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The competition ramps up in the pool on Wednesday with two women's and three men's swimming finals at the 2024 Paris Olympics. In the 100-meter freestyle, which starts at 2:30 p.m. ET, the gold could come down to Australian Mollie O'Callaghan and Hong Kong's Siobhan Haughey. O'Callaghan won gold in the 200 freestyle and is the -170 favorite in the 100 free. Haughey has logged impressive preliminary times and is at +430. Others who are looking to reach the medals stand include Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom (+700), Australia's Shayna Jack (+1000), The Netherlands' Marrit Steenbergen (+1600) and China's Junxuan Yang (+1600). Torri Huske of the United States is at +3000.

Another intriguing event is the men's 200-meter butterfly. Frenchman Leon Marchand (+225) will have the full backing of the home fans when the event gets underway at 2:36 p.m. ET. He is expected to battle Kristof Milak (-200) of Hungary for the gold medal. Milak is favored because he has logged seven of the 10 best times in the event. Also expected to challenge for a spot on the medal stand are Ilya Kharun (+1500) of Canada and Noe Ponti (+2000) of Switzerland. 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 Wednesday, July 31. You can visit SportsLine now to see his 2024 Summer Olympics picks. 

Top 2024 Paris Olympics picks for July 31

Marchand may be highly regarded, but Tierney sees better value with Milak (-105) to win the gold medal in the men's 200-meter butterfly. Marchand is also taking part in the 200 breaststroke, an event in which he has an even better shot at winning gold. Because of that divided attention, Tierney is backing Milak.

"Leon Marchand, the toast of France after earning gold in the individual medley, tackles a pair of events on the same night," Tierney told SportsLine. "His better endeavor is the 200 breaststroke, where he has become the favorite after primary challenger Qin Haiyang barely reached the semifinals. Not that Marchand will take the fly lightly, but he might save a bit of energy with Milak the probable winner." See the rest of his picks here.

How to make 2024 Paris Olympics picks

Tierney has analyzed the 2024 Paris Olympics odds for Wednesday and locked in four more swimming best bets, including one that returns +600. He's only sharing his picks here.

What are Tierney's best bets for the 2024 Olympic Games on Wednesday? Visit SportsLine now to see Mike Tierney 2024 Summer Olympics best bets and analysis, and find out.