The 31st Summer Olympic Games, Rio

An American political economist has predicted that South Korea will finish tenth on the overall medal count at the Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics with a total of 30 to 31 bronze, silvers and golds.

According to a statistical projection model recently devised by Marcus Noland, executive vice president and director of studies at the Peterson Institute for International Economics(PIIE), the U.S. is forecast to finish first in Rio winning 105 to 106 medals.

China is expected to rank second with 92 to 94 medals.

The gap between the top two has narrowed according to Noland's projection, as America clinched 104 and China 88 medals in the previous 2012 London Olympics.

Russia, which is currently mired in a state-sponsored doping scandal, is expected to win far fewer medals this year at 66, compared to 82 in London, but nevertheless, is forecast to retain a third place finish. The prediction, however, assumes that all Russian athletes take part in the games. The medal count will sharply drop if about a quarter of Team Russia, including its track and field athletes, are banned from competing.

Team South Korea announced earlier that it aims for a top ten finish with at least ten gold medals.