Sam Oldham may have been a long shot to win a medal in London, but that didn’t stop him from accomplishing the feat. The 19-year-old and his fellow Team Great Britain gymnasts defied the odds and won the bronze in the men’s team event, marking the first time since 1912 that Great Britain medaled.
Oldham’s grandmother, Linda Aldred, was so confident in her grandson bringing home a medal that she bet the equivalent of about $8 on it with 200-to-1 odds before the Games began. After watching Oldham and Team GB win the bronze, she assumed she was not only the world’s proudest grandmother but also about $1,600 richer. According to The Telegraph, the bookie Aldred placed the bet with will not honor the wager because Oldham did not win a medal as an individual.
“I went back to the shop and I asked if my bet was finished and they said it was and the bet was void as Sam had won the medal as part of a team not as an individual,” Aldred explained. “I was stunned. I am really happy Sam won, it is more the principle than the money, but I could have used the winnings to pay for my ticket to see Sam at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.”
Aldred has taken her complaint to The Independent Betting Adjudication Service and the organization is looking into it. She said that her husband (Sam’s grandfather) was a betting man so she figured she would place the bet in his honor.
If the bet was for Oldham to win a medal and Aldred didn’t skip over any fine print, the bookie should honor it. If the action clearly stated that she was wagering on Oldham to win an individual medal at the London Olympics, there’s probably not much that can be done. Then again, if a bookie can refund bets like these just because the outcome was painful, maybe Aldred should get her $8 back.
