USA lead Global Cup, six countries vying for second place
Halfway through the 2017 sporting year, the USA have consolidated their leadership in the Global Cup, the ranking of the world’s best sporting nations.
This may not sound too surprising, seeing how the Stars and Stripes have dominated the ranking since its inception in 2008. Yet they’ve had to come from behind this year: France lead early on, and Norway took over in March, the first nation in GSN history to top both the Global Cup and the Per Capita Cup in the same month.
After a very successful sporting spring, and a strong showing in June, chiefly thanks to a hands-down win in the US Golf Open, the USA have now carved a sizeable gap ahead of the plucky Norwegians, who are still stubbornly holding on to second place overall, and still lead the Per Capita Cup, ahead of Slovenia and Switzerland.
The focus is now on the fight for second place in the Global Cup: six countries are within a mere 141 points of each other. Hard to imagine Norway holding on for long, now that the snow & ice sports season is over, and also seeing the strong momentum Russia is enjoying.
They are currently third, recovering after a slow start to the year, on the back of their worst-ever Global Cup finish in 2016 (fifth, with less than half the points of the USA). In June, Russia picked up a useful 234 points by finishing second behind hosts South Korea in the Taekwondo World Championships, and are now a strong contender for second place, especially with the Men’s Water Polo Worlds and the Volleyball World League both taking place in July.
July also means Wimbledon tennis, and France, Germany and of course seventh-placed Switzerland (or rather Roger Federer) could well pick up crucial Global Cup points. The sporting summer is definitely getting into the swing of things, enjoy it on GSN!
