Here is one person’s projected medal count for the top 15 countries in the upcoming Summer Games. Mr. Barra is the former head of the Italian Olympic Committee for the 2006 Winter Games that were held in Turin, Italy. Two time British Olympian Sebastian Coe, who heads the organizing committee for the London Games, also makes this prediction.
The Chinese are said to have spent a lot of time and money improving in sports that they have not excelled in previously. It will be interesting to see if this government support allows their athletes to overtake the privately financed U.S. counterparts.
Pos. Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 China 43 29 28 100
2 U.S. 35 17 26 78
3 Russian Fed. 30 23 26 79
4 Great Britain 19 27 16 62
5 Germany 17 19 20 56
6 Japan 14 12 15 41
7 France 13 16 16 45
8 Australia 13 16 8 37
9 Italy 12 7 13 32
10 New Zealand 8 3 8 19
11 Kenya 7 6 4 17
12 Brazil 7 5 5 17
13 Iran 7 3 4 14
14 Korea 6 6 17 29
15 Belarus 5 4 6 15
This projection is surprising in that most people assume that the United States will continue its recent dominance in the Olympic medal count. It is true that the Chinese government has made Olympic success a priority and it actively supports Olympic coaches and athletes. In the United States Olympic athletes and coaches are financed almost exclusively by private resources.
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This story and table are reprinted with permission from The Sport Intern blog. This blog is published in Lorsch, Germany by Karl-Heinze Huba. He can be reached via email at ISMG@aol.com.