1000 Days To Rio 2016 Predictions

[This post was originally written on November 9 2013]

With 1000 days to the Rio 2016 Olympics, I thought I would celebrate the milestone with very early predictions.

One of the first patriotic moments of the Olympics is the teams walking into the Opening Ceremony. Who will be Canada's flag bearer?

We haven't had a female summer flag bearer since 2000 when Caroline Brunet led Team Canada at the opening ceremony in Sydney. All Winter Olympics flag bearers have been women since. I think it's time to switch it up. There are numerous worthy women for 2016 like:

• Rosie MacLennan (sole gold medal winner in 2012)
• Christine Sinclair (soccer captain and legend)
• Diana Matheson (bronze winning goal scorer)

(not sure about having one member of a team as flag bearer)

If not a woman, how about Ian Millar if at age 69 breaks his own record as the Olympian to have competed in the most Olympics Games returning for his 11th Olympics?

Sure-Things

It's a pretty safe bet that an American will win the gold medal in golf although I wouldn't put too much money on Tiger. Looking at the past few years, there have been more first time winners on the PGA tour, so I wouldn't be surprised if the gold medal is won by someone who has not won a tournament before.

Is it safe to say that China will continue to dominate the diving competitions? Our Canadian ladies will give them a run for their money and I would love to see one or two of them (as a single or pair) winning the first gold since Sylvie Bernier in 1984.

Jamaica will continue to dominate in the sprint events, but how fast will the 100m winner go?

Brazil as host will win more medals than they ever have before.

Long Shots (Not likely to happen)

Lolo Jones will return to the Summer Olympics after a stint as a bobsleigh Olympian to capture the hurdling medal that has eluded her.

Mike Weir will find his form and be one of the top Canadians on the Canadian Olympic golf team.

The rest of the world will catch up to the Brownlee Brothers and shut them out of the medals in the triathlon.

The Canadian media and general public will understand that we are the cleanest team at the Games and will not complain or criticize lack of medals.

Top Canadian Moments

Canada will win its first basketball medal since the silver in 1936. With young stars like Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, Kelly Olynyk and Tristan Thompson, Canada is set to surpass the Steve Nash-led amazing 7th place at the 2000 Olympics.

Canada will be a triple threat in tennis. With 5 events, 3 medals is not an impossible feat.
Milos Raonic, Vasek Pospisil, Filip Peliwo (Junior Wimbledon and US Open Champion in and #1 ranked junior in 2012) and possibly Daniel Nestor could combine with Eugenie Bouchard, Staphanie Dubois, Sharon Fichman or Aleksandra Wozniak for the strongest Canadian tennis team in years.

Canada will have a double medal performance for decathlon/heptathlon.
Damian Warner will continue his ascension in the decathlon ranks to win a medal following his 5th place in 2012. While Jessica Zelinka and Brianne Thiessen will give Canada its second medal.

Moments I'd Love To See
Paula Findlay is healthy and crosses the finish line happy and satisfied.

4x100m relay - the 2012 team is back and captures that elusive medal.

Women's soccer team keeps getting stronger. They make a successful run at the World Cup in 2015 held in Canada and finish it off with Olympic gold in Rio.

Boxer Mary Spencer overcomes 2012 disappointment and comes home from Rio with a medal.

Zach Bell makes me realize that medals are not that important in the big picture though.  Zach competed at the 2012 Olympics and although was a medal hopeful, he did not podium. A few months later his son died a couple of days after he was born. Of course every athlete competes to win but a medal doesn't necessarily bring happiness or meaning. So rather than just winning a medal, I would love to see more meaningful happiness for Zach Bell than a medal can bring.