Olympic Figure Skating 2018: Medal Odds for Team USA and Top Countries
The 2018 Winter Olympics begin on Friday, with a plethora of nations vying for medals in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Team USA are third favourites with bookmakers to capture the most gold medals, with Norway and Germany ahead of them in the betting market.
There are high expectations for Nathan Chen in the figure skating, with the teenager in fantastic form ahead of the competition.
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The 18-year-old has had no equal in the world this season, and his performances have been breathtaking on the ice.
Here are the odds for the top nations that could win the most golds in total at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, courtesy of OddsShark:
Country and Odds
Norway: 3-2
Germany: 8-5
United States: 5-1
Canada: 7-1
Netherlands: 16-1
South Korea: 28-1
Figure Skating Preview
As Team USA prepare to cross the Pacific Ocean for the competition, there is one figure skating name on the lips of fans across the planet.
Chen has taken the sport by storm in the past 12 months, and his early introduction to the professional side has started to pay dividends.
The Salt Lake City-born youngster has become the pride of Utah, and his status is set to reach new heights if he reigns supreme in South Korea.
Chen was crowned U.S. champion after an epic display at the national championship, landing five quadruple jumps in an outrageously confident routine.
The dynamic skater's quadruple flip-triple toe loop combination had the American crowd in raptures from the start, and there was no doubt who would be flying the Stars and Stripes with vigour in his bid for Olympic gold.
Four-time Olympic medalist Evgeni Plushenko believes the figure skating programme promises to be the best witnessed at an Olympic Games, with the standard high throughout the field.
According to the Associated Press (via the Japan Times), Plushenko said:
"It's going to be the most interesting Olympics in history. Yuzuru Hanyu, Nathan Chen, Shoma Uno, Javier Fernandez, our athletes. It's going to be really interesting. And there are leaders who are injured, and whether they can get healthy in time. It's going to be very interesting. Lots of suspense, the Olympics are going to be crazy."
Spanish sensation Fernandez is established as one of European ice skating's biggest talents, and the 26-year-old will finally want to break his Olympic medal duck at the competition.
The double world champion has Chen in his sights, and the American will have to produce all of his tricks with no mistakes to prevail.
Yuzuru Hanyu remains a serious threat for the gold if he shows off his best form, and the Japanese star is a pure winner when he gets into his groove.
This is Fernandez's last hope of medalling at the Winter Olympics, and the consistency in his short program should see him capture at least a bronze.
The athlete has developed into a heroic figure back in Spain, and the nation will be willing him on to compete with Chen and Hanyu until the final seconds of skating are over.
Evgenia Medvedeva remains the outstanding candidate to take the women's gold in the event, with the 18-year-old already boasting the achievement of being a two-time world champion.
The Russian has broken the world record 11 times for scoring the most marks under the ISU Judging System, and she has no realistic equal when she produces a clean performance.
Canadian duo Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir have a tremendous chance to scoop gold in Pyeongchang, after previously becoming Olympic champions in 2010 and claiming the silver at Sochi 2014.
The pair have been dancing together since childhood, and their chemistry always has crowds captivated with their intimacy.
France's Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron will offer the Canadians serious competition at the Games, but Moir and Virtue are established as one of the most dynamic pairings in the world.
The Olympic figure skating competition is scheduled to begin on Friday.
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