With less than 100 days until the games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing begin, across the globe, sporting boffins are trying to predict where the dust will settle when the medal tally closes on August 24.

If you feel overwhelmed by it all, then fear not. Your intrepid sports writers have done all the legwork for you, producing an armchair guide of Aussie ‘must-sees’.

Thankfully we sleep easier in the knowledge that Australia has punched above its weight at Olympic level for some time now. After the disaster that was Montreal in 1976 (one silver, four bronze) we’ve come fourth in the medal tally at each of the last two games. Our performances look even better when looked viewed a population-adjusted basis.

Collectively, swimming and cycling have delivered a swag of gold in recent games. Based on current world performances there’s no reason to expect our swimmers won’t produce the goods once again. Of course the Yanks are yet to have their trials, and unless Michael Phelps meets with a Tonia Harding moment they will again be the country to beat. But we’re worried about the cycling. The recent world championships saw the French and Brits in dangerous form, risking an interruption to a repeat of the six gold we achieved at the Athens velodrome.

The team sports are likely to be happy Aussie hunting grounds. Our women’s basketball, men’s hockey team, women’s water polo and even softball teams are all looking good.

So, where will the unexpected medals come from? Another ‘Steven Bradbury’ as the last man standing? Or perhaps there’ll be more offspring of aging B Grade celebrities excelling in underfunded sports? (Thank you for Sydney, Lauren Burns.)

Don’t expect anything from badminton, fencing, handball or modern pentathlon. With the deepest love and respect, we know our performances in these sports are destined for the mid-morning highlights packages, battling the ratings against Kerri-Anne and the latest Demtel commercial.

Well here are our tips for some outside contenders. Will any attain Bruce McAvaney’s ‘special’ status?

Phillipe Rizzo (pictured) on the high bar. With a bit of gaffer tape on his dodgy shoulder, insiders say he might manage Australia’s first Olympic gymnastics medal.

Melissa Wu on the 10m diving platform. She’s a big girl, yet should be ready to take the next step to follow in the footsteps of Chantelle Newberry in Athens.

But we suspect for some it’s not all about who wins. The new neck-to-knee Speedo LZR swimming suits may have produced oodles of world records since the start of the year, but at what cost? Is it worth the loss of the guaranteed flesh-fest on the starting blocks?

Perhaps. Especially when we can be confident that the gymnastics and synchronized diving will come to the party for the guys; whilst for the girls, the uniforms worn by the beach volleyball girls leave nothing to the imagination. For the Laird dwellers, it’s all about the discus. Squint your eyes and you just might be transported to the 2008 Chicago Mr Leather competition.

Who will provide controversy this year? You’ll have to go a long way to top Kathy Watt’s suicide blonde effort in Barcelona. Will anyone break through to claim Shirvo’s world ‘tumbling tackle’ record down the home stretch? Any what will the Chinese female swim team produce?

Some things you just can’t predict.