The competition for Olympic medals will be tight in Beijing. But when it comes to the gold, oddsmakers are expecting the host nation to come through in spades. China is a heavy 2-5 favorite to rake in the most gold medals this summer; the United States is a distant second at 13-8.

As the host, China gets to send a certain minimum number of qualified athletes to each event. There will be 613 Chinese athletes at the Games this year compared to 407 in Athens. They’ll do well in their traditional strongholds like diving, badminton and table tennis. But China is pulling out all the stops to bring home the most gold at Beijing.

When the Soviet Union made a similar Olympic push during the Cold War, they won the gold medal race on a regular basis, including their first attempt at the 1956 Games in Melbourne. China today has significantly more economic clout than the U.S.S.R. did back then.