The defending Olympic champion in the men’s 100m breaststroke is back to defend his title in the Paris Olympics, as Adam Peaty is looking for another gold medal on the world’s biggest swimming stage. But he will have to contend with multiple recent world champions in this discipline, including an American who brings a very interesting story with him to the games. Here, we break down the Olympic men’s 100m breaststroke event and pick our winner for this race.
Olympic Men’s 100m Breaststroke Betting Odds
| Swimmer | Gold Medal Odds |
| Adam Peaty | -145 |
| Haiyang Qin | +110 |
| Nic Fink | +900 |
| Arno Kamminga | +1600 |
| Evgenii Somov | +2000 |
| Nicolo Martinenghi | +2000 |
| Jiajun Sun | +2500 |
| Sam Williamson | +2500 |
| Melvin Imoudu | +3000 |
| Charlie Swanson | +8000 |
| Joshua Yong | +10000 |
| Caspar Corbeau | +10000 |
| Berkay Ogretir | +10000 |
Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook
The two favorites to win the Olympic men’s 100m breaststroke event are Adam Peaty of Great Britain and Haiyang Qin of China. Peaty is the reigning Olympic champion having come out on top of this race by just over a half-second at the Tokyo Games in 2021. Meanwhile, Qin is coming off of a gold medal in this event at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Japan. No other swimmer is at better than +900 to finish in first place in this race.
Olympic Men’s 100m Breaststroke Major Storylines
The top storyline going into the Olympic men’s 100m breaststroke is whether Adam Peaty can continue his dominance in this discipline and distance in competitive swimming. Peaty has held the world record in this event since 2015, setting it on five different occasions since then. But his last world record swim came back in 2019 and it would take a lot for him or anyone else to top that mark in this race.
Meanwhile, the rise of Haiyang Qin and his potential to take Peaty down in this race will also be a huge story going into this event. The Chinese swimmer has been dominant in the 50m, 100m, and 200m breaststroke events over the last couple of years. He is in a great position to win a medal here, one that he hopes will be gold.
Then there is the story of Nic Fink, who has the third-shortest odds to win the gold medal in the 100m breaststroke. Fink works full-time as an engineer when he isn’t swimming, making him a compelling figure in an Olympic Games that is full of them. If he can find a way to snag gold here, he could become an overnight celebrity in America.
Olympic Men’s 100m Breaststroke Medal Contenders
The top-three medal contenders for the Olympic men’s 100m breaststroke are Peaty, Qin, and Fink. After them, there are a few interesting names to keep an eye on going into this race. Arno Kamminga of Netherlands won the silver medal in this event behind Peaty in Tokyo in 2021, while Italian Nicolo Martinenghi grabbed the bronze in that race. Either of them could easily work their way into the top-three.
Men’s 100m Breaststroke Betting Prediction: Haiyang Qin (+110)
The price to back Haiyang Qin to win the gold in the men’s 100m breaststroke isn’t great, but he does have the best chance to win this race of anyone not named Adam Peaty. We will take Qin to win the gold here at plus money and hope that he has what it takes to get out to a slightly better start than the defending gold medalist to secure his legacy as one of the great breaststroke technicians in the recent history of the sport.
