The Winter Olympic Are Cold
Folks, it is cold at the Winter Olympics. Now, before you say “Duh!” and move on, consider that – in recent history – this hasn’t really been the case. The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi was comparatively warm, as was the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Athletes who competed at these games are nearly unanimous in their claims that the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics are shaping up to be the coldest since 1994 (Lillehammer), and perhaps one of the iciest on record.
Some Olympians are embracing this relative change of pace, happy to have the Winter games feel like winter games. Others, though, are more trepidatious – particularly endurance skiers who have to brave hours of wind and sweat in subzero temperatures. They may have to wear thicker gloves, more underclothing, and take other measures that both add weight and bulk to their otherwise finely-tuned habits and attire. The extreme cold of these Olympics could be the difference between Gold and Silver for competitors across several disciplines. A numb trigger finger for a biathlete can be a killer, after all. And icy cold does no favors for tense muscles, regardless of event.
For sports bettors, this is something to consider. Because it’s actually cold at the Winter Olympics, various elements come into play that haven’t been there in years. To handicap events where the temperature might matter significantly, Olympics gamblers can look at the individuals in question and how they performed on recent non-Olympic circuits in places like Siberia, Finland, and other northerly regions. So far, the weather hasn’t had a measurable effect on the boards at legal online sportsbooks like Bovada and Bet365, but once the Games get further underway, cracks may begin to show – in both the ice and the olympic betting odds.