With eight months to go before the RIO Games, Australia has almost doubled its gold medal tally from the London Olympics according to the annual benchmark study released by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC)
"We have moved from a total of 7 gold in London in 2012 to 13 gold this year" said Kitty Chiller, Chef de Mission of the 2016 Australian Olympic Team. "Overall we’ve had a better year, the gold medal tally is a tremendous improvement and the signs are good for RIO".
Australia is in equal seventh place on the gold medal tally behind China with 39, USA 35, Russia 25, Japan 18, Great Britain and France both 15. Australia and Germany are equal on 13 gold.
"Fifth to eighth positon on the medal tally is extremely tight and we still aiming for that 5th spot in RIO if everything goes our way" Chiller said.
The benchmark study shows Australia is sitting in equal seventh place with Japan on the overall medal tally with 37 medals, 13 gold, 14 silver and 10 bronze.
The overall tally shows China on top with 97 medals followed by the USA 84, Russia 69, Great Britain 48, Germany 41, France 38 and Japan and Australia on 37.
"We will need to move into the 40’s in RIO to achieve our goals. The three superpowers are way out in front but the next five nations are close".
Australia’s swimmers were again a standout claiming 14 medals, 7 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze. This is a dramatic improvement from their London haul of 10 medals, 1gold, 6 silver and 3 bronze.
Our cyclists continue to impress with a total of eight medals, with the track riders the standouts with 6 medals. All together cycling finished 2015 with 3 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze.
The sailors were next best with four medals. 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze. "Our rowers would be disappointed with their three medals and are well aware they need to lift". Australia finished fourth on the medal tally at the home Games in Sydney in 2000 with a record 58 medals. In 2004 in Athens, Australia finished fourth with 50 medals and a record 17 gold medals.
The decline continued in Beijing in 2008 with 46 medals and then the 35 medals in London in 2012.
"We have been in decline since those record breaking efforts in Sydney and Athens and we feel we can start an upward trend in RIO" Chiller said.
"To do that we need a far greater spread of medals across the sports. We won medals in 13 disciplines in London and we have won medals in 13 disciplines again in 2015. We need medals in 20 disciplines in RIO which I think is realistic. The team sports, hockey, basketball, water polo and rugby 7’s are in good shape and definite medal chances in both men’s and women’s events".
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