With the Olympics just around the corner we’ve highlighted three competitors who look almost certain to claim gold in Beijing.

Given her outstanding recent form it will be a huge surprise if Sanya Richards doesn’t hit the jackpot in the women’s 400m.

The 23-yr-old American who won gold in the 4×400m relay at the Athens Games and a silver at the 2005 World Championships.

She hit the headlines in 2006 with a Golden League “full house” claiming six out of six events in the same season.

At the end of that season Richards was named IAAF 2006 Female World Athlete of the Year.

With an excellent Beijing preparation under her belt, the fastest woman in American history is the one to beat.

Australian stunner Leisel Jones is sure to be a very warm order this summer for the women’s breaststroke and will have a price to match.

Her elegant, old fashioned style makes her something of a throwback compared to the majority of today’s competitors.

She made her Olympic bow at the 2000 games aged just 15 but had to wait until Athens in 2004 before she won her first gold which came in the 4×100m medley.

Her current form is excellent - in Canberra at the Telstra GP she eclipsed her own 100m breaststroke world record with a time of 1.03.72.

24-yr-old Jeremy Wariner won a brace of Olympic golds in Athens (400m and 400m relay) and the bookies will be anticipating more heavy punishment at odds-on about this amazing athlete.

The flying Texan won all six Golden League events in 2006 and at last year´s World Championships in Osaka he clocked the third-fastest 400m of all time - 43.45.

Only Butch Reynolds and the great Michael Johnson have run faster.

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With a wealth of talent at their disposal there’s no doubt Argentina and Brazil will be the top two fancied sides to win Olympics football gold in Beijing.

Argentina are the current gold medal holders and appear to have suffered less than Brazil in terms of squad availability.

Olympic rules state that each country is permitted to name three players in their squad over the age of 23. The rules also state that there be automatic club release for players of 23 and under.

However, AC Milan´s Kaka has been denied permission to play for Brazil as has Werder Bremen´s brilliant Diego.

Argentina´s Lionel Messi could also miss out due to Barcelona´s reluctance to release their man but the defending champions will still be able to field a midfield pairing of Liverpool rottweiller Javier Mascherano and Boca Juniors playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme.

That’s some central pairing.

But with club/country politics at play for the big guns it´s worth noting that the likes of South Korea and China won’t have such problems. As we saw at the 2002 World Cup in Japan/Korea the host nations punched above their weight, particularly South Korea who made the semi-finals.

As that tournament proved, huge home support and experience of atmospheric conditions can go a long, long way in Asia.

With that effort in mind we fancy hosts China and neighbours South Korea to give us a run at far bigger odds than the top two in the outright market.

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With the Beijing Olympics just around the corner totesport are preparing a veritable punting feast for customers.

The Summer Games boasts of total of 28 sports, that comprise 302 events (165 men’s and127 women’s) - which means there is going to be plenty of markets available.

How is your track and field knowledge? With a hectic schedule ahead for odds compilers to get their heads around you might just be able to steal an edge on them.

Tyson Gay will most likely head the men´s 100m betting, just ahead of Jamaican flyer and new world record holder Usain Bolt. But you´ll need to keep an eye on those heats, because once they begin we´ll really start to get an idea as to which athletes are showing Gold Medal form.

Events covered by totesport will encompass the 100 metre distance through to the longer distances as well as some of the field events in Beijing. Keep an eye out for Olympic Sports betting as well.

The race to top the Gold Medal table is a market that traditionally arouses plenty of interest.

The USA have won that for the past three Summer Games but Uncle Sam might not have it all his own way this time round because the Chinese are closing in. The Chinese won 32 Gold Medals four years ago compared to the USA’s 36 Athens total.

Could home advantage be the key this time?

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