Peaty vs. Haiyang Prediction on July 28, 2024

Match info

The 35 pool swimming competitions at the Paris Olympics 2024 are scheduled to start on Saturday, July 27, and last nine days, ending on August 4, at the Paris La Défense Arena. Sunday, July 28, the second day of competition, will include three finals for this sport, one of which we have chosen to predict: the 100-meter breaststroke for men, which will get underway at 9:54 p.m. local time. At bookmakers with Skrill transactions enabled, there are two main favorites for gold, separated by a very narrow margin at most online operators.

Meeting statistics

Adam Peaty will attempt to accomplish something only legendary Michael Phelps has ever done among male swimmers: win three gold medals in a single Olympic event in a row. Peaty’s event in the last two Olympics has been this one. He won gold at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and then came back to capture gold in Tokyo in 2021. After earning that medal, he hasn’t been the same on the world stage. Following a period marked by physical setbacks and psychological challenges when he took some time off, Peaty stroked his fastest time in 2.5 years in April—the quickest time recorded in 2024 thus far—at the national Speedo Aquatics GB Swimming Championships (57.94). So, it looks like he’s settling in nicely.

Qin Haiyang, the Chinese swimmer who won all three breaststroke events at the World Aquatics Championships last year, will be Peaty’s biggest opponent in Paris. Additionally, his 2023 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup time of 57.69 isn’t too far off from Peaty’s world record of 56.88 set at the 2019 World Aquatics Championship in Gwangju, Korea.

These two seem to be the only swimmers left in the fight for gold, with a swarm of competitors vying for bronze, among them the current world champion from the USA, Nic Fink. Even though Peaty was joined on the Olympic podium in 2021 by Nicolò Martinenghi of Italy and Arno Kamminga of the Netherlands, Fink has been one of the most successful swimmers in this event in recent years, having won, as we said, the world title earlier this year, ahead of Martinenghi.

Russia’s Yevgenii Somov, who’ll compete as a neutral athlete, Australia’s Sam Williamson, Germany’s Melvin Imoudo, and China’s Sun Jiajun are among the other competitors who have posted 58s this year.

Match analytics

Peaty is the world's first-ranked swimmer in 2024 with 57.94, followed by Haiyang (58.24) and Somov (58.72). This should serve as the best indicator of how things will unravel in the final race on Sunday, however, we have most faith in Haiyang to finish atop. At some bookies, such as Powbet, the Chinese athlete is an odds-short favorite compared to Peaty and also a safer bet (but still with long odds, in general): 1.92.