Canada’s track and field team wants to keep the momentum rolling. After a thrilling performance at the World Athletics Championship, Team Canada is looking to make some noise at another international event. And Ontario sports betting enthusiasts can gamble on events at the 2022 Commonwealth Games which runs through Aug. 8 in Birmingham, England.
And in case punters were unaware, Canada has become a historical powerhouse at the competition. That makes it the perfect opportunity to highlight the quadrennial contest as PlayCanada’s Sports Betting Event of the Week.
Most Ontario sportsbooks offering betting markets
This year’s Commonwealth Games has 5,054 athletes participating from 72 nations across 20 sports. No, the event doesn’t carry the prestige of the Olympics. But it is still a large-scale event many elite-athletes – even Olympians – take seriously.
As such, most of Canada’s legal betting operators offered at least some daily action on the Commonwealth Games.
As of Monday morning, the following Ontario sportsbooks were offering at least some action on multiple Commonwealth Games events:
- BetRivers Ontario
- BetMGM
- bet365
- PointsBet
- DraftKings
- Unibet
- PokerStars
Sportsbooks: Canadian double-gold in beach volleyball very possible
Beach volleyball is one event to watch. Team Canada is in the running for a double-gold showing.
On the women’s side, Sarah Pavan (Kitchener, ON) and Melissa Humana – Paredes (Toronto, ON) are defending their medals. The pair won the 2018 Games – held in Australia – and enter with the second-best odds this time around at 2.00, +100.
Meanwhile, Sam Schachter (North York, ON) and Dan Dearing (Toronto, ON) are looking to avenge a finals loss. They also enter with the second-best odds at 2.25, +125.
Beach volleyball starts Aug. 7 so bettors can still place those wagers.
Canada’s biggest stars pull out of games
Punters: Don’t feel bad if those names don’t look familiar. Often, the Commonwealth Games acts as an unveiling for young stars.
This year however, there was actually a number of big names originally slotted to compete. None bigger than sprinter and six-time Olympic medalist, Andre De Grasse.
The Scarborough-native ran the anchor leg as Canada won gold on July 23 in a thrilling 4×100 metre-relay at the World Athletics Championships. The event took place between July 15 – 24 in Eugene, OR and is considered the highest level of track and athletics outside of the Olympics.
But with such a quick turnaround, De Grasse’s withdrawal from the Commonwealth Games is understandable. Teammates, Aaron Brown and Jerome Blake also pulled their names.
Bottom line, recovery must be prioritized, said Athletics Canada in a statement:
“These athletes have had a challenging world championship in hot weather conditions and unfortunately must withdraw from the 2022 Commonwealth Games to properly recover and prepare for the rest of the season.”
Olympic gold medalist Kelsey Mitchell already has won 4 medals
One of the stars for Team Canada, so far, has been cyclist Kelsey Mitchell. The Albertan was already won four medals at the Commonwealth Games:
- Silver in the 500m Time Trial
- Bronze in Keirin
- Silver in Team Sprint
- Silver in Women’s Sprint
And, at 28, Mitchell already has an Olympic gold medal under her belt courtesy of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Commonwealth Games includes 3×3 basketball, para-athletes and more
There are 27 sports offered at this year’s Commonwealth Games. And it is the first fully inclusive international multi-sport event. Athletes with a disability compete alongside their fellow compatriots– counting towards the same medal count.
The sports offered are:
- 3×3 Basketball
- 3×3 Wheelchair Basketball
- Aquatics Diving
- Aquatics Swimming and Para Swimming
- Athletics
- Para Athletics
- Badminton
- Beach volleyball
- Boxing
- Cricket
- Road Cycling
- Cycling (track and para)
- Artistic Gymnastics
- Rhythmic Gymnastics
- Field Hockey
- Judo
- Lawn Bowls
- Lawn Bowls (Para)
- Netball
- Para Powerlifting
- Rugby Sevens
- Squash
- Table Tennis
- Para Table Tennis
- Triathlon and para triathlon
- Weightlifting
- Wrestling
Canada third all-time in Commonwealth medals
The Commonwealth Games traditionally receives little interest from mainstream media. And that’s unfortunate when it comes to Canada. The Games are one of the few multi-international sporting events where Canada excels.
All time, entering this year’s Games, Canada is third on the all-time medal count with 1,555, behind Australia (2,415) and England (2,144).
As of Monday, Canada was third in the medal standings for this year’s games with 33 medals — six gold, 11 silver and 16 bronze. Australia leads with 71 medals (31-20-20) and England is second with 54 (21-22-11).
