The Winter Olympics are set to begin this Friday in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy as more than 2,000 of the world’s best athletes descend upon the Alps. 235 of those athletes — the most among the 93 National Olympic Committees represented — will don the red, white, and blue of the United States, making the American delegation a genuine medal contender in most of the Games’ 116 medal events. All in all, the United States has the third-shortest odds of receiving the most gold medals for the second time in its history.
That doesn’t mean that the United States is a favorite for every competition. Of the 69 medal events with odds on DraftKings Sportsbook, American athletes are favored to win nine. Speed skater Jordan Stolz accounts for nearly half of them himself, as at the age of 21, he already holds two world records in the 1000m and the big combination, and he’s the defending World Cup champion in the 500-meter, 1000-meter, and 1500-meter disciplines.
A full list of those nine events is below:
Which events are the United States favored to win?
- Alpine Skiing (Women’s) – Slalom: Mikaela Shiffrin (-300)
- Figure Skating (Men’s) – Single Skating: Ilia Malinin (-1400)
- Figure Skating – Ice Dance: Madison Chock and Evan Bates (-155)
- Figure Skating – Team Event: United States (-900)
- Ice Hockey (Women’s): United States (-145)
- Speed Skating (Men’s) – 500 m: Jordan Stolz (-200)
- Speed Skating (Men’s) – 1000 m: Jordan Stolz (-700)
- Speed Skating (Men’s) – 1500m: Jordan Stolz (-1400)
- Speed Skating (Men’s) – Mass Start: Jordan Stolz (+150)
