Mining for the Canadian medals
The prognosticators expect Canada to win 13 to 19 medals
The magic number is 20. Canada’s Olympic team will be hard-pressed to get there in Rio.
Canada hasn’t cracked the 20-medal barrier at a Summer Olympics since they earned 22 in 1996.
Canada likely needs 20 in Rio to be in contention for its stated goal of a top-12 ranking among countries in total medals won.
The Canadian Press predicts 19 medals — two gold, five silver and a dozen bronze — for Canada. CP picks paddler Mark de Jonge of Halifax and Toronto pole vaulter Shawnacy Barber to win gold.
CP predicted 22 medals for London in 2012 and overshot by four. Canada finished tied for 13th in the standings with18 medals, including Rosie MacLennan’s trampoline gold.
The sports data company Infostrada was projecting 16 medals for Canada on Tuesday — three gold, eight silver and five bronze — and ranked the country 19th.
Own The Podium uses results from the most recent world championship in each sport to gauge how Canada is performing compared to other countries.
World championships are an indicator of an athlete’s ability to perform on demand.
Canada ranks 11th in world championship medals with 21 according to Own The Podium, which equates golfer Brooke Henderson’s recent victory in an LPGA major as a world championship medal result.
The Canadian team will need those results repeated in Rio, or some unexpected medals, to hit the target set by the COC and Own The Podium.