[Mr Teacake]

The Russian-Georgia war broke out during 2008 Olmypics which may have spurred on Russian athletes.

[rfonzo]

i do not think so!

[yesman2012]

they're about 13-14 golds behind us already, and chances are we'll add to our tally, I think its safe to say that they won't catch up

[Alrightmate]

Originally Posted by Lukey37

Russia - 10 Gold, 14 Silver, 18 Bronze, 42 Total

Thanks.

I originally asked at about 7.30pm last night so Russia probably picked up a few medals since then. But for the sake of argument.....

Beijing 2008, Russia's medal tally at this stage of the competition.

Gold - 10
Silver - 14
Bronze - 18

Total: 42

London 2012, right now at the same stage.

Gold - 10
Silver - 18
Bronze - 20

Total: 48

[Alrightmate]

Originally Posted by Dynopia

Which means they got 13 Gold and 30 overall for the remaining 5 days. That'd put them at 21 Gold and 74 Overall.

It's that 74 total which is of concern.

Because at this stage in Beijing they had 42 medals,...which rapidly leapt up to 74 by the end.
That's a huge amount of medals to rack up in a very small space of time.
About 8 medals per day.

It would suggest that there is perhaps still many events yet to be played out and it depends so much on how many of the medals they are yet to get are converted to gold instead of silver or bronze. This is the key here.

For anybody who is complacent and looking at our current medal tally feeling assured that we will safely finish 3rd, these figures should make you reassess the situation.

[HenryBane]

Originally Posted by Alrightmate

It's that 74 total which is of concern.

Because at this stage in Beijing they had 42 medals,...which rapidly leapt up to 74 by the end.
That's a huge amount of medals to rack up in a very small space of time.
About 8 medals per day.

It would suggest that there is perhaps still many events yet to be played out and it depends so much on how many of the medals they are yet to get are converted to gold instead of silver or bronze. This is the key here.

For anybody who is complacent and looking at our current medal tally feeling assured that we will safely finish 3rd, these figures should make you reassess the situation.

Thanks. The Russians are a major force.

[Alrightmate]

Originally Posted by HenryBane

Thanks. The Russians are a major force.

Absolutely, yes. You have to have huge respect for them as a sporting nation.

I think we may need 30 golds to be able to sit back and feel secure.

The saving grace is that they eventually finished with 23 golds in Beijing.
There's no way of knowing if they'll do worse or better this time. But we should remember that they got a further 32 medals from this stage of the competition until the end of it.

It's all good fun though because it adds another level of excitement to the last few days. Which all contributes to making a great games.

[The Net]

An interesting statistical analyses of the Olympics medal table

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/data...ve-medal-table

[TelevisionUser]

Originally Posted by yesman2012

they're about 13-14 golds behind us already, and chances are we'll add to our tally, I think its safe to say that they won't catch up

Exactly, yesman, and In the few days left it is possible that Russia could overtake South Korea (currently 2 gold medals ahead) so that they could get 4th place in the medals table but I very much doubt that they will catch up Team GB now.

[mikesh27]

They are 4 ahead on total medals and 11 behind on golds tonight.

I still think with the remaining events and what they are through on, timings, they will probably finish on around 19 to 22 golds and I'm sure we can get another 3 or 4 golds by Sunday. Mo in the 5k (he was saving energy today), one of the 3 in the dressage and at least one of the five guarenteed boxing medals,

I'm sure they will finish a good few medals ahead of us, but it's only a few American tables where they go on total medals - is this so they pretend they finished top in Beijing?

Why don't they agree a recognised points system 1 for a bronze, 2 for a silver and 3 for a gold, perhaps 4 for a gold so we could finish ahead of Russia.

[TelevisionUser]

Well, at the time of writing they're 8 golds behind and they'd need to win another four golds tonight and four tomorrow in order to overtake Team GB and get 3rd place (assuming no more Team GB golds). That is an unlikely scenario and Team GB look set to retain 3rd place.

I was watching the Olympic news on a foreign satellite news channel at lunchtime and Prime Minister Medvedev called Russia's perfomance "катастрофическими" (= catastrophic, disastrous) and President Putin wants a post-Olympics inquiry about Russia's relative lack of sporting success this time around.

Apparently, their target was 25 golds and 3rd place in the medal table...which has instead been achieved by Team GB.