Olympics Predictions 2018: Winter Medal History; Top Favorites at Pyeongchang

The 2018 Winter Olympics will officially begin on Friday as nations from around the world compete for glory across 15 sports and 102 events in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

With Russia banned from competing by the International Olympic Committee after an investigation into allegations of state-sponsored doping, the country that hosted the 2014 Sochi Games and topped the medal table will be absent.

Though clean Russian athletes may still compete under a neutral flag, the nation was initially stripped of 13 medals won at Sochi, including four golds. On Thursday, seven of those medals were returned. 

As such, there's likely to be a fierce contest for medals in Pyeongchang, with the likes of Germany, Canada, Norway and the USA set to capitalise on Russia's absence.

Before the seven medals were returned, Russia was demoted to fourth and Norway topped the medal table in Sochi ahead of Canada and the United States, while Germany came in sixth.

Having analysed results from various competitions in the buildup to the Games, Gracenote Olympic has backed the Germans to narrowly overcome the trio in South Korea:

Based on those predictions, all four nations will collect more medals this time around, with Germany—who last topped the medal table in Turin 2006—enjoying an increase of 21 to 40, including six golds.

Meanwhile, Norway's projected 37 would be their best performance at a Winter Olympics by some distance and an improvement of 13 from Sochi, where they equalled their record of 26 set two decades previously in 1994.

The Germans are well-placed for success in a number of events, though, with the luge being one of their standout disciplines.

In the men's event, Felix Loch has dominated the sport in recent years and collected three gold medals across Sochi and Vancouver 2010, and he leads the 2017-18 World Cup rankings heading into the Games.

Peter Morgan/Associated Press

Germany perhaps have an even greater chance of success in the women's event. Reigning gold medalist Natalie Geisenberger topped the World Cup rankings ahead of compatriot Dajana Eitberger, while Tatjana Huefner came fifth, with the trio having won seven of the 13 races between them. 

Four-man bobsleigh looks to be another promising event; Germany boast the top three ranked men, with Johannes Lochner leading the way with four wins under his belt this season from eight races.

With those events and more likely to return plenty of gold medals and podium places, Germany will take some beating at the top of the medal table this year.