Best bets and predictions for day 15 of the 2024 Paris Olympics: USWNT may need to be patient

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Best bets for day 15

Draw in Brazil Women vs USA Women
1pt 23-10 Coral, Ladbrokes

Peres Jepchirchir to win the women's marathon
1pt 11-2 Paddy Power

Already advised

France to win men's basketball (July 26)
1pt 14-1 BoyleSports, Coral, Ladbrokes 

Paris 2024 Olympics day 15 predictions

Women's football predictions

Starts 4pm
By Ian Wilkerson

It is 12 years since the USA won the most recent of their four gold medals in women's football and there looks a decent chance that they will have to scrap all the way to get the better of Brazil in the gold-medal match.

The Americans, managed by former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes, who has already guided them to success in the Concacaf Gold Cup and SheBelieves Cup, enjoyed comfortable progress through the group stage, but they have been pushed hard since.

Extra-time goals from Trinity Rodman and Sophia Smith were required to claim 1-0 extra-time victories over Japan and Germany, and backing a further 30 minutes to be required in the competition's climax could prove to be a profitable play.

Brazil will feel they have nothing to lose after hanging on to their Olympic quest by the skin of their teeth as one of the two best third-placed teams in the group stage.

However, they played well in losing 2-0 to Spain when their star player Marta had been sent off just before half-time and they have kicked on in her absence from the starting side, beating hosts France 1-0 and gaining revenge on La Roja with a stirring 4-2 win on Tuesday.

Marta is available for the gold-medal clash in what will be her final game and her swansong could go to extra-time.

Basketball predictions

Starts 8.30pm
By Phil Agius

The United States dream team including LeBron James and Steph Curry almost fluffed their lines in Thursday's semi-final when scraping past Serbia, who easily covered a double-figure handicap in a 95-91 defeat.

The US face hosts France and their star NBA rookie Victor Wembanyama in the gold-medal match and are around 16.5-point favourites again. The Americans have won seven of the nations' eight meetings, with France's sole success coming in the group stage in Tokyo, although the USA got their revenge in the final, winning 87-82.

France are 11-1 to cause an upset on their home court, having been 14-1 at the outset.

Athletics predictions

Starts 7am Sunday
By Ian Wilkerson

The women's marathon, the final athletics event of the Games, looks, with the exception of the Netherlands' Sifan Hassan, to be the customary all-East African battle, but there is nothing usual about the course that will have to be tackled early on Sunday morning.

The Olympic record of two hours 23 minutes may still be threatened with all the technological advances in running shoes over the last few years, but the test around the streets of the French capital will not be conducive to rapid times.

The course features 540m of elevation, which is almost double what is found at the hillier majors of Boston and New York and represents a completely different task compared to the routes used in London, Chicago and the pancake-flat Berlin.

So rather than rapid times, experience of testing undulations has to be considered and that means Hassan, who was due to run in the 10,000m on Friday having won bronze in the 5,000m, makes no appeal at the prices.

Ethiopians Tigst Assefa, Megertu Alemu and Amane Beriso Shankule feature high in the betting but may not have the hills knowhow and their track team have had a disappointing Games, winning just two silvers before Friday night's events.

Kenya's Hellen Obiri is the market leader but a better prospect looks to be this year's London marathon winner, Peres Jepchirchir, who ran 2.16 on that occasion to set a women's only world record - she did not benefit from any male pacers.

That victory provides good recent form, but perhaps more important in assessing her chances are her 2021 New York success and her 2022 win in Boston, so she ticks the most boxes to successfully defend the title she claimed in Tokyo three years ago. 

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