Paddy Power offer some interesting bets for the Olympics
Odds are being offered on the next athlete to sustain an injury in the Athens games
Wednesday 18th August 2004
Another range of unusual bets are being offered on the Olympics online. Paddy Power, the Irish based online betting exchange opened up a book yesterday on future injuries to be sustained during the course of the Athens games- or more precisely inviting bettors to predict which injury will be sustained next.
So far in the games British swimmer Sarah Price cut her leg on Monday when she dove onto an underwater camera casing. The options being presented by the bookies at Paddy Power are tending towards the more serious. The top 3 events being offered odds-wise as the next Olympic accidents are: an equestrian rider to fall off their horse at 5-4, a gymnast to fall of their horse at 11-4 and a pole vaulter to be injured after their pole snaps at 4-1.
After that the injuries become a bit more gruesome, with the next favourite being, a steward to be struck by either a hammer, shot or javelin offered at 11-2, a fencer to be impaled by a sword at 15-2 and a weightlifter to get stuck under his own bar of weights at 8-1. In a nod to Greg Louganis and his accident in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, a diver hitting their head on the diving board is next in at 10-1, with the aquatic theme continued in the 16-1 slot- taken by a swimmer hitting their head on the bottom of the pool.
Eyes feature in the lowest rung of odds, at 33-1 is the option for an archer receiving an arrow in the eye, and just above it at 25-1 a volleyball player retiring from a game with sand in their eye. The last betting option offered is a cheeky 66-1 for an athlete to have a motorbike crash after missing a drug test. With a comprehensive range of potential accidents such as these, perhaps Paddy Power is a good place for those a little less reverent about their sports to visit.
