Olympics Predictions 2022: Medal Odds for USA, Russian Athletes and More

Marco Trovati/Associated Press

While much of the sporting world is focused on this weekend's NFL games and the resulting Super Bowl matchup, a more global event is on the horizon. The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing is set to kick off on Friday, February 4, with its opening ceremony.

NBC will broadcast the opening ceremony live at 6:30 a.m. ET

While the opening ceremony will certainly be a spectacle and draw a huge audience, sports fans will be eager to watch events like curling, skiing, figure skating and, of course, hockey. While athletes from Team USA and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) are expected to fare well in the winter games, they're not projected to lead the medal count.

According to Gracenote, Norway is projected to lead the count with 22 golds and 45 total medals. The ROC is projected to finish second with 32 medals and 11 golds. Germany is projected to round out the top three with 12 golds and 25 total medals.

Team USA is projected to finish fourth with 22 medals and seven golds.

These projections are similar to the early gold-medals odds currently found at FanDuel.

✨ Watch more top videos, highlights, and B/R original content

Odds for Most Gold Medals

Norway: 10-37

Germany: 15-2

ROC: 100-1

Canada: 150-1

USA: 180-1

Netherlands: 500-1

Gold Medal Predictions

Norway: 20

ROC: 12

Germany: 10

USA: 8

Canada:  6

Sweden: 6

The ROC is the favorite in men's hockey. According to FanDuel, the ROC is favored by 1.5 points over Switzerland on February 9 and has the best odds of winning the entire event.

Team USA is among the favorites in women's hockey, along with Canada.

Led by forward Hilary Knight—who is making her fourth Olympics appearance and helped bring home gold at the 2018 games—the U.S. women's team has a great chance of winning back-to-back gold medals in the event.

The U.S. and Canada are scheduled to face one another in the final game of pool play, which could be an early preview of the gold-medal game.

Men's Hockey Odds

ROC: 3-2

Canada: 17-5

Finland: 19-5

Finland: 11-2

Czech Republic: 100-1

USA: 120-1

Women's Hockey Odds

Canada: 4-5

USA: 21-20

Finland: 150-1

ROC: 400-1

Switzerland: 500-1

Sweden: 500-1

Team USA skier Mikaela Shiffrin is among the early favorites for alpine skiing women's giant slalom. One of the top American athletes headed to Beijing, Shiffrin is expected to medal, though she was recently forced to hit the pause button on her training because of COVID-19.

"I've never taken more than four days off of skiing in the season in my whole career," Shiffrin said, per Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post. "I think, in my entire life, I've never done that. I was like: Oh, my gosh, you've got to be kidding me."

Shiffrin was back on the mountain in January, winning the World Cup slalom in Austria.

Women's Giant Slalom Odds

Mikaela Shiffrin, USA: 3-1

Sara Hector, Sweden: 19-5

Tessa Worley, France: 5-1

Lara Gut-Behrami, Switzerland: 13-2

Marta Bassino, Italy: 13-2

The return of the Winter Olympics means that curling will be back in the spotlight for the first time since 2018. The broom-sweeping, stone-sliding sport is largely a novelty in non-Olympic years but makes for an entertaining watch on the world stage.

Great Britain and Canada are the early favorites in the men's and women's events, respectively

Men's Curling Odds

Great Britain: 17-10

Canada: 23-10

Sweden: 43-10

Switzerland: 17-2

USA: 11-1

Italy: 28-1

Women's Curling Odds

Canada: 5-2

Sweden: 27-10

Great Britain: 17-5

Switzerland: 9-1

Japan: 12-1

USA: 14-1

Must be 21+ and present in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, West Virginia, Colorado, or Tennessee. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. See sportsbook.fanduel.com for details.