Canada will beat its Vancouver medal haul at Sochi 2014: predictions

It is usually difficult for Olympic athletes to perform even better after a Games held at home, but that is the aim of Canada’s team heading into next month’s Sochi 2014 Winter Games.

The 22nd Winter Games begin in a month from today, and Canadian athletes are quickly sweeping medals in Olympic-qualifying World Cups and World Championships for their respective sports.

Canada is gearing up to outdo its 2010 medal haul in Russia with the help of Vancouver legacy programs like Own the Podium. Over the last four years since Vancouver, athletes with high potential have received $80-million in funding to assist with their training costs – $10-million more than the $70-million in funding they received over the four years leading up to Vancouver.

In Vancouver, Canada won 14 gold medals – the most of any competing nation – and took in a total of 26 medals coming behind Germany with 30 (10 as gold) and the United States with 37 (9 as gold).

Like what Canadian athletes experienced in Vancouver and Whistler, the Russians will have home ice and snow advantage but they have much to prove after coming in at a disappointing ninth place in 2010 with only 3 golds and a total of 15 medals.

The Canadian Olympic Committee’s focus at Sochi will be to exceed to its 2010 medal count, which means winning at least 27 medals. It wants to be the first country to not fall back on its medal count after hosting the Olympics.

According to Infostrada, a company that synthesizes international sports data, Canada is on the right track and is currently expected to win a total of 31 medals with 11 gold, 14 silver and 6 bronze. These predictions are the latest and were released today, January 7.

However, these are not the company’s final predictions. The remaining Olympic-qualifying events held over the next few weeks could change Canada’s estimated medal tally and relative ranking.

Medals won – predictions as of January 7, 2014

Rank / Country / Gold / Silver / Bronze / Total

1		NOR	14	12	10	36
2		USA	14	8	8	30
3		CAN	11	14	6	31
4		GER	10	11	12	33
5		FRA	6	3	5	14
6		RUS	5	6	4	15
7		KOR	5	5	4	14
8		NED	5	4	4	13
9		CHN	4	4	4	12
10		AUT	3	8	9	20
11		SUI	3	5	1	9
12		SWE	3	3	1	7
13		SLO	3	2	2	7
14		JPN	2	3	3	8
15		POL	2	0	2	4
16		CZE	2	0	1	3
17		ITA	1	3	5	9
18		GBR	1	2	3	6
19		FIN	1	0	7	8
20		AUS	1	0	2	3
21		KAZ	1	0	1	2
22		LAT	1	0	0	1
23		BLR	0	4	0	4
24		CRO	0	1	1	2
25		UKR	0	0	2	2
26		SVK	0	0	1	1

Medals won by Canadians – predictions as of January 7, 2014