Gracenote Sports data company has downgraded Olympic medal expectations for Great Britain at Tokyo 2020 in its latest 2020 Summer Games Virtual Medal Table (VMT) forecast.
According to their latest Virtual Medal Table, Britain’s medal total is expected to drop significantly from 67 to 47 overall, with just 13 gold down from 27 in Rio.
The Gracenote VMT forecast considers results data from key competitions since the 2016 Summer Games, and predicts gold, silver and bronze medal counts for participating countries and athletes at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad.
Britains’s medal total is expected to drop significantly from 2016, possibly seeing them battling to finish in the top-five rather than the top-three where they finished in the last two Olympics.
Gracenote expects Britain to suffer reduction in medals in cycling – track, gymnastics – artistic and rowing amongst other competitions.
In 2016, those three sports accounted for nearly one third of British medals, 22 podium places. In 2020 however, they are currently expected to produce just eight podium places.
In sailing Britain took 2 gold and 1 silver in Rio 2016, their lowest total since Atlanta 1996 (2 silver).
Atlanta was the Games that triggered the decision of the UK Government to introduce Olympic sports funding.
The UK Sport funding is based on each sports success, measured by the medals won, the number of medallists developed, and the quality of the systems and processes in place.
Thus sports are under pressure to achieve set medal targets for each Olympics to maintain their funding – worth over £25 million to the RYA.
No individual medal targets have yet been set by UK Sport for Tokyo 2020.
The Gracenote VMT indicates that the United States is expected to top the medal leaderboard with 117 medals, including 47 gold, with China expected take second with 87 medals, 43 of them gold.
Japan, with host advantage, is expected to improve on its Rio 2016 medal total to finish with 65 medals, 30 gold.
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