The 2014 Sochi Games are almost upon us and I will take a look at a sport that has grown in popularity of late and that is Curling. The curling competition begins on Monday, Feb. 10 at the Ice Cube Curling Center, within the grounds of the Olympic Park. Vegas Odds for the women have Team Canada listed as the favorites at 7/5.
The Canadian women are the favorites at 7/5 to take home the Gold at the Sochi games. The Canadian women have had some success on the ice, taking home two bronze medals, one silver and one gold in four Olympic games. Jennifer Jones is the skip of this team and back in 2013 she placed first on the World Curling Tour’s Order of Merit with 300 points more than second-place finisher Eve Muirhead of Great Britain.
Sweden comes in at 15/8 odds to take home the gold. They have won the last 2 golds at Vancouver and Torino and they seek their 3 gold medal in a row here at Sochi. Anette Norberg leads this team and along with teammates Eva Lund, Cathrine Lindahl and Anna Le Moine they also team up back in 2006 when the won gold at the Torino games.
Next we have Great Britain at 11/4 odds. Eve Muirhead leads this team and had Olympic experience back in 2010 when Britain arrived at the Vacouvers as one of the favorites, but they failed to advance out of the round-robin stage. Muirhead was only 19 at the time. Now at 23 she is back and ready to lead her team to the podium. Muirhead recently beat Canada’s Jennifer Jones in World curling action, 12–2 and last year she became the youngest captain to steer her team to a World Championship. This just may be here year.
The Switzerland women come in at 14/1 odds. The Swiss are led by 42 year old Mirjam Ott. Ott won the Olympic silver medal twice; in the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City and 2006 in Turin, when she was the skip, making her the first woman with two Olympic medals in curling. She is the current reigning world champion in the sport.
Team USA is 5th on the list at 18/1 odds. The USA women won a bronze medal in 2006 in Torino, but had a horrible showing in the 2010 games at Vancouver, finishing 10th out of 10 teams. Team USA is led by 47-year-old Erika Brown and an all- star team of veterans that have have taken part in at least one Olympic games. The US Women have put 2010 behind them and have climbed to 7th in the world rankings. Watch out for this team. They are playing well right now and could just push their way onto the podium.
Here are the rest of the Women's Curling odds... China 22/1... Russia 25/1... Denmark 33/1... Japan 66/1... South Korea 66/1
My Best Bet in the opening match is to take Sweden -165 over Great Britain. The Brits are good but still a young team and may need a match under their belts to get going.
See the entire curling schedule for information on the round robin portion.
The television schedule can be found here.
Many thanks to Wikipedia, Bleacher Report and the Sports Network for providing the info needed for this article.
-$25 of picks FREE! No Obligation - No Credit Card Required - Becoming a member is Fast and Free!
RJ Bell Talks Daily Fantasy Sports — LISTEN on Soundcloud
The Myth Regarding Sharps vs Squares
Brady Kannon and host Steve Fezzik from Pregame.com, discuss the myths regarding the Sharps vs the Squares theory.