Heptathlon Betting
The heptathlon was first introduced to the Olympics back in 1984 (Los Angeles) and is made up from seven events that take place over a two day period. It’s a true test of women’s athletic skills with the overall winner decided by the person who has achieved the most points from all the events. Heptathlon betting may be a new concept to a lot of people but with seven individual events taking place there is a lot of scope for betting markets including, overall winner, winner’s total points and who will be leading after the first day.
Heptathletes are awarded points relative to their time or distance and the rules for each event are generally the same as the individual events that take place at the Olympics. The only exceptions are within the running events where athletes are allowed two false starts instead of one and the throwing and jumping events where competitors only have three attempts to register their best score. The only other ruling that you have to be aware of is that athletes are not allowed to pass on any event and if they do, they are disqualified from the main competition. If there is a tie at the end of the seven events, the gold medal is awarded to the individual who finished higher than her rival in more events. If that results in a draw (3-3 and one tie), the victory is awarded to the athlete who scored the highest amount of points on an individual event.
Notable Heptathlon Performances
Over the years we’ve been privileged to see some great athletes compete in the heptathlon but none as big as the American Jackie Joyner-Kersee. The American dominated the sport over a six year period and is still the only women to date to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals and break the 7000 points barrier on both occasions. The score she set at the 1988 Olympics (7291) is still the current world record.
Heptathlon Order of Events
| Day 1 | Day 2 |
|---|---|
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Another notable performance came in Sydney at the 2000 Olympics where Great Britain’s Denise Lewis managed to claw back a deficit of 51 points from Day 1 to claim gold. Some people may not think that a 51 point deficit is much of a margin to make up but if you look at the two athletes that were ahead of her (Nataliya Sazanovich and Yelena Prokhorova) and the fact that the majority of gold medallists are leading after the opening day (a point worth taking note of when betting on the heptathlon), if demonstrates Lewis’ achievements.
If you are looking at having a bet on the heptathlon there that are a number of factors you have to take into consideration including, when to place your bet, how popular will your selection be and also their current form (the World Championships is will help you with this). Heptathlon betting is also available in-play so if your selection has an outstanding first day and you know that her poorest events are on the second day, you’ll have an opportunity to lay all or part of your bet off.
