SYDNEY: The United States will top the medals table for the fourth straight Summer Games in Paris, while France will get a major host-nation bump from eighth to third, according to a forecast 100 days out from the opening ceremony.

The Gracenote virtual medals table, which is compiled using results data from key global and continental competitions since the Tokyo Olympics, has the US on top both on gold medal count (39) and total medal count (123).

The US will host the next Olym­pi­cs after Paris in Los Angeles in 2028.

France is predicted to win 28 gold medals and 55 in total, a jump of 18 golds and 22 medals from its performance in Tokyo three years ago, and will replace the host nation of that Games, Japan, in third place on the table.

China, the last country apart from the US to top the medal table, will retain second place with 35 gold medals, while Britain, Australia and Japan will win the fourth highest number of gold medals with 13 apiece, Gracenote predicts.

The Russian Olympic Com­mittee team were fifth on the Tokyo medals table but only a few Russians and Belarusians will compete in Paris as neutral athletes because of sanctions put in place after the invasion of Ukraine.

“Almost all Russian and Belar­usian competitors have been abs­ent from international competitions since February 2022,” Grac­enote, the content solutions unit of Nielsen, said in a news release.

“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 medal table to be the usual accurate reflection.”

Ukraine, whose athletes have struggled to prepare for the Games because of the continuing conflict at home, are forecast to win three golds and 13 total medals in Paris.

At the bottom of the table, Tajik­istan, Finland, San Marino, Trinidad & Tobago, North Korea, Fiji, Panama and Vietnam are all forecast to win a single bronze medal.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2024