France projected to triple gold medal haul at Paris 2024

PARIS: Hosts France are projected to almost triple their gold medal total at the Paris 2024 Olympics from the 10 won at the Tokyo 2020 Games while also significantly increasing their overall medal haul, according to data company Nielsen Gracenote.

France are predicted to win 28 gold medals, 19 silver and eight bronze. The United States are expected to top the overall medal table again with 123, 10 more than they won in Tokyo. Athletics and swimming will remain key to that success, the data company said.

Asian powerhouse China are projected to stay second with 89 again and closely challenge the US for the most gold medals. Britain are placed third on 66 medals, two more than they won in Tokyo. Australia are predicted to have their best performance since the Athens 2004 Olympics with 50 medals, the gains coming from the swimming team. Russia, who finished fifth in Tokyo, was not part of the top 10, which also included Japan in sixth spot followed by Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and South Korea. Relations between Russia and the International Olympic Committee have worsened in the runup to the Paris Games, which start on July 26, where Russian and Belarusian athletes will compete as neutrals, without their flags and anthems, and be excluded from the opening parade, because of the war in Ukraine.

“Almost all Russian and Belarusian competitors have been absent from international competitions since February 2022,” Gracenote said, releasing its final ‘Virtual Medal Table’ forecast on Wednesday.

“Any who take part in Paris 2024 without results in this period cannot be predicted accurately. “However, it appears that there will be limited participation of these athletes and we expect the Virtual Medal Table to be the usual accurate reflection of the NOCS (National Olympic Committees) based on the data that we have.” —