Releasing details of its top events at the recent World Athletics Championships in Daegu, bookmaker William Hill said it had used the competition to "fine-tune our plans for the Olympics next year".

Spokesman Graham Sharpe said the company was "optimistic that we will break the £10 million ($16 million/€11 million) turnover barrier for the first time".

This, he said, would indicate "an industry turnover of some £50 million ($80 million/€57 million)".

Hill plans to bet on every single event at the Games.

It is no surprise that Hill's top turnover event at Daegu featured Usain Bolt; but it probably is a surprise that this was the men's 4x100 metres relay, won by Bolt's Jamaican team in a world record 37.04sec.

Second was the heptathlon, in which Britain's Jessica Ennis had to be content with silver, as did Phillips Idowu in the men's triple jump, which generated the third-biggest turnover for Hill.

To judge by the company's analysis of its biggest winning and losing events, the bookmakers' fortunes appear, to some extent, to bear an inverse relationship to the fortunes of Britain's top athletes.

Two of its three biggest winners – the men's triple jump and the men's 10,000m – were events in which well-fancied British athletes [Idowu and Mo Farah] were beaten to the gold; two of its five biggest losers – the men's 5,000m and the men's 400m hurdles – produced British winners [Farah and Dai Greene].


The blue-riband men's 100m, in which Bolt sensationally false-started, did creep into Hill's list of top winners, but only at number five.

This focus on athletics and London 2012 comes at a time when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been stepping up its battle against illegal and irregular betting.

A high-powered international working group, including British Sport and Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson, was established in March.

IOC President Jacques Rogge said the organisation had been prompted to act following "a clear signal from governments, Interpol and international federations that there is illegal betting that threatens the credibility of sport".

"It is a big problem in the entire world," Rogge said.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
June 2011: IOC steps up efforts in fight against irregular and illegal betting in sport
June 2011: Australia considers tough new sports corruption law
May 2011: All bets are off at London 2012, Coates warns Australian athletes
May 2011: FIFA and Interpol reveal match fixing in up to 300 matches worldwide
May 2011: FIFA to step up war on illegal betting