Sports Illustrated predicts two gold medals for Team Ireland at Rio 2016

Ireland are expected to win six medals at Rio across two sports, according to Sports Illustrated.

The US Media outlet have made their medal predictions for the upcoming summer Olympic games and it makes for good reading for Irish fans. They've tipped Katie Taylor to recreate her glory at the 2012 games in London and take gold in the Women's 60 kg event. Yana Alexseevna, who ended Taylor's 62-match win streak in April, should finish second while Finland's Mira Potkonen of Finland and Estelle Mossely of France, who also defeated Taylor in 2016, should take the bronze medals according to SI. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/757875245567148032?lang=en World champion Michael Conlan has been backed to beat the likes of Shiva Thapa and Dzmitry Asanau to secure gold in the men's 56 kg, while they've predicted silver for Portlaoise's Michael O'Reilly and Westmeath native Joe Ward in their respective weight divisions. Paddy Barnes will get the bronze spot according to SI. They feel the Belfast man won't finish ahead of Cuba's Joahnys Argilagos and Vasily Yegorov of Russia, who they believe will finish first and second respectively in the 49 kg event. Finally, they've picked three-time major winner Padraig Harrington to get the bronze medal in the golf. They believe Bubba Watson will take home the top prize with Sergio García bagging the silver. However, they've also singled out British Open champion Henrik Stenson as the dark horse of the competition. Listen to our GAA podcast with Colm Parkinson. Click here to subscribe on iTunes.