Best bets and predictions for day 12 of the 2024 Paris Olympics: Diaz can dazzle in triple jump

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Best bets for day 12

Ellesse Andrews to win women's keirin
1pt 6-1 Coral, Ladbrokes

Jordan Diaz to win men's triple jump
1pt 6-4 bet365, BoyleSports

Argentina women's hockey +1.5 vs Netherlands
1pt 4-5 bet365

Maria de Valdes to win a medal in the women's 10km marathon swim
1pt 3-1 BoyleSports

Paris 2024 Olympics day 12 predictions

Cycling predictions

Starts 11.45am
By Jack Ogalbe

Team GB's Emma Finucane goes for her second gold at the Paris Games when she rides in the women's keirin on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old was part of the successful team sprint on Monday and now switches focus to this discipline, where she is joined by team pursuit colleague Sophie Capewell. Capewell is a potential medal contender, but Finucane heads the market at 11-10. 

She has taken silver behind Germany's Lea Friedrich at both the 2023 and 2024 European Championships but Great Britain's fast start in the velodrome suggests she is firing. However, the rider to watch is Ellesse Andrews of New Zealand.

Silver medallist in Tokyo, the Kiwi won keirin gold at last year's World Championships in Glasgow and also triumphed at April's Nations Cup in Canada.

After finishing second in the team sprint, the world champion will have added motivation and she could grab the gold to deny Finucane a double.

In the men's sprint, reigning champion Harrie Lavreysen of the Netherlands is almost impossible to oppose, although his price varies from 8-15 with Paddy Power to 1-3 with BoyleSports.

However, there is another live chance of a British medal with Jack Carlin well up in the betting at 17-2.

The Scot took sprint bronze in Tokyo and another bronze in the discipline at last year's worlds in Glasgow. Veteran road cycling fans will see his record and recall Raymond Poulidor, a rider so synonymous with finishing runner-up at the Tour de France that he was nicknamed the Eternal Second.

Lavreysen's brilliance casts an unfair light on his rivals but Carlin is a consistent championship performer and should be able to claim a medal.

Athletics predictions

Starts 6.15pm
By Ian Wilkerson

Two Cuban exiles look set to battling it out in what promises to be a thrilling men's triple jump competition.

Defending champion Pedro Picardo, who now represents Portugal, burst back onto the scene after missing last year's World Championships through injury by posting 18.04m at June's Europeans in Rome.

However, his effort was gazumped by Spain's Jordan Diaz, who posted the third longest jump of all time to take the title with 18.18m, and the proximity of that effort to the Paris Games points to the 23-year-old adding the Olympic gold to his collection.

Jamaica's Jaydon Hibbert could prove a factor after injury problems, while it is also difficult to dismiss Burkina Faso's Hugues Fabrice Zango, who has won nine of the ten competitions he has entered this year. 

But Diaz's effort in Rome is nine centimetres longer than Kenny Harrison's Olympic record, which has stood since 1996, and he could even have Jonathan Edwards's world record of 18.29, which has stood for almost 20 years, in his sights.

It is going to take a top effort to prevent him from winning what should be one of the highlights of the track-and-field meeting.

Hockey predictions

Starts 1pm
By Phil Agius

The women's Olympic hockey semi-finals both have strong favourites but both ties could end up being close contests. Belgium are 4-9 to beat China, who caused the biggest upset of the quarter-finals when knocking out the Hockeyroos of Australia 3-2, despite having lost three of their five group games. Belgium won 2-1 when the teams met in their first game of the tournament and should just have the edge again.

Argentina won a dramatic quarter-final against Germany in a shootout after falling 1-0 behind with just three minutes left and after an unbeaten group campaign they are worth backing getting a 1.5-goal start against gold-medal favourites the Netherlands. The South American side are the second favourites for the tournament and could prove tough for the Dutch to shake off.

Marathon swimming predictions

Starts 6am Thursday
By Ian Wilkerson

Organisers hope water conditions in the River Seine will be good enough for the women's 10km swim to take place early on Thursday morning and while the rowing venue is standing by as a back-up, Rio champion Sharon van Rouwendaal will be confident of reclaiming her title after taking silver in Tokyo.

Currents were found to be tough during last week's triathlons and the Dutch swimmer, who won the race at the World Aquatic Championships at both Budapest in 20-22 and Doha earlier this year, is expected to receive her closest challenge from defending champion Ana Marcela Cunha for Brazil, who finished tied for fourth in Qatar.

BoyleSports have a market on who will win a medal in the event and the only swimmer who makes appeal there is Spain's Maria de Valdes, who pushed Van Rouwendaal right to the wire in that Doha showdown.

That was the first time she had swum in the open water at that level and could come on from that experience to get a place on the podium.

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