The Summer Olympic Games in London will be the most notable event in the sports world on the planet. Competitions of this level traditionally attract millions of fans to sports arenas and TV screens. The most exciting sports for Russians will undoubtedly be those sports in which our country occupies a leading position. What are the forecasts regarding the performance of the Russian national team?
The Olympic Games in London will be held from July 27 to August 12, 2012. According to RIA Novosti, the composition of the Russian Olympic team will be known no earlier than July 11, 2012. It is assumed that 440-450 Russian athletes will go to the games to compete for 302 sets of awards in 37 sports.
In order to make reasonable predictions about the results of the performance of the Russian team at the 2012 Olympic Games, it is necessary to take into account the results of the performance of our athletes over the past four years. Analysts say the balance of power has remained largely unchanged since the Beijing Olympics. In the overall standings of summer sports, Chinese athletes continue to lead, followed by athletes from the United States, and the Russian national team objectively occupies an honorable third position.
It will be extremely difficult for Russian athletes to reach the main rivals, and among the possible contenders for the third place, representatives of Great Britain are selected closest to Russia. The hosts of the upcoming games will certainly make every effort to not only perform well in the “home” arena, but also to snatch the third position from Russia. Under these conditions, the Russian Olympians face a difficult task - to perform at full strength, showing results no lower than at the world championships that have taken place in recent years.
The overall place of the Russian team will depend, first of all, on the performance of the athletes. Analysts believe that here Russians can claim at least six medals of the highest dignity; the same amount of "gold" was won by athletes at the games in Beijing. Some experts believe that in these types of programs, Russian athletes can receive up to 19 medals of the highest standard.
Some concerns are raised by the training of Russian swimmers. Swimming is in second place in terms of the number of sets of awards played out, but it will clearly be difficult for Russian athletes to compete on equal terms with the Americans in these types of the Olympic program.
The coaches pin great hopes on the wrestlers who always help out the team in difficult conditions. At the London Olympics, it is planned to receive at least three gold medals in this sport. In other sports, the balance of power indicates that athletes from Russia are able to keep the bar on awards at the level of the Beijing Olympics. According to the results of the previous Summer Olympic Games, Russia became the third in the unofficial standings, having won 72 medals, of which - 23 gold, 21 silver and 28 bronze.
Making accurate predictions about the number of medals is a thankless task. There have been cases when such predictions were broken by unforeseen circumstances associated, for example, with injuries of athletes. Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko believes that in London the main struggle in the unofficial medal standings will unfold between Russian and British athletes. The sports official is confident that Russia will retain its third place at these Olympic Games as well.
