Displaying items by tag: Betting
O'Leary Let Off With Warning Over Beijing Bet
#OLYMPICS - Irish Olympic sailor and current All-Ireland sailing champion Peter O'Leary has been let off with a warning by officials after betting on a competitor to win at the 2008 Games in Beijing.
O'Leary and his then partner Stephen Milne did not qualify for the Star class medal race in Beijing, in which O'Leary won €3,600 after placing a €300 bet on 12-1 Britain.
The story came to light days before O'Leary and current teammate David Burrows began their Star class campaign at this summer's London Olympics, prompting an investigation by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
But IOC chiefs announced yesterday that they had found "no proof of any match-fixing".
While Olympic athletes are banned from betting on Olympic events, the IOC's ethics commission agreed that O'Leary was not fully aware of the rules at the time.
"The athlete was unaware he could not bet on Olympic events," said IOC spokesperson Mark Adams. "It is not something we agree with and we condemn it but we will not take any more action."
O'Leary and Burrows finished 10th in the Star class at the London Games in what was a milestone summer for Irish sailing on world sport's biggest stage.
#olympicsailing – Fancy betting on sailing at the 2012 Olympics? There's some fantastic odds on sailors to win medals as well as a few short ones if you factor in the vagaries of weather and a week long series. We've taken a quick eyeball and here's a selection from Paddy Power Bookmakers.
Star class supremo Robert Scheidt at 6/5 is not a great bet but there are fantastic odds on the defending champion Iain Percy at 5/1. Ireland 's Peter O'Leary at 7/2 is also definitely worth a punt.
In the Laser Radial class Annalise Murphy at 10/1 who goes into action today is worth a ton of money as the forecast is definitely on her side. We all know she is a formdidable force in big winds so the forecast is good for an each way bet. And Gintare Scheidt is excellent odds at 5/1 especially as she is the reigning world champion.
In the 470 the Australian champions are poor odds at 1/12 given there are so many opportunities for screw ups in a week long event. Ireland's Ger Owens is a very long shot at 25/1.
In the 49er the Irish are 25/1 and possibly a good each way bet as they have a superb coach in Ian Barker, 2000 silver medalist and have been on upward trajectory for the last year.
The Australians at 11/10 look like a sure fire thing so not worth a bet, but the British at 8/1 and the Spanish at 13/1 are both amazing odds.
In the Finn Ben Ainslie 8/15 would be your banker with the Danish at 8/5 very short odds but the Dutch 25/1 and the Croatian 11/2 are both good each way bets.
