Team GB now targeting finishing second in medal table, says BOA
By Angel Lambo
Last Updated: 18/08/16 7:53am
British Olympic Association chief Bill Sweeney says Team GB's target in Rio is now to finish second in the medal table.
The team has won 50 medals so far - overhauling the target set before the Games by the BOA of 48 - and Sweeney thinks beating the 65 they won in London four years ago will prove beyond them.
But Team GB is in second place in the medal table behind USA, the runaway leaders, and ahead of Olympic superpower China - and Sweeney wants them to remain there.
"It's really tough to hit that number [65]," he told Sky Sports News HQ. "That's a massive number, and to get over 65 we probably needed to convert some of those fourth places earlier on in the Games which didn't happen.
"So to get 65 would be a bit of a stretch. To come away with a second-place finish ahead of China… that would be absolutely amazing.
"It's do-able and it's going to be a tough fight for the next five days."
China may struggle to catch the Brits - the first half of the Olympics is usually their strongest and Sweeney expects more medals for his team.
"This is not declaring victory time. We've still got five days to go and we've got some of our strongest sports to come in yet," he said.
"We've got the Brownlees in the triathlon, we've got an incredibly strong Taekwondo team, we've got showjumping individual to go, women's hockey are now in the semis tonight against New Zealand and they would love to go through...
"Modern pentathlon hasn't started yet as well, so you go through the whole range of sports there and it's still all to play for."
