The Dutch Olympic team performed better at PyeongChang than University of Groningen economists Fabian ten Kate, Gerard Kuper and Elmer Sterken predicted with their model. Team NL won eight gold medals in South Korea, three more than the predicted five. The Netherlands thus ended higher up the medal table (fifth place) than the researchers had expected (ninth).
During an interview with RTV Noord, PhD student Ten Kate attributed the difference to the last-minute exclusion of many of the Russian athletes. The predicted numbers of silver (6, and 6 achieved) and bronze medals (7, and 6 achieved) were almost exactly right.
