Olympics Best bets and predictions for day one of the 2024 Paris Olympics: France value to upset USA basketball stars

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Best bets for day one

France to win men's basketball
1pt 14-1 BoyleSports, Coral, Ladbrokes

Samuel Short to win men's 400m freestyle
1pt 2-1 Betfair, Paddy Power

Michael Jung to win individual eventing
1pt e-w 25-1 BoyleSports

Netherlands to win men's hockey
1pt 7-2 Hills

Paris 2024 Olympics day one predictions

Basketball predictions

Starts 10am Saturday
By Steve Davies

There are superstars crammed into every corner of the US men's basketball roster which has helped to ensure that LeBron James, Steph Curry and their other NBA stars go off at a really skinny price for Olympic gold.

However, there are superstars in many other rosters, too, none more eye-catching than hosts France, who look a genuine alternate to the Americans.

There are a handful of NBA stars in the French ranks, among them San Antonio's giant rookie center Victor Wembanyama and old hands Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier.

Heavyweight Mathias Lessort has just starred for EuroLeague champions Panathinaikos as they clinched the title and many of this group remember beating the US in a group game in Tokyo three years ago.

Swimming predictions

Starts 10am Saturday
By Liam Flin

Team GB gold medal prospect Adam Peaty is in the pool for the men's 100m breaststroke heats on Saturday but the swimming medals will be up for grabs later in the day.

Germany's Lukas Martins is marginal favourite to win the men's 400m freestyle following his time of 3:40:33 in this year's German championships but he failed to reach the final at Tokyo 2020 and is far from nailed-on.

He faces fierce competition from Aussie pair Samuel Short and Elijah Winnington and Short could be the value at 2-1.

Short finished second in this event in the Australian trials despite suffering from gastric illness beforehand and, while he missed this year's World Aquatic Championships, he claimed gold last year with a blazing 3:40:68 in the final.

Ariarne Titmus, Summer McIntosh and Katie Ledecky are some distance ahead of the rest in the women's 400m freestyle. Titmus is 1-3 to claim gold and that is hard to dispute given she broke the world record in Japan last year, while the men's and women's 4x100m freestyle finals look equally uncompetitive with the USA and Australia 1-7 in the betting respectively.

Eventing predictions

Starts 8.30am Saturday
By Kitty Trice

The Great Britain eventing team are deservedly a short price at 30-100 with bet365 to repeat their gold medal success from Tokyo. They are the reigning European champions and have the current individual world and European gold medallists in their three-strong squad. 

There is more value available in the market for the individual gold, though. European champion, former world champion and Badminton winner Ros Canter leads the way at a general 4-1 chance, but the phenomenal German Michael Jung looks much too big a price at 25-1 with BoyleSports. 

The most medalled rider in the sport, he is most likely to lead after the dressage phase with Chipmunk, although in previous championships they've had some rotten luck in the cross-country and show-jumping phases when in contention. That includes a fall at last year's Europeans but Jung's price for Paris glory looks generous.

Hockey predictions

Starts 8am Saturday
By Phil Agius

The Olympic hockey tournaments both start on Saturday and the Netherlands could be celebrating a Dutch double. Their women's team are the dominant force in the sport and look hard to oppose as the 1-2 favourites. 

They are the reigning Olympic, world, European and Pro League champions and they look a class above their rivals, who are led by 13-2 Argentina and 8-1 Germany. Great Britain should be able to qualify from their group but make no outright appeal at 33-1.

The Netherlands men's team suffered a disappointment when finishing only sixth at the Tokyo Olympics, but they are capable of bouncing back in what should be an extremely competitive tournament.

They are one of four nations priced between 16-5 and 9-2 for gold, with Belgium just favoured by the market after their success in Tokyo. Germany, the 2023 world champions, and Australia also have strong cases but the Netherlands catch the eye after winning the 2023 European Championship. 

Great Britain and Argentina could cause trouble for any of the top teams on their day and the British side are 2-5 to get off to a winning start against Spain on Saturday morning. Ireland are 66-1 for the men's gold but have a daunting first match against Belgium and are 10-1 to cause an upset.

Read more Olympics previews . . .

Saturday's men's Olympic predictions and free football tips: France can ease to another high-scoring win 

2024 Olympics tennis men's and women's predictions, odds and tennis betting tips 

Team GB 2024 Olympics medal predictions: Hard to match scale of recent successes 

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