2026 Winter Olympics - Very Early Predictions

[rafalgorka 1,821]

2026 Winter Olympics - Very Early Predictions Thread

Edited December 17, 2024 by Sindo

[rafalgorka 1,821]

Well, if we talk about 2026 early predictions one thing seems to be quite certain.

 

Here in Poland many say Paris 2024 was bad for us - only 1 gold, only 10 medals in total.

But in 2026 we will be saying - Paris 2024, well, those were the days...

Because there is a very tiny chance we will get any single winter medal in 26.

 

And remember - in Sochi 2014 we had 4 golds (!), even one in speed skating of all the sports lol

 

6 medals in total there, wow.

 

And none of our medalists was involved in a doping scandal there...

 

In 2026 i think we won't have any medal or we will get a very lucky one medal in a random event,

 

I wonder if 2024/2025 winter season will change my opinion here but i doubt it.

 

But Maybe in LA 2028 we will get more than 1 gold heh

Edited November 16, 2024 by rafalgorka

[rafalgorka 1,821]

Not much is going on here on totallympics these days so i hope this thread will change it a bit. Or not, whatever.

 

Even if i know these predictions are way too early.

[rafalgorka 1,821]

Day 1 events are:

 

1. SPEED SKATING - W 3000m

2. SNOWBOARD - M Big Air

3. ALPINE SKIING - M Downhill !!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

4. SKI JUMPING - W Normal Hill Individual

5. CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING - W 10km + 10km Skiathlon

 

[TeamGB 216]

Coming into Beijing, I (perhaps naïvely), believed that GB could get 5+ golds. In 2026, that possibility is still there, if not slightly greater, but my expectations have been lowered. 

We are still quite far away from the games but I feel the team is shaping up quite nicely, with a nice breadth of medal contending sports as opposed to our usual medal factories.

[Topicmaster1010 6,598]

We could do a breakdown of  Canada's medal chances by sport. Overall, I'd say Canada is in line to win a number of medals in the high 20's.

 

Alpine Skiing: Not too familiar with this sport but we did win 3 medals in Olympic events at the last World Championships and skiers like James Crawford, Cameron Alexander and Valerie Grenier are capable of making podiums on the World Cup. 0-3 medals would be the likely range here.

 

Biathlon: The program is declining. At this point, the better question is whether or not we can qualify both the men's and womens' relays.

 

Bobsleigh: Another declining sport. The men's team is completely existent following Justin Kripps retirement. On the women's side, maybe 1 medal is possible.

 

Cross-Country Skiing: Antoine Cyr would be the most likely candidate to medal in this sport. He was 10th in the overall world cup standings last year and it'll be interesting to see if he can improve on that. 0 medals is still likely though.

 

Curling: 3 medals will be the expectation but Canada has underperformed greatly at the last 2 Olympics so who knows.

 

Figure Skating: Possible medals in pairs, ice dance and the team event. If Russia is back, then the medal chances greatly decrease.

 

Freestyle Skiing: As always, many medal contenders across almost all disciplines. Around 8 medals should be the expectation here.

 

Ice Hockey: With the supposed return of NHL players to the Olympics, the expectation will be two gold medals or there'll be riots.

 

Luge: Likely to be a young team sent to the games. Maybe a medal chance in 2030 but not here.

 

Nordic Combined: I'll eat a sock if we qualify an athlete in Nordic Combined

 

Short Track: Lot's of potential for medals here. The men's team has been on fire to start the season with William Dandjinou looking like the best skater on the planet right now. Women's team is not as strong but also has some potential for medals. The minimum should be 3 medals with 8-10 medals possible if everything goes right.

 

Skeleton: Hallie Clarke is the reigning world champion but skeleton is pretty unpredictable so who knows. No chance on the men's side.

 

Ski Jumping: For the first time in probably ages, a legitimate medal in ski jumping is realistic thanks to Alexandria Loutitt and Abigail Strate. A medal in ski jumping would currently be my biggest wish.

 

Ski Mountaineering: No chance here.

 

Snowboarding: As always, the slopestyle and big air events will provide the biggest chances of medals for Canada. Grondin in snowboard cross also looks like the current favourite. Maybe a chance in women's halfpipe as well. Some surprise medals in some other events are also possible.

 

Speed Skating: The team is getting older but the top skaters are still capable of winning medals. Improving on the 5 medals won in Beijing should be a realistic expectation.

[TeamGB 216]

My knowledge of Winter sport isn't great, and I feel I tend to be over optimistic but I'll give it a go for .

 

Alpine Skiing - Never won a medal before but Zak-Carrick Smith picked up 3 including 2 golds at the Winter Youth Olympics earlier in the year. It's clearly a very outside shot but we will see how he progresses. Dave Ryding could also medal on his day, although he will be 39 in 2026

 

Bobsleigh - Brad Hall and Co have been in with a shot for a number of years now, winning numerous medals on the worlds circuit. 2026 will likely be their last but I can see them giving it a good go. Adele Nicoll is still a relative newbie but with another 2 seasons under her belt and some help from hall she could be a contender. 

 

Cross Country Skiing - Andrew Musgrave is still kicking around and he has won world cup medals in the past.

 

Curling - In 2022 our only medals came in curling. Bruce Mouat will certainly go in as one of the favourites, but the women's team is going through a bit of rebuilding. Double gold at the winter youth games bodes well for the future

 

Figure Skating - Fear and Gibson have looked good this year and could return us to the golden era of the 80's. 

 

Freestyle Skiing - Zoe Atkin and Kirsty Muir both won medals at last year world cup, and Atkin took silver at the worlds, so they would be medal contenders, but both in very crowded events

 

Short Track Speed Skating - Not really and serious opportunities after the retirement of Elise Christie. 

 

Skeleton - After an extremely disappointing Beijing, the team has bounced back well and will be competitive in all 3 events, it's nice to see the team having a range of strong athletes rather than being dominated by a couple of exceptional ones. We better not do to well though, or the American's may blame us for cheating again.

 

Snowboarding - Mia Brookes is the current world Champion, and would be the most likely to medal in 2026. In the Snowboard Cross, Charlotte Bankes will be up there, and I feel like Huw Nightingale could progress this year, after some great performances in the Mixed team event.

 

 

As is the case with British Winter Sport, there are no clear favourites in any events, but there is a nice mix of competitive athletes in a diverse range of sports. 

[Josh 13,504]

9 hours ago, Topicmaster1010 said:

Curling: 3 medals will be the expectation but Canada has underperformed greatly at the last 2 Olympics so who knows.

I would disagree here. Canada hasn’t won a medal at Mixed Doubles Worlds since 2019, so I’d say 2. 

[CCB 624]

Dutch Winter Olympics is all about speedskating and shorttrack. 

 

In shorttrack we have a problem since Suzanne Schulting (3 times Olympic Champion) broke her ankle this year. After since it looks like she concentrates on speedskating on the long track. But in that sport she is not really that good. For shorttrack we have medal chances for Xandra Velzeboer on the 500 meters and Jens van 't Wout on the men's distances, although Danjinou from Canada is in a league of his own.

 

In speedskating we have several medal chances, but I'm expecting not that much gold, considering Jordan Stolz (500/1000/1500) and Davide Ghiotto (5000/10000) winning the gold medals on the classic distances almost for sure. There will be some silver and bronze on the men's side however (Patrick Roest (5000), Kjeld Nuis (1500), Tim Prins (1000) and maybe Jenning de Boo (500)).

 

On the women's side there is Miho Takagi (1000/1500) and Ragne Wiklund (3000/5000) and the Canadian women. But also chances for Dutch gold with Jutta Leerdam (1000), Joy Beune (1500/3000), Marijke Groenewoud (mass/3000) and Merel Conijn (5000). Unless Leerdam will continue travelling with Jake Paul and focus on her boyfriend's stupid influence-career more than on her own career. 

 

2 medals in short track, 10 medals in speedskating, but not many golden!

[SalamAkhi 359]

Kimberly Bos does exist though.