Medals are down, but overall position is up
The exact number of medals Team GB will win at the Olympics has been predicted by global sports analytics experts.
The boffins at Gracenote, a subdivision of Nielsen, one of the world’s leading sports analytics companies, have released a virtual medal table (VTM).
The table ranks what Gracenote predict will be the top 30 nations at the sporting event and its no surprise Team GB figure highly once again.
Unlike lots of news outlets, Gracenote have ordered their table based on entire medal haul, as opposed to the gold-first system many organisations such as the BBC use.
In true Olympic fashion, the official website for the games does not offer a ranked medal table, but an alphabetical list with applicable filters.
It does not take dozens of experts or data to know who will be sitting in the top two spots on the medal table as the USA and China lock horns on the international stage in sporting form.
Gracenote predict 39 golds for the Americans and 34 for China.
With no Russia, or the Russian Olympic Committee, bronze place on the medal table opens up to the rest of the world where GB has found itself challenging for in recent games.
If GB want third place, however, they will have to go head-to-head with centuries old rivals and host nation France for honour of being ‘best of the rest’.
Gracenote has predicted a total of 17 golds, 20 Silvers and 26 Bronzes for Team GB for a total of 63 medals.
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This would represent a one medal decrease as well as a 23% drop off in gold medals from Tokyo’s medal haul with 49 less GB athletes attending in Paris.
Gracenote said: “Great Britain can sustain its winning performance of 60 or more medals for a fourth successive Olympic Summer Games. British success over the past three Summer Olympics has been built on having medal winners in at least 20 sports.
“Gracenote’s final VMT forecast has British medal winners in 21 different sports, suggesting that this trend is set to continue. Prior to the 2012 Olympic Games, Great Britain had not won medals in at least 20 sports for over 100 years, since hosting in 1908.”
Team GB finished fourth in the medal table at Tokyo 2020, while managed their best ever finish in Rio 2016 when they finished second overall only behind the USA.
France will represent Team GB’s biggest threat as the hosts are looking for their best finish since the London 1948 Olympics if they manage to overtake GB to finish in third place.
Gracenote have predicted that with their home advantage the hosts will get 27 golds, 21 silvers and 12 bronzes for a total of 60 medals.
The prediction said: “At the Paris 2024 Games, France is expected to have its best Olympic Games for 124 years, since winning 115 medals when hosting in 1900.”
The real showdown events between Team GB and L’Equipe de France will likely come in athletics, in the pool, judo and gymnastics.
The Paris 2024 Olympics kick off officially on Friday 26 July with the opening ceremony in the French capital.
