Sochi Predictions

The Winter Games are off and running. Last week, working with the Wall Street Journal, we predicted that Norway would win the most medals (Wall Street Journal Projections). Here are the top five countries by projected medal count:

Sure enough, Norway has the early lead. After the first weekend of the Olympics, they have seven total medals—two gold, one silver, and four bronze—which is two more than both the United States and Canada. All three countries, as well as the Netherlands and Germany, are tied in the lead in gold medals with two.

Americans should not fret the early two-medal deficit as the early events, such as cross country and the biathlon, have favored Norway. Meanwhile, later events such as speed and figure skating and alpine skiing favor the US. The race for the most medals will most likely come down to the final weekend, so it should be a fun two weeks.