2010 WINTER OLYMPICS LADIES SNOWBOARD HALFPIPE ODDS

After Shaun White grabbed a gold and shocked the world with two near-perfect runs yesterday, American Kelly Clark is a solid favourite to complete an American sweep of the snowboard halfpipe events. As it currently stands, the 1st heats are just finishing up and Clark has laid down a real gauntlet for her competitors by posting a very respectable 45.4 on her 1st run. Spaniard Queralt Castellet surprised to put in a first-rate score of 44.3.

Australia’s Torah Bright scored 41.3 while Hannah Teter is another American looking for a podium finish and, with a 39.7 1st run score, she is within striking distance. Chinese rider Zhifeng Sun put together a 38.2 while Australia’s Holly Crawford is in fifth place at 38.6.
The odds on Betfair are certainly jumping around a bit, but they confirm that Clark is in absolute pole position to take the gold medal here. Clark has odds of 2.16 to win the gold medal in Women’s halfpipe. Gretcher Bleiler put in a first heat score of 36.6 and is sitting in 7th place. She is the current second favourite at 2.7 and that’s a bit too short for me.
Torah Bright’s odds of a gold medal win are 3.3 and that seems to be more or less where the favourites end. The odds then take a fairly big jump to Jiayu Liu who is trading at an 8.0 price. Xuetong Cai is listed at 10.0 while Hannah Teter is solidly-priced at 12.0.
The pick to make here, if you’re looking to bet against Kelly Clark, is to back Queralt Castellet at a solid 12.0 for the gold medal win. She proved that she can put together a very competitive run with her massive 44.2 just 1.2 points off of Clark’s score. If Castellet can maintain that poise, then she is certainly a solid bet to make the podium.
Speaking of the podium betting for this one, Kelly Clark is at 1.3 to podium while Gretchen Bleiler is at a very short 1.32- a priced shared by Australian Torah Bright. Xuetong Cai is at 1.51 while Queralt Castellet is well-priced at 3.0.
This one looks to be Clarks to lose, and I’m counting on some very hot volume on the exchanges once we get closer to the final.