Will host Great Britain overtake Russia to the third place in the medals tally, or — more importantly — can the US wrest back its No.1 status from China?
As another edition of the Olympics unfolds, these will be the serious questions, even though the world may be more than keen to follow the battles between Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake and Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte.
Naturally, most of the attention is on whether Phelps will add to his collection of 14 gold and two bronze medals, to be No.1 in the all time list of Olympic medal winners. He may not be as intimidating as he was when he swept the eight gold medals — with world records to boot — in Beijing, but he will have seven races in London to further swell his collection.
Bolt’s defeat in the selection trials in Jamaica may actually be just the wake up call he needed. He may not be as complacent as he apparently was in the 100m final in Beijing, where he indulged in some show-boating over last 40 metres as he took gold with a world record time. Usain Bolt is all over London around now, staring at you out of the huge banners, as the slogan ‘inspiring a generation’ greets you at every turn.
Nervous hosts
There is a fear among the host that its athletes may not live up to the expectations, owing to the tremendous pressure of competing at home as it hosts the Games for the third time.
Great Britain may struggle to match its feat of winning 19 gold, 13 silver and 15 bronze medals in Beijing.
It was four short of Russia then, in terms of gold medals it will also be a great challenge for the host to stay ahead of Germany, Australia and Korea who had won 43 gold medals between them in the last edition.
Great Britain may have some stars like Jessica Ennis, Mark Cavendish, Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton, Rebecca Adlington, Kelly Ann-Payne, Dai Greene and Tom Daley to power its pursuit of gold, but will it get enough numbers on the board?
The Chinese seem to have gone for quality in fielding a squad of 396.
Having hauled in 100 medals in all in Beijing — including 51 gold — they may continue to dominate badminton, table tennis, diving, shooting, weightlifting, gymnastics and boxing. Four years back, China spared no expense in showcasing to the world its economic strength — the Beijing Games cost the host a whopping $44 billion.
London has spent roughly one third of the amount — the focus seems to have been purely on sports, with no pre-occupations with making a statement to the rest of the world.
A lot of attention seems to have been paid on projecting Great Britain’s sporting legacy.
As athletes from 204 countries assemble to celebrate sport, London looks all set to floor the world with the opening ceremony, scheduled to start at 9 p.m. (local time).
