Olympic Medal Favorites

Who is the favourite to win overall gold at the Olympics?

Zee Germans might just be the early favourites with 164 athletes competing. They are always a strong contender for the overall medal count. Norway are always strong at the Winter Games and even with only 81 athletes Norway are still medal favourites. The Americans who have 216 athletes, the most competing in the Olympics are always a top contender. Canada, the host country have 206 athletes competing. Canada will be a top contender. Russia is close behind with 178 athletes, Switzerland has 146 athletes, Sweeden 118 and Italy has 109 athletes. Altogether there are 2631 athletes competing in these games.

The pressure is on Canada as the host nation. The Canadian citizens and the Canadian Press are hungry for medals and the athletes are expected to put up good numbers. But keep this in mind Canada has hosted the Olympics twice before and yet still a Gold medal has yet to be won on home turf.

So now the big question is who will win the first gold at home and the better question is how many gold will we win?

Both the Canadian Men and Women's hockey teams are favourites to contend for the gold. I would really enjoy seeing both teams win gold on on home ice but that could be a long-shot. The Men's hockey pool has so many strong teams. Its really a tough call. Russia and Canada are the favourites."Dem' Russians" look the strongest on paper. The Sweedes are the reigning Olympic Champs, they'll want to repeat for sure and Canada has the fan support. On the Women's side, its the Canadians whol have the best chance for Gold with the home fans supporting them all the way. But watch out for the Sweedes on the women's side as well, they had a young team last Olympics and now have matured into a team that could upset the host team.