The fastest race in women’s swimming at the Paris Olympics will be the women’s 50m freestyle. In that race, the world record holder in that distance is the favorite to come away with the gold medal, but you never know what can happen when the short distance of this race has the potential to cause chaos. Continue reading for our Olympic women’s 50m freestyle race prediction in what should be a fun event from the pool in Paris.
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Olympic Women’s 50m Freestyle Betting Odds
| Swimmers | Gold Medal Odds |
| Sarah Sjostrom | -200 |
| Katarzyna Wasick | +500 |
| Gretchen Walsh | +500 |
| Shayna Jack | +700 |
| Simone Manuel | +800 |
| Wu Qingfeng | +2000 |
| Yufei Zhang | +2500 |
| Meg Harris | +2500 |
| Taylor Ruck | +4000 |
| Michelle Coleman | +4000 |
| Baryl Gastaldello | +4000 |
| Melanie Henique | +5000 |
| Anna Hopkin | +5000 |
Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook
The odds-on favorite to win the Olympic women’s 50m freestyle race is Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden. Sjostrom finished in second in this event in Tokyo but has been a decorated competitor in this distance throughout her career. She holds the world record in this distance, setting it at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Japan. But she proved in Tokyo that she is not infallible and the rest of the field here will be able to use that as motivation in this sprint for the gold.
Olympic Women’s 50m Freestyle Major Storylines
Sjostrom’s career as a whole is a major storyline going into the Olympic women’s 50m freestyle event in Paris. She has had a decorated career in this distance, winning gold after gold in world championship races. But she has just one Olympic gold to her name, with that coming in the 2016 Rio games in the 100m butterfly. A gold medal performance here would be a huge vindication for a great career on the biggest stage in the world.
The other big storyline for this event is who will step up and challenge Sjostrom for the gold medal here. The rest of this field is all at +500 or longer odds to win the gold in this race according to DraftKings. But this race is never as straightforward as those odds would indicate, as the short distance makes it very hard for even the best swimmers in the world to win by a convincing margin.
Olympic Women’s 50m Freestyle Medal Contenders
Outside of Sjostrom, there is a group of four or so swimmers that have the best chance to come away with medals in this event. Katarzyna Wasick of Poland is one of those medal contenders after finishing fifth in this event in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. American Gretchen Walsh is also in that mix in her first Olympic games, though this is her first time on this stage and that could hold her back from reaching the pinnacle in this event.
Also in contention for a medal in this race are Shayna Jack of Australia and Simone Manuel of the United States. Manuel won four total medals in the Rio Olympics of 2016, including a silver in the 50m freestyle, but she has an uphill climb ahead of her in this race against the swift Swede in Sjostrom.
Women’s 50m Freestyle Betting Prediction: Sarah Sjostrom (-200)
We have been pretty good about avoiding chalk in many of these Olympic events, but we can’t deny that Sarah Sjostrom is the best choice to win the Olympic women’s 50m freestyle in swimming. She has an experience edge against most of the other medal contenders here, while Walsh and Wasick should have better performances in future games. Look for Sjostrom to come out on top here to put the cherry on top of what has been a brilliant short-distance swimming career.
