After an exciting few weeks, the Tokyo Olympics are finally over, which means we can check all the pre-Games predictions and make fun of the ones that underestimated how many medals Canada would win.
Nielsen Gracenote's Virtual Medal Table combined data from key global and continental competitions from the past few years in order to guess how different countries would do in Tokyo. And while its predictions were incredibly accurate, Team Canada was one of this year's best over-performers.
Nielsen Gracenote's Virtual Medal Table, Google
Gracenote predicted that Canada would end up with 21 medals in total, only winning four gold medals and finishing in 15th position overall.
Canada, however, almost doubled the number of gold medals predicted, finishing with seven gold medals thanks to performances from athletes like Andre De Grasse, Damian Warner and Quinn.
While Canada over-performed on its pre-medal prediction, Gracenote correctly guessed every country that would make up the top 10, with the U.S. on top. The biggest differences in its predicted ranking were a massive drop by the ROC and a big jump by Australia, which left its mark on the Olympics in more ways than one.
We'll give you some props, Gracenote, but lesson learned — next time, don't underestimate Canada!