Rio Olympics medal predictions

The worldwide banking company Goldman Sachs has taken a break from guessing what will happen to the world's economy. Economists from the company have put their heads together and made predictions about how many medals different countries will win at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Their predictions contain no real surprises. Most people could predict that the USA and China will win the most medals. Perhaps a slight surprise is that Goldman Sachs is predicting Great Britain will finish third, as they did in the 2012 London Olympics. The economists predicted 23 gold medals for Team GB and 59 medals in total. They also predict that the world's second most populous country, India, will win just one gold medal.

There is good news for host nation Brazil. The country that hosts the Olympics usually gets 50 per cent more golds than usual, and 20 per cent more medals in total. Goldman Sachs predicts that Brazil will get a record 22 medals, including five golds. This would be Brazil's best ever performance in an Olympic games. The economists also predicted the Olympics would benefit Brazil's economy. They said: "As the country welcomes thousands of athletes and visitors and cheers the local favorites, it silently hopes that the soaring Olympic spirit will also help lift the spirits of the Brazilian economy." The 2016 Rio Olympics, Brazil-style, is sure to be one of the best ever.