A pair of men's basketball semifinal matchups will be at the forefront of Thursday's 2024 Paris Olympics schedule, along with intriguing women's volleyball, and men's and women's track and field events. SportsLine expert Mike Tierney is paying particular attention to the men's basketball semis. In one of them, Serbia will look to derail the high-flying Americans, who have breezed through the tournament to this point. Serbia is led by Denver Nuggets standout Nikola Jokic, who helped lead Serbia to a silver medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
All eyes will also be on the men's 200m at 2:30 p.m. ET as American Noah Lyles (-400) will try to double up after winning the 100m earlier this week. Letsile Tebogo (+425) of Botswana and Americans Kenneth Bednarek (+550) and Erriyon Knighton (+2800) are also expected to contend. Before locking in any 2024 Summer Olympics picks on those events or others, you need to see what SportsLine Olympic insider Mike Tierney has to say.
A national sportswriter whose work appears in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, Tierney has covered nine Olympic Games in person. At Rio in 2016, Tierney profited big-time. He told readers to bet over on Team USA's gold medal count (41.5) and over on Team USA's overall medal count (102.5). The result? 46 golds, 121 medals and two easy cashes. Then, at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Tierney hit two of his three predictions: Germany (+200) to win the most gold medals and the United States winning under 10.5 gold medals (+110). Anybody following has seen some big returns.
Now, Tierney has broken down the 2024 Olympics from every possible angle and revealed his best bets for Thursday, Aug. 8. You can visit SportsLine now to see his 2024 Summer Olympics picks.
Top 2024 Paris Olympics picks for Aug. 8
Tierney sees good value in the women's 400-meter hurdles and is backing Femke Bol of the Netherlands as a +270 underdog. American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is the -480 favorite and owns the world record at 50.65 seconds that she set earlier this year. But Tierney was impressed with Bol's determination to deliver the gold for the Dutch in the mixed relay.
"As brilliant as the American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has been in her signature event, an enduring memory of these Games is Bol closing from fourth place to first down the stretch to deliver the Dutch a gold medal in the mixed relay," Tierney told SportsLine. "This is a two-person race, with all other entrants playing extras in this drama, so Bol can focus on one competitor. It's a tall task, but the temptation to grab a world-class runner at +270 is too tempting to pass up." See the rest of Tierney's picks here.
How to make 2024 Olympics picks
Tierney has locked in four other Olympic best bets for Thursday, including a huge upset in the men's 200m. He's only sharing his picks and analysis here.
What are Tierney's best bets for the 2024 Olympic Games on Thursday, and which underdog should you be all over? Visit SportsLine now to see Mike Tierney 2024 Summer Olympics best bets and analysis, and find out.
