Australia is expected to again top the medals table at this year’s Glasgow Commonwealth Games, winning up to 152, the Australian Sports Commission predicted on Thursday.
The federal government-backed ASC made the medal forecasts for each sport based on the current rankings of athletes and teams and what they can realistically be expected to achieve after consultation between each sport and the Australian Institute of Sport.
Australia has topped the medals table at every Commonwealth Games since Auckland in 1990. It claimed a total of 177 medals, 74 of them gold, at the last Games in Delhi in 2010.
Swimming is again projected by the ASC to win the bulk of the medals in Glasgow at the Games beginning July 23, with a target of between 53 and 55.
The projection of 12-20 track and field medals is much broader, taking into account the uncertainty over which leading athletes from England, Scotland and Wales will prioritise the European championships over the Commonwealths.
“The performance rating is about the sports’ overall place in the world,” said ASC chief executive Simon Hollingsworth.
“In relation to the Commonwealth Games, we’ve got the specific targets that we want them to achieve which collectively will get us where we want to go, which is the number one ranking.
“It’s going to be the most competitive Commonwealth Games in many years, partly on the back of the success of the (2012) London Olympics.”
Among other sports where Australia expect to do well in Glasgow are cycling, gymnastics and diving.