And that could be good enough for third place in the overall medals table, one place higher than they managed in Beijing.

Such is the prediction of Sheffield Hallam University's Sports Industry Research Centre, whose latest work features in a report launched this week to coincide with the third annual Universities Week campaign.

The report, entitled "Olympic and Paralympic Games: the impact of universities", also points out that almost two-thirds of Team GB medallists of the last 20 years are university-educated, and that more than 90 per cent of Britain's universities are engaged with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with 65 per cent expecting long-term benefits from their involvement.

Universities Week comes to a uniquely high-profile climax tomorrow when the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) stages the finals of its Outdoor Athletics Championships in front of 46,000 people at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford as part of the London 2012 athletics test event.


As far as the likely accuracy of the Sheffield Hallam predictions are concerned, the report points out that their Research Centre, using its own economic forecasting model, had said before the Beijing Games that the hosts would win 46 gold medals – which was five short of the actual total gained, but was also the closest prediction offered.

The latest prediction over the Team GB prospects at London 2012 takes into account the steady improvement that has taken place in British Olympic sports since Lottery funding began in the late 1990s.

The Sheffield Hallam research team believes Team GB will win medals in 15 sports and across 18 disciplines, which would be the widest range of success since Britain won medals in 23 of the 24 sports contested at the 1908 London Games.

Additional research featured in the report shows that, over the last 20 years, 61 per cent of British Olympic Games medallists and 65 per cent of gold medallist have been to university.

Of those universities, Oxford and Cambridge top the list, each with 15 medallists, closely followed by Loughborough, whose students or ex-students have contributed 11, and with Oxford Brookes and Edinburgh joint third on the podium with nine medals.

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