The Rio Olympics have yet to start, yet of one thing we could be certain - the US and also China will certainly cover the medals table when it's all over on Sunday 21 August. Yet why are they always so effective? And can we forecast which various other countries will succeed this year?
In regards to the general medals won, the United States, China and Russia could be relied on to top the listing. It resembled this in 2012, 2008 and also 2004, though in 2000 China connected for 3rd area with the host country, Australia.
This year, Russia will certainly more than likely drop down the table, due to the disqualification of a lot of its competitors. So another nation is likely to take third place - but which?
According to one concept, the nations that do best in the Olympics are either big or wealthy or both.
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Media captionHow to predict Olympic success
Having a large population means that they have a large pool of athletes to attract from. Being wealthy ways that they can pay for the centers and the time to train.
Yet Dr Julia Bredtmann, an economic expert at the RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Study in Essen, has actually developed a forecasted medal table based on countries' size and also wide range, that does not look very persuading.
Forecast based upon population and also riches
CountryMedals
1= China, US25
3 India22
4= Germany, Japan20
6= Brazil, France, Indonesia, Russia, UK19
When you think about that the United States won greater than 100 medals in 2012 as well as India just six, it's clear that it would be an error to bet way too much cash on this result.
The very same design anticipates Saudi Arabia will win 13 medals at Rio, as a result of its high GDP and also fairly big populace, although it had actually not won a single medal until the 2012 video games.
" It's a great beginning factor but using other elements we could at the very least discuss a little bit much more as well as boost the forecasts," states Bredtmann.
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Another important element, she states, is "sports society" - the number of people take part in sporting activity, just how much cash is invested in sporting activity, as well as how vital showing off success is to the country - however as this can not be conveniently recorded in data, Bredtmann looks instead at the variety of medals won in previous Olympic Games.
" What could be proven to is that there is a large perseverance in Olympic success," she states. "There are some countries that always win medals and some nations that will never win a medal."
With her coworkers Sebastian Otten, additionally from the Leibniz Institute, and Carsten Crede of the College of East Anglia, Bredtmann has created an innovative forecast design based on previous outcomes, populace dimension, wide range and also a variety of various other aspects (see below for the complete listing).
This version forecasts the complying with medal table.
Anticipated 2016 medal table (disregarding Russian restriction).
CountryMedals.
1 US98.
2 China84.
3 Russia77.
4 UK62.
5 Japan46.
6 Germany42.
7= Australia, Brazil, France33.
10= Italy, South Korea27.
But this doesn't think about the incompetency of many Russian athletes.
A really crude method of doing this would certainly be to take the two classifications of occasion where all Russian athletes have actually currently been outlawed - track and field, and also weight training - as well as to re-allocate the 24 medals Russia won in these events in 2012.
Russia's Svetlana Pechnikova competing in Moscow on 28 JulyImage copyrightGETTY PHOTOS.
Under this situation, Bredtmann as well as her associates see Russia going down 2 locations in the table, as well as the UK moving up into 3rd place.
Forecasted table (re-allocating 24 Russian medals).
CountryMedals.
1 US100.
2 China86.
3 UK64.
4 Russia53.
5 Japan47.
6 Germany43.
7= Australia, Brazil, France34.
10= Italy, South Korea28.
This does not appraise the complete number of Russian athletes being banned, so in reality the damage done to Russia's medal haul is likely to be greater.
Note that in all of Bredtmann's predictions Brazil features in the leading 10. It won 15 medals in 2008 as well as 17 in 2012, positioning it well down the medal table, however the host-country result in the Olympics is well-documented. As a result of the added financial investment in sporting activity, and also the benefit of executing in front of a house group, host countries typically do well, and also Bredtmann anticipates Brazil will about increase its previous medal haul.
Those who keep in mind the last World Cup, however, will know that this is not a done bargain.
Variables used by Bredtmann as well as coworkers.
Past Olympic success: Medals won in the past could be considereded as an indicator of "sporting activities society". Australia as well as the Netherlands for instance always carry out fairly well, although they do not have a large population. Sporting expertise is necessary to them however, as well as many individuals participate in sporting activity.
Host-country impact: The UK hosted the 2012 Olympics as well as won 65 medals compared to 47 at the previous Games. This is an acknowledged pattern. Carrying out before a home crowd, integrated with additional investment in sporting activity, offers the nation a medals increase. At this year's Gamings, we would expect Brazil to take advantage of this effect.
Future-host result: Australia won 27 medals in 1992, yet a complete 41 medals four years later - possibly because of boosted financial investment in sport in the run-up to the 2000 Sydney Games. The UK, on the other hand, increased its medal haul from 30 to 47 between 2004 and 2008, before organizing the 2012 Games. Brazil, nevertheless, damaged the pattern as well as did not do specifically well at the 2012 Games. At this year's Gamings, we would certainly anticipate Japan to take advantage of the future-host impact.
Riches: Nations with a high GDP, like Germany or the USA, can manage to buy sporting activities centers, and also their populaces have sufficient free time and money to participate in sports. This may not be the case in poorer nations.
Populace: A huge population indicates a huge talent swimming pool to pick professional athletes from - in China's instance, 1.36 billion individuals.
Planned economic situations: These nations have the tendency to invest more in sport because they value the status that sporting success brings. China as well as Cuba excellent instances. Nations that were previously intended economic climates, such as Russia and also Ukraine, may also continue to make money from these past efforts.
Majority-Muslim population: In majority-Muslim nations females are less most likely to join sporting activities and also end up being athletes. Consequently, these countries generally send out fewer or no women professional athletes, and less athletes suggests fewer possibilities to win medals.
A charity that has been paid millions by the UK federal government for its work in Africa is under the control of a cult-like organization, an investigation by the BBC and also United States companions has revealed. The group's elderly leaders - wanted by Interpol - are thought to be burrowed in a deluxe seaside substance in Mexico.
Patrick Goteka was helping a charity in Zimbabwe when, in 2006, his employer provided him a big break - the opportunity to move to the United States.
Goteka, who would be functioning as a manager in the recycled clothes company, recognized the relocation would certainly mean sacrifices - separating him from his partner as well as 3 kids. Yet he claims he really did not rely on likewise having to sign up with a cult-like organisation - the Teachers Group - and also give up a piece of his month-to-month salary when he handled his new role.
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Media captionPatrick Goteka: "They informed me - you will get to visit your family annually.".
Goteka reflects to the discussion he had at the time.
" They stated, 'We can not send someone who is not in the Educators Team.' So they stated: 'You must sign up with.'".
He likewise keeps in mind being informed he would certainly be making a great living.
" We are going to sustain you when you are ill," they stated. "We'll sustain your family. We'll provide you excellent conditions.".
There was no large initiation ceremony. No information. They simply shook hands and, with that, Goteka had actually been inducted into the Educators Team.
UPDATE: The UK's Department for International Development (DfID) has issued a statement saying that repayments to Dapp Malawi have been put on hold while the claims in this tale are explored.
The organisation Goteka discovered himself joining had actually been set up in Denmark in the early 1970s by a male called Mogens Amdi Petersen.
For several years the Teachers Group has actually run a government-funded alternative school system, yet in 2001 the Danish authorities plundered its offices and demanded Petersen with scams. Found not guilty in 2006, he and also several of his partners promptly left the nation, yet district attorneys appealed and the team are now wanted by Interpol. It's believed they could have taken haven in a massive luxury compound, worth an estimated ₤ 20m ($ 26m), on the Pacific coast in Mexico.
Mogens Amdi PetersenImage copyrightSCANPIX.
Image subtitle.
Petersen, 77, is desired by Interpol.
This is just one component of the Teachers Team international network, which includes offshore firms and commercial endeavors. It is likewise behind Dapp Malawi - the Malawian branch of a charity, Advancement Aid from Individuals to People - which employed Goteka after his return from the United States.
Dapp runs education, health and also agriculture jobs in Malawi, and has obtained tens of millions of extra pounds in the last years from Unicef, the EU and the UK's Division for International Advancement (DfID).
Component of these funds will certainly have been utilized to pay the charity's staff. Yet as the experience of Goteka and others exposes, a percentage of the money paid to some staff ultimately discovers its method to the Educators Group.
When in the US, Goteka was presented to the following stage of the Educators Group approach - the "common economy". This is a fund which all participants are expected to add to. Goteka says he ended up paying 50% of his income, a lot which he would certainly otherwise have returned to his family members in Zimbabwe.
Discover more.
Pay attention to Malawi's Large Charity Trick at 20:00 on BBC Radio 4, or mesmerize in the future BBC iPlayer radio.
You can listen to a much shorter version for Job, on the BBC World Solution, below.
This tale was created in collaboration with Reveal from The Facility for Investigative Coverage - understand their stories right here and also here.
The organisation calls these payments "voluntary" yet Goteka states employees are really left without an option.
" If you compose more money to your wife they will state, 'Cancel this and also begin once again.' People were crying when they were making those spending plans. It was simply a shame.".
Dapp Malawi really did not intend to be interviewed and also replied to our questions with a British law firm. It claims there are Dapp Malawi team that are participants of the TG yet says "this is a personal matter for them, it has nothing to do with benefactors, whose funds are not applied to TG".
It's not simply money that the Educators Team demands of its members - but additionally their spare time.
Christopher Banda is a smiling but earnest young field officer for Dapp in Malawi. He is also a participant of the Teachers Team, having actually participated in 2009 because, he says, "it was like my task safety and security".
" We call ourselves pals ... as well as we discuss the personal life together," states Banda, referring to exactly what is recognized in the group as "common time". This is individual time Teachers Group participants are needed to quit for the benefit of the organization, for example to assist preserving structures.
" In the usual time we are constantly together," says Banda. "We only get a possibility one weekend break a month to see our family members.".
Christopher Banda.
Photo caption.
Christopher Banda informed Unicef regarding Dapp's links with the Educators Group.
It was while running a Dapp task to enhance hygiene in villages in Malawi, that Banda elevated the alarm system regarding the charity's links with the Teachers Group. The project was being jointly funded by DfID and Unicef - the UN kid's charity.
Banned, he claims, from speaking to benefactors about the job, he was among a group of area policemans who wrote to Unicef in Might this year concerning a number of problems, consisting of workers' payments to the Instructor's Group.
We presented Banda to Patsy Nakell from Unicef. As she hears his story she looks increasingly worried, before wrapping up: "I have actually never seen any type of such thing in my life prior to, and I don't comprehend the reasoning behind this, it simply is peculiar.".
She includes that if it's true that a few of Banda's Unicef-funded wage was subtracted to be sent directly from Dapp to the Educators Group "after that it's undesirable, it's abhorrent".
Notification board outside Dapp educator training university in Chilangoma.
The alarm bell appeared by Banda and also others has already had an effect, with Unicef pulling all its financing from the Dapp project he was working with in Malawi at the end of June. Unicef is currently carrying [1] out a complete audit of the task and is assessing various other contracts with Dapp in Africa.
Dapp told us: "At no time has Unicef ever before increased with Dapp Malawi issues over deductions from salaries of TG participants.".
Exactly what is Dapp?
Dapp Malawi belongs to a global federation of charities called Humana People to People, which has its head office in Zimbabwe.
The organisation has more than 30 different members all over the world - there is a Dapp UK, a Dapp Zambia, Humana People to Individuals Brazil, and so on.
Dapp is among the significant NGOs active in Malawi, supplying a variety of help tasks from farming to health and wellness as well as education and learning.
Evidence revealed by the BBC confirms that these payments are not constrained to simply a couple of people, such as Banda as well as Goteka.
In his little office, Harrison Longwe, an accountant at Dapp in 2014 and 2015, pulls out a laptop computer and shows me a spread sheet with the names of more than 700 Dapp employees in Malawi. For a quarter of them there's a column with extra reductions.
" This is what visits TG [Educators Group] direct," Longwe clarifies. "Some would be adding as high as 30% to the TG.".
Of those sending cash to the Teachers Team, the average payment was 25%.
It's astonishing when you take into consideration that the average month-to-month income in Malawi is just ₤ 60 ($ 80). Few of those utilized by Dapp can have easily afforded to part with any one of their income, let alone a quarter of it.
Educator training university in the city of Blantyre, Malawi.
Picture inscription.
Dapp's instructor training college in Blantyre, Malawi.
In a statement Dapp denies "that it requires contributions from team for membership of TG, that it pressurises staff members to add to TG" or it makes any type of reduction from wages apart from "each direction by the individual staff member".
While the Educators Team started in Denmark and also is recruiting in Africa, the centre of its orbit currently is the deluxe seaside substance at San Juan de las Pulgas in Mexico, 150 miles south of Tijuana.
Educators Team.
The Educators Team is the internal circle of a movement referred to as Tvind, established by Mogens Amdi Petersen in the early 1970s.
It is related to institutions as well as educator training universities, charities, as well as businesses - including ranches in South America.
Some of the charities in the United States and also Europe gather second-hand clothing.
The BBC reported in 2002 that Danish authorities had estimated Petersen's wealth at ₤ 100m.
Banda was one of the picked ones sent there. It is a spectacular vision of sleek rock as well as intense white cathedral-like buildings with a futuristic feel. Developed by a prominent Danish engineer, it has been described as a combination of Disney Globe, Club Med as well as the Taj Mahal.
Banda was ostensibly there for a seminar concerning farming, yet he states it was nothing of the kind.
" The majority of the moments we were active in the course going over about just how we can secure the Teachers Group," he states.
Goteka has also been to the Mexico compound.
" It's quite gorgeous, the majority of the products are imported, it's just a various type of furniture, lovely as well as expensive," he claims, remembering his go to.
Like Banda, Goteka fulfilled Petersen in Mexico. He recognized him personally, since Petersen had employed him to look for his lost pet - for two years - when it went missing in Zimbabwe in 1998. It was later on that he started working with Dapp Zimbabwe, as well as later for Dapp Malawi.
When we meet in Malawi, Goteka takes me to see one of Dapp's training universities, called Amalika.
Dapp Amalika signpost on roadside in Malawi.
Like a number of the Dapp websites it is remote, lying at the end of a single-track roadway bordered by looming bluegum trees and thick woodland. Goteka was an university supervisor at the university, which, he claims, was a recruiting ground for the Educators Team.
" When trainees are done here they are persuaded how great TG is so they could join," he claims.
It's what occurred to an educator we satisfy later. He is nervous as well as will only talk inside our auto, where he can not be seen. He joined the Teachers Team three years earlier and also willingly pays payments out of his federal government wage.
" You feel a dedication to them, despite the fact that you don't know where the money is going," he says.
The TG ideology is, he says, "Forget about your family - think of Teachers Group.".
He includes: "It's like you have actually given up the entire of your life, 100% in Educators Team.".
A book cover: 150 Teachings Showcasing TG Rearing.
Picture subtitle.
A hand-operated utilized by the Educators Group outlining the organization's philosophy.
Talking to him one gets a sense of the cult-like nature of the team especially when it involves dissent.
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