First thing's first, anyone with half a brain knew Yuto Horigome was the favorite to win Olympic Men's Street Skateboarding, again. He dazzled in Tokyo in 2021 and has been on a non-stop tear since then. A snapshot of the Bovada odds from Las Vegas below had Yuto at +500, meaning a $100 would get you $500. That's the first bet that should've been placed. Easy money.
Who makes these odds up?
The next bet I would've placed is a box on Jagger Eaton (coming in anywhere in the top three). I don't know if you can do this in skate-betting, but you can in horse racing, so play along with me. Jagger got bronze in Tokyo, this is another 5:1 bet, so again, easy money.
Having Ginwoo Onodera in that top spot is crazy. I know he's been doing well in qualifiers, etc., but he's just not on the level of Yuto, Nyjah or Jagger yet. Again, my humble opinion.
The last bet I would've thrown down is on Kelvin Hoefler. He won silver in Tokyo and Bovada had this dude down at +2800? He might be a bit older than the rest of the field, but he's still got bangers he can drop during the Best Trick section.
And how did these picks shake out? Yuto won (up $500), Jagger got silver (no idea what the return would be but I consider this a win), Ginwoo didn't even make the finals, and Kelvin Hoefler got into the finals but didn't medal.
The moral here, don't trust the Vegas odds, ask a skateboarder.
Good news is Skateboard Park for Men and Women is coming up next week (August 6 and 7), so as long as Bovada whiffs again, we can all get rich.
