2020 Olympic betting: Steven Gardiner is the big favorite in the men's 400 meters
The 400M is a test of speed and endurance. Athletes in the 400 have to sprint a full lap around the track — they need to be fast enough to run at extraordinary speed and have enough stamina to maintain a fast pace from the start.
The field for the final of the men's 400 meters is set and the Bahamas' Steven Gardiner is a big favorite. The race is scheduled to be run at 8 a.m. ET in the United States on Thursday. Here's what you need to know if you want to place a wager on the race at BetMGM.
Men's 400M odds
Steven Gardiner, Bahamas (-175)
Kirani James, Grenada (+275)
Michael Norman, United States (+700)
Anthony Zambrano, Colombia (+1000)
Michael Cherry, United States (+1400)
Isaac Makwala, Botswana (+3300)
Liemarvin Bonevacia, Netherlands (+5000)
Christopher Taylor, Jamaica (+10000)
The final will be run without reigning world record holder Wayde van Niekerk (43.03). He was eliminated in the semifinals as he continues to chase the form he had at the 2016 Olympics when he set that world record. Van Niekerk suffered a significant knee injury a year after winning gold in a celebrity rugby match in his home country of South Africa and has been struggling to run as fast as he did before the injury.
Gardiner easily beat Norman in the final semifinal with a time of 44.14. Norman held off Makwala for second as Makwala got one of the two spots available to finishers outside the top two in each semifinal. Van Niekerk was fifth in that semifinal.
Gardiner is the reigning world champion as he won the 2019 world championships with a time of 43.48 in Doha, Qatar. That’s his personal best and the sixth-fastest time ever run in the 400.
James, the No. 2 favorite, won the first semifinal with a 43.88 that beat a charging Zambrano after Zambrano seemed to falter in the third quarter of the race. Cherry, meanwhile, won the second semifinal with the slowest winning time (44.44) and beat Taylor by a half-second.
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