What nation will win the most gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and why?

Question

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Answer 1

three nations will figure prominently in 2008 Beijing Olympics. these are United States, Russia and China. in terms of gold medal count, host China could give the United States some competition mainly because they improved a lot during the past 4 years, especially in boxing, weighlifting, gymnastics, taekwondo and judo. United States, on the other hand, is still strong in medal rich sports like athletics and swimming. Russia will dominate wrestling, shooting and gymnastics.

in terms of number of medals, host China has every chance to win the most numbers of medals simply because being the host, they will be represented in every event but United States will still emerged the most bemedalled nation in Beijing because they have strong chances in every event as well.

Answer 2

The question is about the Summer Games in Beijing, not the Winter Games...where Scandanavian and N. European countries dominate the skiing events.

That means that the USA, China and Russia will vie for the medal counts. My bet is that the USA will still tally the highest number. But China has made major advances in track, some of the swimming events, and they will also get medals in a lot of the more obscure sports like rhythmic gymnastics and shooting. They might win a medal in sports like Basketball or Volleyball, as well. They are improving quickly in those sports with very disciplined coaching programs. The Chinese will eventually begin to dominate the Olympics in the future as their health standards are rising and there are more and more taller individuals. But there is tremendous pressure on Chinese athletes to succeed and that will likely actually backfire. While some athletes thrive under such pressure, others crack...and that will cause some of their best from attaining the levels that could be expected of them. It could even drive them from the sport.

Russia will contend as well, as they are balanced in almost all sports. They have done much better than people have thought with the break-up of the USSR. If you counted all the CS states medals they'd be beating the US (but this is a bit unfair since they would have to field smaller numbers per event if they were still sending a unified USSR team)

The most interesting thing will be how the Chinese and the media handle some (un)expected protests. Will they come in with truncheons when someone simply holds up a "Free Tibet" or "Release the Falun Gong" sign in the stadium? And will the media be able to cover it?

Answer 3

United States

Answer 4

It will be a close battle between the US and China but I will give China the edge. They are the home team and thats a huge advantage. They have excellent diversity of talent in off track sports: gymnastics, diving, archery etc. I think they have a lot more depth than the US in those events and will have already amassed a huge medal tally before track and field events start - just like the last olympics. The only way USA can surpass is if they completely dominate the track and field events, which is very unlikely to happen. The Europeans will dominate the field events (throwing, jumping, pole vault etc.), the distances will be mostly held by the Africans while the middle distances and sprints is up for grabs. The sprints have been a strong point for the US but they can be easily be upset by many rising talents in smaller countries such as Jamaica and Bahamas. Apart from their 110m hurdler, I dont see China having a shot at any medals on the track. But then again they are the home team and you never know what can happen when a billion people are cheering you on.

Answer 5

United States

Answer 6

The USA will win the most gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics, but only barely. The host country always surprises everyone with their home game and this Olympics will not be any different. Especially since China has become quite the contenders in the past 10 years.

Answer 7

That means that the USA, China and Russia will vie for the medal counts. My bet is that the USA will still tally the highest number. But China has made major advances in track, some of the swimming events, and they will also get medals in a lot of the more obscure sports like rhythmic gymnastics and shooting. They might win a medal in sports like Basketball or Volleyball, as well. They are improving quickly in those sports with very disciplined coaching programs. The Chinese will eventually begin to dominate the Olympics in the future as their health standards are rising and there are more and more taller individuals. But there is tremendous pressure on Chinese athletes to succeed and that will likely actually backfire. While some athletes thrive under such pressure, others crack...and that will cause some of their best from attaining the levels that could be expected of them. It could even drive them from the sport.

Answer 8

United States

Answer 9

U.S.

Best Track Team - wins at 2007 World Championships
Best Swimming Team - wins at 2007 World Championships, though the margin for error here is very thin
Best Gymnastics Team in years - wins at the 2007 World Championships

There really isn't too much debate. Traditionally, the US has been the best in the Summer games. It has more than twice the total number of gold medals all time than the next highest country (Russia)

Gold: 898 to 395
Silver: 692 to 319
Bronze: 604 to 296

The US has also led the medal count in the last two Olympics (Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004)

Answer 10

A lot of countries (such as those in eastern Europe) are out of the running based on size - many of these countries only send a handful of athletes, as shown by the 2006 Olympics in Turin. The countries which typically win more gold medals are the countries with larger delegations - USA, Canada, China, etc. However, Canada probably won't win nearly as many, considering that Canada doesn't reach high temperatures in the summer as compared to the United States ... China will do well since they are the home team, but they won't necessarily win. The United States sent nearly 300 athletes to the 2006 Winter Games ... and the US team did very well at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, despite the fact that Michael Phelps didn't bring in as many gold medals as anticipated. Our team is excellent, and I'm not just saying this because I'm an American; it's the truth!