of the belief that under the rule of President Donald Trump, they’re living in the dystopian world of George Orwell’s frightening novel 1984. When it comes to the Summer Olympics, though, Americans would welcome a return to 1984.
That was the last Summer Games that didn’t include participation from what was then the Soviet Union. A Soviet-led boycott resulted in the removal of all of the world’s communist nations from the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. As a result, the USA led the way with a whopping 83 gold medals won.
The Americans won’t reach those lofty heights in Tokyo. However, the absence of so many elite Russian athletes will lead to a bump in gold medals won by the United States.
The 46 golds earned by USA ahtletes at the past two Summer Olympic games should easily increase.
Pick: USA Over 48.5 gold medals (-110).
Watch For the Host Nation Bump
Host nations put plenty of emphasis on making appearances on the podium and their home Olympics.
Great Britain went from 19 gold medals to 29 when hosting the 2012 London Summer Games. Even Brazil, far from a world sporting power when they aren’t kicking a soccer ball around a pitch, jumped from three to seven gold medals four years ago in Rio de Janeiro.
You can be sure that Japan, a winner of 12 golds in Rio, is investing heavily in Tokyo futures. But 21.5 seems like a lofty total. Japan won 16 gold medals when the 1964 Summer Games were held in Tokyo.
Pick: Japan under 21.5 gold medals (-110).
Brits Show Grit
Britain was #2 on the gold medal board in Rio. They’ve won at least 19 golds in each of the past three Summer Olympics.
Going above 18.5 in Tokyo should be a given.
Pick: Great Britain over 18.5 gold medals (-150).
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
