Olympics gold could fuel SPOTY aspirations

Five would-be Olympic medal winners are in the top ten at Betfred to win the 2024 BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Olympics Betting odds

BBC Sports Personality of the Year betting

Leading the way is Wiganer Keely Hodgkinson at 3/1 favourite for the nation's top individual honour, ahead of Warrington's own darts sensation Luke Littler, who is 9/2. and cycling ace Mark Cavendish at 11/2.

Leigh Harrier Hodgkinson, the 22-year-old 800 metre runner, is looking to go one better and win gold after her silver in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Real Madrid and England midfielder Jude Bellingham is the biggest mover out to 25/1 from 10/1 after our Euros defeat to Spain in Germany, when we had such high hopes of at long last winning something on the international stage for the first time since 1966.

World indoor pole vault champ Molly Caudery from Cornwall is 14/1 for Spoty ahead of Uttoxeter-born swimmer Adam Peaty whose Betfred odds have been cut to 16/1.

Next up are two more Brits in our squad for the Paris games that start on Friday. They are Scottish 1500m runner Joshua Kerr at 20/1 with Betfred - and London-born sprinter Dina Asher-Smith at 25/1.

Finally, Betfred have another Londoner, tennis player Jack Draper, and recently-retired England fast bowler Jimmy Anderson - known to cricket fans worldwide as the Burnley Express - both at 33/1.

Very often Olympians dominate this highly popular Betfred market especially after few Brits made much of an impact at Wimbledon, and of course it was glorious failure in the Euros.

I reckon a great bet would be Andy Murray who has announced this week he's ending his glorious tennis career at the Paris Olympics. It's on clay which will hamper him but he's 100/1 with us to make it a fairytale end to his career with a gold medal - and that's the same price at the moment of him winning 2024 Spoty.