Paris 2024 | It will be the most orange-colored Games ever, Gracenote predicts: 18 gold medals for the Netherlands

One hundred days before the start of the Olympic Games, Dutch sports fans can look forward to the best Games ever, with Gracenote’s prediction in hand. At the last edition, in Tokyo, no fewer than 36 medals were won in 2021. According to the statistics agency, 38 slabs would now fall into Dutch hands. The record number of gold medals is also coming up. In Sydney 2000, 12 gold medals were won, mainly thanks to gold diggers Leontien van Moorsel, Pieter van den Hoogenband and Inge de Bruijn.

Now the best performances are expected from Harrie Lavreysen. Gracenote expects him to win three gold medals, in the keirin, the sprint and with his colleagues in the team sprint. A golden race on the cycling track is also predicted for the Madison couple Yoeri Havik/Jan-Willem van Schip. Three gold medals are expected in sailing, while rowing could even return to the Netherlands with five gold medals.

Gracenote also predicts gold for both the men’s and women’s hockey teams, for Mathieu van der Poel in the road race, for open water swimmer Sharon van Rouwendaal, swimmer Tes Schouten and – of course – Femke Bol, who has ruled the 400 meter hurdles for several years.

Gracenote does not just make a guess, the calculation is always based on past results. Although these do not provide certainty for the future, the sports data giant knows that thanks to the system it uses, it is certainly not a guesswork task.

For example, the previous Games and all major tournaments that have been held since then are taken into account. Those who perform best in their class or sport in the run-up to the Games have – or so Gracenote argues – a better chance of winning the Games than anyone else. This means that surprises, as there always are at the Games, cannot be ruled out in Paris.

Nevertheless, Gracenote’s list does provide an indication. The Netherlands could end up fourth in the country rankings behind the superpowers US and China and its home country France. With 18 predicted gold medals, the Netherlands has a considerable lead over the intended pursuers: Great Britain, Australia and Japan, who each seem to win 13 gold medals.

By the way, NOC*NSF does not want to know anything about Gracenote’s prediction. Technical director André Cats emphasized in a press conference this week that he will only check on the last day in Paris how many medals the Netherlands has actually won and where TeamNL has ended up in the country rankings.

The top 10 as predicted by Gracenote 100 days before the start of the Games:

Respective country (gold-silver-bronze)

1. United States (39-37-47)
2. China (35-30-24)
3. France (28-19-8)
4. Netherlands (18-5-15)
5. Great Britain (13-23-30)
6. Australia (13-19-18)
7. Japan (13-16-20)
8. Italy (12-20-15)
9. Germany (9-13-14)
10. South Korea (9-4-11)