Goldman Sachs: Ukraine - Top Emerging Market at London Olympics

KYIV, Ukraine, July 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Ukraine will be the only emerging market in the top ten best performing countries at the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics in London, according to the study compiled by American bank Goldman Sachs. The authors of the research The Olympics and Economics 2012  expect Ukrainian athletes to win 9 gold medals (and 27 total) at the high profile sports event.

Explaining the methodic used to produce The Olympics and Economics 2012, the author states: "Ultimately, it appears that gold does go where growth and the overall growth environment are best." The report quotes Tim Hollingsworth, the Chief Executive of the British Paralympic Association: "When you create a world class environment you are far more likely to create world class athletes."

The indicator used by Goldman Sachs experts to assess the probability of a country winning a certain amount of medals was the Growth Environment Score. The analysts used income, as well as political conditions, macroeconomic stability, macroeconomic conditions, human capital, technology and the microeconomic environment as reference points.

Ukraine took the tenth position in the Goldman Sachs rating with other countries in the top ten being the USA, China, the UK, Russia, Australia, France, Germany, South Korea, and Italy. In 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing Ukraine scored 11^th position on the medal table. Ukrainian athletes won 7 gold medals, 5 silver, and 15 bronze then.

Interestingly, the authors of The Olympics and Economics 2012 singled out the sports, most affected by the economic variables. They are cycling, judo, rowing, and swimming. Though Ukrainian judoka Roman Gontiuk and cycler Lesya Kalitovska did win bronze in Beijing, Ukraine won gold in shooting, archery, fencing, athletics, canoeing, and boxing.

The Games of the XXX Olympiad will host more than 10,000 athletes representing 204 nations. Ukrainian 2012 Olympic team features 245 athletes. The 2008 Olympic champions Artur Ayvazyan (shooting), Natalya Dobrynska (athletics), Olga Harlan (fencing), Vasyl Lomachenko (boxing), Inna Osypenko-Radomska (canoeing), and Viktor Ruban (archery) will perform in London.

Ukraine doesn't just aim to rank high in the competition, the country plans to place 2022 Winter Olympics hosting bid in 2014, according to Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Borys Kolesnikov.

The full text of the Goldman Sachs report can be found here http://www.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/topics/global-economic-outlook/olympics-and-economics-.pdf