Having invested a record £350 million ($467.1million/€419.4 million) from Government and the National Lottery into elite sport since London 2012, UK Sport have set the Olympic medal target range at 47 to 79.
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UK Sport initially set an even higher target for Rio, but scaled back.
No host country has ever previously improved on its medal tally at the next summer Games.
Britain’s cyclists have been given the biggest target, of between eight and 10 medals, while the rowers are expected to win between six and eight medals.
Liz Nicholl, UK Sport’s chief executive said more sports were targeting medals in Rio than in Beijing, with golf and rugby sevens now introduced to the programme and with the potential for top three performances. Britain’s Paralympians, who won 120 medals four years ago, have a target of 113 to 165.
“We have a greater number of sports targeting medals than we did in Beijing in 2008, which shows a high-performance system that is growing stronger and more sustainable Games after Games”.
Former British athletics head coach Charles van Commenee told SunSport last month he believes medal targets are becoming meaningless in the wake of the doping scandal engulfing London 2012.
Therefore, the CDC research team were left with 4 countries-Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Yemen-that do not have a substantial amount of travel to any country around the globe with local Zika transmission, except for their athletes’ upcoming trip to the Olympic Games.
“They’ve got very clear plans in place to be Rio-ready”.
A JUICY financial carrot has been dangled before the South African athletes who will represent the nation at the Rio Olympic Games in August.
“We are proud that our partnership with UK Sport continues to develop for the benefit of the nation’s athletes and those who are inspired by Team GB”.
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Swimming, which saw its funding slashed after failing to deliver a single gold medal at London 2012, must get 3-5 medals to avoid further cuts in the run up to the next Games in Tokyo in 2020.
