Commonwealth Games 2018, The Overachievers: Which Commonwealth Nations were the stars of Gold Coast?

Athletics - Commonwealth Games Day 10
Neeraj Chopra wins javelin Gold at Gold Coast 2018

The Gold Coast proved to be an excellent display of sport, achievement and endeavour over the last few weeks and as the dust settles on a fantastic Commonwealth Games, nations are going to be exploring what went right and what didn’t quite go to plan.

India will look back on the Games with fond memories after improving on their Glasgow 2014 medal haul, showing the legacy of Delhi still lives on. The BBC have run an article claiming it as a turning point for Indian sport, while a recent study has found that they were among the top 10 overachievers.

According to the data, the incredible achievements of Vinesh Phogat and Neeraj Chopra helped India secure four more medals than what was expected based on the average number of competitors it takes to win a medal across every Games the country has entered.

Overall, India were the seventh biggest overachievers, with Wales topping the list, claiming 13 more medals than expected.

Their achievements on the bike helped them pick up 36 medals, 10 of which were Gold, their best ever tally.

Jamaica were the second biggest overachievers, collecting 27 medals overall, with 25 of those coming on the track. Their haul was 12 more than expected based on the 115 competitors at the Games as Scotland also matched that number, finishing as the third highest overachievers.

Scotland were another nation who dazzled in the velodrome, with a brother and sister picking up three medals for their country. The Archibalds, Katie and John, secured Gold and Silver respectively in the individual pursuit event, with the former also landing a silver in the women’s points race behind Elinor Barker, Wales’ leading female cyclist.

When it came to the underachievers, it was South Africa who topped the charts, falling 12 medals short of what their average number of competitors per medal would suggest.

Despite finishing sixth in the medals table, and the Rainbow Nation generally being happy with their medal haul, the country was predicted to take home 49 medals based on the statistics.

England were the second biggest underachievers as some big names missed out on medals. The Brownlee brothers failed to make the podium in the men’s triathlon, while Max Whitlock also struggled in his gymnastic events. Adam Gemili also suffered, pulling out of the men’s 100m final and 4 x 100m relay.

Overall, England achieved 136 medals, but that was nine short of what the averages predicted given the nation’s number of competitors at the Gold Coast Games.

Kenya, Ghana and Singapore completed the top five underachieving nations.

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Edited by Arvind Sriram
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