BETTING:WEIGHTLIFTING IS the sport of choice for cheats. So say the bookmakers.

That the entire Bulgarian team were pulled out of the Games after all 11 tested positive for the anabolic steroid, methandienone, has added to the belief that the sport has a very dubious image. Paddy Power have weightlifting at 8 to 11 to be the first Olympic event to strip a medallist for failing a dope test, while Ladbrokes put the sport at 5 to 4 to lead the shame table.

Unsurprisingly, Paddy Power also has weightlifting at 4 to 7 to become the first sport to produce a competitor who fails a gender test. That would be a man impersonating a woman and in weightlifting you can see where that might help. Ladbrokes pick Track and Field at 11 to 10 to become the first sport in Beijing to name and shame a man-woman for bending gender and rules.

None of the betting agencies see Ireland as a very likely country to win a gold medal with 32-year-old Tipperary horseman, Denis Lynch, top pick for Paddy Power at 4 to 1. Boylesports look to the rowers and have the lightweight four of Gearóid Towey, Paul Griffin, Cathal Moynihan and Richard Archibald at 14 to 1 to win the gold and Ladbrokes offer 33 to 1 for the Irish to win gold in the equestrian team event.

The contest to top the overall medal table is a clear two-horse race between the USA and China. The old rivalry between America and Russia has diminished since the Berlin Wall came down. China are the favourites with all three bookies to win most medals with the USA second favourites. Russia are 25 to 1 outsiders with Ladbrokes placing any other country at 100 to 1.

There is also unanimity about the most likely to winner of the Blue Riband event in track and field. Jamaican and world record holder, Usain Bolt, goes in as the man to beat over 100 metres with compatriot Asafa Powell and American Tyson Gay also in the mix. Curiously in baseball, the American national pastime, Paddy Power list Cuba as 8 to 11 favourites to win with the USA second favourites at 9 to 4.