Ok, it’s time to climb out on that limb and stick my neck out. I’m sure by the time I’m done there will be several whacks taken at it. So I’m going out gingerly by starting with my list of American athletes that I think have medal potential.
I’m sure the first comment will be that we will never win thirty eight medals! And I agree, all of those names will not translate into medals. Let’s be real, no one is going to the Games to roll over and hand over medals – to us or anyone else. At the end of the day they must be won. So in spite of the fact that these athletes have the ability to win medals, some are going to perform at high levels and still come up short as other athletes perform even better. And some will simply have a bad day – it happens.
That said, this list reflects those athletes that I think have the best chance to medal given their performances to date as well as how the competition has performed to this point. The list does reflect the fact that this may be the strongest team we’ve ever sent to a Games – and I do believe we will have the largest medal count ever surpassing the 29 medals won in Barcelona, and hitting the magical 30.
Take note that in a few slots (distances) I have athletes “sharing” a medal position. As much as I love our athletes there are some events where the competition (Kenya/Ethiopia) is just too strong.
My “medal” predictions for the Games should be done within 24 hours. I’m still wrestling with some areas. Like I keep saying, this is going to be a tough Games and I expect to see Seoul like results – upsets galore. If any of you remember Seoul we had Johnson over Lewis; DeLoach over Lewis; Lewis (Steve) over Reynolds; Phillips over Moses; Ereng over Cruz; Rono over Cram; Timmerman over Barnes; Ritter over Kostadinova; Ivan big over the 1500 field; and the Soviet Union taking gold in the men’s 4×1. If anyone needs reminding that anything can happen at the Games and anyone can win/lose remember Seoul. See ya shortly with my Olympic predictions. Til then here are my US medal hopefuls.
American Medal Hopes for London
| 100 meters | Tyson Gay |
| 100 meters | Justin Gatlin |
| 100 meters | Carmelita Jeter |
| 100 meters | Tianna Madison |
| 200 meters | Wallace Spearmon |
| 200 meters | Allyson Felix |
| 200 meters | Carmelita Jeter |
| 400 meters | LaShawn Merritt |
| 400 meters | Tony McQuay |
| 400 meters | Sanya Richards Ross |
| 800 meters | Alysia Montano |
| 1500 meters | Morgan Uceny/Shannon Rowbury/Jenny Simpson |
| 1500 meters | Andrew Wheating/Leo Manzano |
| 5000 meters | Galen Rupp/Bernard Lagat |
| 10000 meters | Galen Rupp |
| Marathon | Shalane Flanagan |
| 110H | Aries Merritt |
| 110H | Jason Richardson |
| 100H | Dawn Harper |
| 400H | Angelo Taylor |
| High Jump | Jesse Williams |
| High Jump | Chaunte Lowe |
| Pole Vault | Brad Walker |
| Pole Vault | Jenn Suhr |
| Long Jump | Marquis Goodwin |
| Long Jump | Will Claye |
| Long Jump | Brittney Reese |
| Triple Jump | Christian Taylor |
| Triple Jump | Will Claye |
| Shot | Christian Cantwell |
| Shot | Reese Hoffa |
| Discus | Stephanie Brown Trafton |
| Decathlon | Ashton Eaton |
| Decathlon | Trey Hardee |
| 4×1 | Men |
| 4×1 | Women |
| 4×4 | Men |
| 4×4 | Women |
Tags: Olympics, Prediction
Can’t fault this list of hopefuls as it represents, in my mind, a list of finalists. You accidentally left out Demus. I would include LoLo and Wells in the 100m hurdles.
Yes, leaving out Demus was an accident, because certainly she can win it ..I think Lolo was fortunate to make the team, but certainly Wells could share the spot with Harper though I think Harper is our best competitor..
After today, you might need to add Evan Jager in the steeplechase!
Yeah, that was an awesome run … Huge American Record … And did it racing well and competitive … Nice .. Monaco sent me back to the drawaing board on predictions .. I’ll have them out tomorrow, but have to rethink a few things …