The United States and China are expected to once again lead the medal standings at the Summer Games, 100 days before the Paris Olympics.
The United States and China are expected to once again top the medal table at the Paris Summer Olympics, which open in 100 days.
According to Nielsen’s Gracenote Sports forecast, the United States is expected to win 123 medals, including 39 gold. China, meanwhile, is expected to win 35 gold medals and 89 medals overall. The duo finished double gold and overall three years ago at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics.
Gracenote’s rankings are based on total medals won, although others focus on gold totals.
If the United States topped the medal standings, it would be for the eighth consecutive Summer Games. In 1992, in Barcelona, the so-called Unified team led the general classification. These athletes came from the former Soviet Union, which had just broken up as a sovereign state.
The last time the United States failed to win gold medals at the Summer Games was in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics, where China invested heavily and reaped dividends.
Next in line at the Paris Olympics are projected to be: Great Britain (66-13 for the overall gold medal), France (55-28), Australia (50-13 ), Japan (49-13), Italy (47-12), Netherlands (38-18), Germany (36-9), South Korea (24-9).
The next 10 are: Canada (22-6), Spain (20-5), Hungary (19-5), Brazil (18-9), Turkey (13-4), Ethiopia (13-3), Uzbekistan (13 ). -3), Ukraine (13-3), Georgia (12-3) and Denmark (11-5).
Host countries get an increase in medal numbers and this should be the case for France, who are expected to increase their overall total by 33 in Tokyo. France is expected to almost triple its gold medal production in Tokyo, where Japan won a record.
Performing at home is an advantage, in part because host countries invest more in athlete training. And then, of course, there is home support.
France is expected to compete in 25 different sports in Paris, well above its recent Olympics average of between 15 and 19, according to Gracenote’s analysis.
The unknown in the projection is the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes. They have been excluded from most international competitions over the past two years because of the war in Ukraine. Their influence is difficult to take into account in forecasts, recognizes Gracenote.
“It appears that the participation of these athletes (Russian and Belarusian) will be limited,” Gracenote said. He said he expects his predictions to be accurate “based on the data we have.”
Russia and Belarus cannot participate in team sports at the Paris Olympics and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has implemented a two-step vetting process for individual athletes from these countries to gain neutral status .
These athletes must first be approved by the governing body of their individual sport and then by a review committee appointed by the IOC.
