NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
There are lofty expectations for Team GB at this summers Paris Olympics, following on from the success of Tokyo 2020.
Three years ago, Team GB returned from Tokyo with a grand total of 64 medals which saw that group finish in fourth place in the overall medals table, behind host nation Japan, China and the United States in top spot.
It came after a record British total of 67 medals at Rio 2016, four years on from the unforgettable London 2012 Games.
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Of those 64 medals in Tokyo, 22 were the top prize, with Great Britain and Northern Ireland experiencing a steady decline in the number of gold medals since an all-time best haul of 29 in London.
However, after a tenth-placed finish at Athens 2004, Team GB have secured a place in the top four each of the last four Olympics, a streak that will continue if their targets are met.
Speaking ahead of the Games, UK Sports Director of Performance, Kate Baker, revealed that Team GB had been set an official target of between 50 and 70 medals.
We are likely to be the only nation, other than the USA or China, who will be bold enough to say that we can go to these Games and come home with a minimum of 50 medals, Baker said.
That is an extraordinary achievement. Whilst we have achieved more than that historically, and I feel somewhat confident that we can do so again “ 50 is no mean feat and it is not a done deal.
We want to continue our streak of top five Olympic medal table finishes. We are feeling confident that we are on an upward trajectory as we head towards the Games.
We feel very confident that we will get between 50 and 70 medals and that on a good day that 70 is really within our grasp.
Looking ahead to the Games, OLBGs SuperComputer predicted that Team GB would win 26 gold, 16 silver and 20 bronze medals, with the USA topping the overall medals table.
Hosts France were backed to finish sixth in the table, behind Great Britain, Australia and Japan.
China, meanwhile, were tipped to finish behind the States in second spot, taking home 32 gold, 23 silver and 22 bronze medals.
The model for the Paris 2024 Supercomputer uses over a century of Olympic history to predict the medal standings for the Paris 2024. This was done by analysing data from every Summer Olympics since 1896, OLBG said of the findings.
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The model was trained to recognise patterns in how countries perform across different sports and events. The dataset includes every medal won and a variety of factors such as the country, sport, event, and gender of the event.
To make predictions relevant to Paris 2024, all countries that participated in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, excluding the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) wont compete in 2024 as they will compete as the Individual Neutral Athletes delegation, or AIN.
They are not included on the medal table. The model used this data to learn and predict the likelihood of countries winning medals in each event.
To ensure a fair and realistic distribution of medals, the model allocated medals based on the predicted performances, adjusting to reflect historical trends.
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