Women’s Half Pipe Pick
Is Chloe Kim set to walk away with a gold medal when the finals of the Women’s Half Pipe take place tonight at the 2018 Winter Olympics?
According to oddsmakers at YouWager, Chloe Kim is the clear favorite, as she has -450 odds to win. Other Short odds to prevail are Jiayu Liu (+800), Queralt Castellet (+1000) and Maddie Mastro (+1000).
Kim had the best scores from the qualifying rounds by far, posting a 95.50, which was nearly 8 points better than the next qualifier. The 17-year-old American is the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics champion and a four-time X Games gold medalist.
Jiayu competes for China and she posted an 87.75 in prelims to qualify for the finals. The 25-year-old is the 2017 Asian Games champion and looking for her first Olympic medal.
Castellet scored a 71.50 to reach the finals. The 28-year-old Spaniard is competing in her fourth Olympics. She was 11th in 2014 and 12th in 2010.
Mastro is also an American competitor. She scored an 83.75 in prelims. The 18-year-old was a bronze medal winner in the SuperPipe in the 2018 X Games.
This one looks to be all about Kim, who is emerging as one of the upcoming stars of the Winter Olympics for the Americans for years to come. She cruised in the qualifying round and likely can only beat herself on the way to gold. With three runs, she is likely to put one strong run together early and then unleash her best with the title locked up. You can feel good about betting on Kim for gold.
WINTER OLYMPICS PREDICTION: CHLOE KIM -450