With a month to go until the Paris Olympics, Japan is expected to place sixth in total medals with 46, 12 fewer than at the Tokyo Olympics, sports data firm Gracenote predicted.
According to the latest virtual medal table forecast, the Americans are favored to top the overall medal count with 123 — 37 gold, 34 silver and 52 bronze — followed by China (87), Great Britain (62), host nation France (56), Australia (48), then Japan.
Japan is predicted to get 12 gold, 13 silver and 21 bronze medals in 16 different sports, down from 21 at the Tokyo Games. Three years ago, Japan won a national record of 27 gold medals in its home Olympics, which were held after a one-year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gymnast Daiki Hashimoto, judoka Hifumi Abe and wrestlers Yui Susaki, Akari Fujinami and Tsugumi Sakurai are among those tipped to stand at the top of the podium. Hashimoto is projected to win three gold medals, including in the men’s all-around and team events, to go along with the two he won in Tokyo.
The virtual medal table, a statistical model based on results data from key competitions since the last Olympics in Tokyo, will be updated once more, around three days before the opening ceremony on July 26.
Some team sports will kick off even before the opening ceremony, and the Games will run until Aug. 11.
Japan is aiming for 55 medals including 20 gold in Paris, Mitsugi Ogata, secretary-general of the Japanese Olympic Committee and head of Japan's delegation to the Paris Games, said Wednesday. The most gold medals won by the country as a nonhost is 16, at the Athens Games in 2004.
Japan is preparing to send about 400 athletes to Paris, which would be its largest delegation for a Games held outside Japan.
A send-off ceremony for Japan’s Olympic delegation will be held on July 5.