PYEONGCHANG, Korea, Republic Of -- An international data analytics company that recently forecast 33 medals for Canada at the Pyeongchang Winter Games is now less optimistic with a prediction of 28.
In a virtual medal table released Wednesday, , nine silver and a dozen bronze to rank fourth in total medals behind Norway (41), Germany (39) and the United States (29).
Gracenote delivers music, video and sports metadata to entertainment services and companies.
The 2018 Winter Olympics open Friday.
Gracenote ranked Canada third with 33 medals in its Jan. 10 projections behind Germany (40) and Norway (37) and ahead of the United States (29).
The reinstatement of Russian athletes to some fields in Pyeongchang, injuries to a pair of prominent Canadian athletes and recent World Cup results contributed to the less-bullish outlook for Canada, according to Simon Gleave, Gracenote's head of analysis.
He told The Canadian Press in an email the withdrawal of world champion alpine skier Erik Guay due to back problems, defending ski cross champion Marielle Thompson not racing this winter due to injury and strong Russian figure skaters in the field will make medals in those events tougher to win.
Twenty-eight medals would still be a Winter Games high for Canada after the host team won 26 -- 14 gold, seven silver and five bronze -- at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C.
Gracenote maintains Canada will win gold in men's hockey and silver in women's hockey, and is picking snowboarders Max Parrot and Mark McMorris to win big air and slopestyle gold respectively.
The company said in a release its medal table is a statistical model based on individual and team results from previous Olympic Games, world championships and World Cup events.
A month out from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, the company forecasted 16 medals for Canada (three gold, eight silver and five bronze). The team won 22 with four gold, three silver and 13 bronze.
