New Zealand is predicted to win 14 medals, including four gold, at the upcoming Paris Olympics, which begin this week. This forecast comes from Nielsen’s Gracenote Sports, a company that analyzes major sporting events worldwide.
Based on recent results, Gracenote ranks New Zealand 18th on the projected medal table, tied with Turkey, which has more silver medals. At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, New Zealand had its best performance, winning 20 medals (seven gold, six silver, and seven bronze), placing 13th overall. This was second only to the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics in terms of gold medals and overall ranking.
New Zealand is expected to excel in rowing, canoeing, rugby sevens, and track cycling. The United States is predicted to win the most medals, with an estimated total of 112, including 39 gold. China is projected to be their closest rival with 34 gold medals.
Historically, the United States has dominated the medal counts, winning the most overall medals at the last seven Summer Games. The last time another country topped the medal count was China in 2008.
After the United States and China, Britain, France, Australia, Japan, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, and South Korea are also expected to do well in Paris. Host countries typically see an increase in their medal counts, and France is expected to almost triple the number of gold medals it won in Tokyo.
Japan, which won 58 medals (27 gold) at the Tokyo Olympics, is expected to win fewer this time. The participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes remains uncertain due to ongoing international conflicts, and any medals they win will not be included in the official medal table by order of the International Olympic Committee.
How can this be predicted?