I Owe Sports Illustrated an Apology

Before the Olympics, Sports Illustrated predicted that the United States would win 45 golds and 118 total medals.  I mocked this prediction as too optimistic.  In fact, the United States won 46 golds and 121 total medals -- almost exactly what SI expected.

Sports Illustrated also said that China would win 45 golds and 85 total medals.  I mocked this prediction on the grounds that China would not lose that much ground from its 2012 performance.  In fact, China finished with 26 golds and 70 total medals -- even worse than SI had predicted.

So SI was basically right, and I was entirely wrong.  In fact, the United States beat China by 51 total medals -- the biggest gap between first and second place at a non-boycotted Olympics since 1932.