AOC president John Coates has downplayed concerns about the smallest Australian Olympic team in 20 years, pointing out it is still bigger than much more populous nations and other Olympic heavyweights China and Germany.

A team of 410 will represent Australia in London, with Coates emphasising it would be contesting the vast majority of sports.

"You have to put it in context that we don't have baseball and softball on the program," Coates told reporters in Sydney on Friday.

"We've been in softball every Games since 1996 and we've medalled in all of those and, similarly, we were in baseball most of the times.

"But it's our fifth largest - our smallest team since 1992.

"You've also got to put that in the context that we've got a bigger team than China, a bigger team than Germany.

"So we are the fourth largest team at these Games with 410 athletes.

"China qualified 396 and the Germans 391. Germany, 80 million people, China, you work it out.

"I'm very proud that we'll be represented with such a large team.

"We've only missed qualifying in fencing and, sadly for the first time since 1952 in handball and football, so we've done very well."

Coates wasn't perturbed by the profusion of selection protests in the lead-up.

"It doesn't disappoint me," Coates said.

"I think the athletes are entitled. The prize is so very great they are entitled to contest that the policies have been properly adhered to.

"They are entitled to a fair go.

"We had something like 40 appeals in Sydney. We'll have in the low 20s this time and that's the nature of the business."

Coates made no mention of any medal projections for Australia in London, but 1960 Olympic 1500m track champion Herb Elliott felt it would be hard to maintain a top-five placing under opposition from more cashed-up nations.

He said there was no talk of medal counts in 1960, but understood why there was more focus on the tally nowadays.

"Once we got more and more government funding, it's totally understandable that we start thinking about medal counts and how we are going against other nations," Elliott said.

"It's very interesting to see how we go in this Games because some of the other nations leading up to London have spent a hell of a lot more than we have.