2016 Summer Olympics Odds: Usain Bolt Betting Favorite in 100M, 200M, Team Relay

With American swimmer Michael Phelps already adding to his status as the most decorated Olympian of all time, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is ready to take center stage at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and attempt to win the 100- and 200-meter dashes along with the 4x100-meter relay for the third consecutive Olympics.

Bolt is favored to win gold in his two individual events along with the team relay next week at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

The 29-year-old Bolt is going for the treble-treble, which is a sweep of his three events for the third consecutive time. In what he has admitted will be his last Olympics, Bolt will be facing top competition from American Justin Gatlin in both the 100 and 200, while Team USA is also the +185 second choice (bet $100 to win $185) in the relay behind Jamaica, which is a solid -200 favorite (bet $200 to win $100) on the Rio Olympics odds board.

Gatlin has twice been banned for doping, making for an intriguing matchup if he and Bolt make it to the finals of the 100 and 200 as expected. After he won the gold in the 100 at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Gatlin won bronze in the same event eight years later in London behind Bolt and fellow Jamaican Yohan Blake. Gatlin is listed as the second choice to win the 100 at +165 and the 200 at +325.

Bolt is bigger chalk to win the 200 at -300 than the 100 at -200 as he sets his sights on becoming the first man to ever run that distance in less than 19 seconds. He broke the world record in the 200 at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, running it in 19.19 seconds. Bolt also set the world record in the 100 there, running it in 9.58 seconds.

There may be some value on Blake if you believe a Jamaican besides Bolt will win gold in the 100 or 200. The 26-year-old also known as The Beast is the +1100 third choice to win the 100 and the +1400 fourth choice to win the 200. American LaShawn Merritt is the +750 third choice to win the 200 behind Bolt and Gatlin.