The Olympic women’s 1500m freestyle is the ultimate test of swimming endurance as far as the indoor program is concerned. But one swimmer has stood out above the rest in terms of her endurance in this event in recent Olympic Games. Here, we break down the women’s 1500m freestyle event and determine whether or not anyone has even the faintest chance of unseating Katie Ledecky.
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Olympic Women’s 1500m Freestyle Betting Odds
| Swimmer | Gold Medal Odds |
| Katie Ledecky | -3500 |
| Simona Quadarella | +1300 |
| Lani Pallister | +2000 |
| Bingjie Li | +2000 |
| Isabel Gose | +2500 |
| Katie Grimes | +5000 |
| Anastasiia Kirpichnikova | +5000 |
| Moesha Johnson | +10000 |
| Leonie Martens | +10000 |
Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook
Unsurprisingly, the favorite to win the Olympic women’s 1500m freestyle race is Katie Ledecky of the United States. She is one of the heaviest favorites in any Olympic event at -3500, meaning that bettors must wager $3,500 on Ledecky to turn a profit of $100 if she comes out on top. No other competitor in this event is inside of +1000 to grab the gold medal, which speaks to just how dominant Ledecky is in this discipline.
Olympic Women’s 1500m Freestyle Major Storylines
At this point, the biggest storyline for the women’s 1500m freestyle is not whether anyone can beat Katie Ledecky. Instead, it is whether Katie Ledecky can compete with her own previous accomplishments. Ledecky holds the world record in this event at 15:20.48, a record she set back in 2018. She also holds the Olympic record, having completed this distance in 15:35.35 during the Tokyo games.
Beating either of those records would require an incredible swim from Ledecky, especially with her set to compete in other events. But she has a better chance of toppling one or both of those records than anyone else in this race has of toppling her in the pool in Paris, making Ledecky’s competition with history the most compelling storyline of this event.
Olympic Women’s 1500m Freestyle Medal Contenders
Outside of Ledecky, the race for the other two spots on the podium is pretty wide open. Simona Quadarella of Italy is the favorite to grab the silver medal in this event. But Lani Pallister of Australia, Bingjie Li of China, and Isabel Gose of Germany all have a perfectly good chance to finish in a podium spot and grab themselves a medal, even if their chances of beating Ledecky are slim to none.
It will be interesting to see if any sportsbooks post odds for this race on who the winner will be without Ledecky involved. On one hand, it is one swimming race that probably will not attract enough betting attention to justify additional work from the sportsbooks. But it would breathe some much-needed life into the betting markets for this race, one Ledecky is all but certain to win.
Women’s 1500m Freestyle Betting Prediction: Katie Ledecky (-3500)
Are we saying that you should go out and wager $3,500 to win $100 on Katie Ledecky in the Olympic women’s 1500m freestyle? No, you should always bet based on your own personal budget and do so responsibly. But unless Ledecky ends up with a cramp or otherwise unable to complete this race, she is going to win it and is the only bet that anyone should make to win the gold medal for this race during the Paris Olympics.
