Olympic Heptathlon Betting
The Heptathlon is a Women’s competition that consists of seven different sporting events, and those seven events are held over two consecutive days. On the first day the events are the 100 Metre Hurdles, High Jump, Shot Put and the 200 Metres. On the second day the events are the Long Jump, Javelin and the 800 Metres. The aim of heptathletes is to earn as many points as possible overall by performing as well as they can in each of the seven events.
The Heptathlon was first included in the Olympic Games in 1984, and it replaced a Women’s Pentathlon competition that had been included in previous Games since 1964. The first Olympic Heptathlete to win a gold medal was Glynis Nunn for Australia.
Because success in some events is measured in terms of time (the 100 Metre Hurdles, 200 Metres and 800 Metres), some in terms of short distances (the High Jump and Long Jump) and others in terms of longer distances (the Shot Put and Javelin) points are calculated according to a specific formula for each category of event. The heptathlete with the highest total number of points at the end of the competition wins the gold medal. It is possible for two heptathletes to tie on the same number of points, and if this happens the competitor who won the most events is given the advantage.
Olympic Heptathlon Betting Options:
Outright Winner
The Outright Winner market requires you to predict which Heptathlete will have earned the most points overall at the end of the competition and thereby win the Olympic gold medal. Many bookmakers will also allow you to bet on a competitor each-way, in which case you would receive a return if your selection managed to win a gold, silver or bronze medal. Because an each-way bet is effectively two bets – one on your selection winning and the other on your selection getting a place only – this type of bet wouldn’t be as profitable as a straightforward win bet should your selection win the gold medal. You therefore need to decide whether you want to bet for the maximum profit or the maximum chance of winning, and opt for a win bet or an each-way bet accordingly.
First Day Leader
Since the Heptathlon competition takes place over two consecutive days you will usually be able to bet on which heptathlete you think will have earned the most points at the end of the first day. If you are thinking about placing a bet on the Outright Winner then you could also bet on the same selection being the First Day Leader in an effort to try and maximise your profits if you are correct. A winning bet in the First Day Leader market would also help to reduce any overall losses from your Outright Winner bet should your selection perform less well on the second day of the competition.
Number of Points
The Number of Points market allows you to bet on the number of points that the gold medallist will earn in total. Rather than expect you to bet on a precise number of points, the bookmakers offer you several ranges for betting purposes and you simply bet on the range that reflects your opinion. For example, you might be able to bet on the winner earning 6,000 to 6,500 points, or 6,501 to 7,000 points. The width of the ranges offered for betting purposes is entirely up to the bookmaker. Some bookies will offer just a handful of wide ranges and others will offer a greater number of narrower ranges. The more ranges on offer the more difficult it will be to land a winning bet, but you will usually be rewarded with better odds if you can do so.
Event Winners
Markets that allow you to bet on the winner of each of the seven Heptathlon events individually will usually be available. These markets can be very useful, especially if you have a great deal of confidence in the chances of a selection performing well in a couple of specific events (the Javelin and Shot Put, for example) but you aren’t quite as confident about how they will handle the other events. Bets on individual Heptathlon events can often be combined so that those who are fans of multiple bets can place doubles, trebles, four-folds and larger accumulators, though this facility does vary from bookmaker to bookmaker.
New Records
With seven events in the Olympic Heptathlon, there is definitely potential for one or more of the competitors to set a new record of some kind, and bookmakers will usually allow you to bet on whether or not that will happen. Some betting markets require you to bet on whether a specific record will be set, such as a new World Record, whilst others will pay out if one of a selection of records is set, such as a new World or Olympic Record.
Other Olympic Heptathlon Betting Markets
There are other Olympic Heptathlon betting markets available so if the selection of markets identified here isn’t enough for you, feel free to explore the other options on offer. Don’t forget that you can bet on the Olympic Heptathlon with a betting exchange just as easily as you can with a traditional bookmaker, and a betting exchange will also make it possible for you to lay any competitor that you don’t think will perform particularly well.
Click here to go back to the Olympic Betting page.
Search Gamble:
Top Five
Sports Betting
