At the 2008 Beijing OIympics GB exceeded expectations by finishing 4^th in the medal table, just ahead of Germany. According to Ipsos MORI research conducted for UK Sport ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games the majority of the general public felt that Team GB would do at least as well as in Beijing – with 2 in 5 expecting Great Britain to actually finish higher in the medal table. Given the top 3 nations in 2008 (China, US and Russia) all have populations more than twice the size of ours and GB finished a long way behind 3^rd placed Russia (with 47 medals to their 73), this is a tall order – even taking into account the much talked about ‘home advantage’. Read more »