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You're not comparing apples with apples there. Our basketballers are pretty well paid themselves and majority are in the NBA.I think the case for more funding is interesting.
Most of those we had over there pretty much had to get time off from their work to participate, whereas others (hello the Dream Team) are highly paid professionals. It probably isn't a level playing field from that aspect.
Our athletes want more funding...um ok,
http://m.sportsfan.com.au/news-display/aussie-athletes-call-for-more-funding/209060
Please provide evidence of Kitty affecting Anna Flanagan's ability to attend the games. I resume you think Kitty was also to blame for Michael Diamond not going!
Did anyone see the news today , kitty getting off the plane first then followed by the athletes.. Kitty is our leader lol why not let our Gold medalists get off first
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...lammed-leaving-Rio-team-plane-medallists.html
“They definitely shouldn’t have said that at all,” Chalmers said as the Australian Games team arrived home. “The Dolphins (swim team) people are the ones who know what we’re going to achieve. “They’re the ones who have in the back of their minds that to get three gold medals is an amazing achievement. “But the AOC put a lot more pressure on us.”
If we concede the top two spots to the US and China, it means there is only room for two other countries other than ourselves in the Top 5. This is surely bad news for Germany, Great Britain, Japan, France, the two Koreas, Russia and Italy to name a few of the other bigger and equally ambitious players.
Of course, this is how it has played out in London and in Rio.
Many sports administrators have privately told us they believe Top 5 in today’s world is unrealistic but Top 10 is feasible. Perhaps that is a more appropriate “stretch target” for us.
Creating unrealistic expectations is hugely unfair to our athletes. Coming second, fourth or even participating in any event at the Olympics is an extraordinary achievement and shouldn’t be the reason for tears or feeling the athletes have let Australia down.
This is what seems to have happened in both London and Rio. There has been as much talk about why we have failed as about our achievements.Our view is our Olympic athletes did incredibly well at Rio. Equal ninth in the gold medal count and eighth in the total medal count is a wonderful performance. But a sense of failure accompanies our results — and has in these past two Olympics — mainly because we have been led to expect a Top 5 gold medal finish is our rightful position.
We also made the point in our report that “medal count” is a silly measure of success, regardless of whether it is Top 5 or Top 10. It prompts countries to pursue sports that offer lots of medals but have less strategic importance to national life.
For example, it biases against Olympic team sports such as basketball and hockey, which are important in Australia but which each have only two gold medals (one for men and one for women), while there are 47 gold medals in athletics, 21 in wrestling, 14 in judo and even taekwondo has eight.
Our view is we should define the sports we wish to succeed in — and back these up with reasonable investment. And, yes, there are Olympic sports that are culturally important and socially valuable to Australia — sports like hockey, soccer, swimming, basketball, cycling, rugby and sailing are built upon a huge network of community-based clubs around Australia that not only build sport participation but also build “community”.
They may not all offer many gold medals but investment in team sports like these strengthens the social fabric of our community while improving our national competitiveness in that sport.
Some sports — such as badminton, squash and field hockey — also have ties with Asia and with our migrant populations, so encouraging these makes strategic sense for Australia.
Sport can be a potent weapon to balance disadvantage and discrimination in society.
The stakes are huge because winning gold medals comes at a huge dollar cost. And that cost competes with funding for community and school sports. Our country needs a rethink what we wish to achieve in sport. A big part of this will involve realistic assessments of how and where we define Olympic “success”.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/ri...e/news-story/67ab7e2b7d26c78bca274962b0f90445
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Yep, as far as I'm concerned, if you meet the various qualifiers, and we can send you within the specifications (i.e. 3 track and field athletes in any event, 1 sailer per class etc.) you should get to go.An opinion of Dave Culbert's I heard on SEN a few months ago. I've pondered since. Is to send the biggest team we can.
You know what? I agree, and it's now an entrenched view I hold.
The Olympics is the premier sporting event in the world. I may've been inspired by motorsport as a kid. But I get the enormity, privilege and honour of participating in an Olympics, regardless of the competition. If there is anybody, regardless of age or chance of gold/medalling, who has the potential to go. Then they should go. No one should be denied. This even it meant the focus was taken away from getting gold/medals.
I would be satisfied if in the future the attitude was to send the biggest tram. I'd be comfortable with the lowest gold/medal/participants ratio. The other countries can laugh. I wouldn't care.
Not sure why this was such an unrealistic aim given we won about 15 world championships in Olympic sports last year.What a mess, all the leaders arguing and trying to blame eachother. Deluded, we were never going to win 17 gold medals.
Probably because Coates can't manipulate them and/or offer them a $200k to $400k job somewhere in Oz olympic sports so they will do what he wants.Why being connected to big business, top end of town is a problem?
I dont know about swimming but the old IAAF Grand Prix which became the Golden League and now the Diamond League always have had events 2 or 3 weeks after the Olympics or World Champs because they have their regular season which used to run from late May to early September and I think with new meets in places like Shanghai, Doha and now one event in USA it goes from early May to mid to late September. Its a bit like a footy season if you had an interstate carnival every 4 years in June, you still have games and the finals after the carnival.It's always interesting to note that for people like me, who are committed to the Olympics. To find how the sports move on quickly from it.
Swimmers are now competing in an event in Paris. Which includes Maddy Groves and Mitch Larkin.
Athletics are also in Paris having already competed mid week in Lausanne! Asafa Powell won the 100. Probably just got off the plane. Kendra Harrison won the 100h setting a time that would've clearly got gold.
Ahh well.
Yep under performed but you cant say a completely failed campaign. Disappointing but 3 golds 4 silvers and 10 medals was disppointing on expectations but not a failure, especially when you unearth an 18 year old sprint Olympic Champion who is 6 to 8 years away from his peak, and a 20 year old distance Olympic Champion who will be peaking in Tokyo maybe later in 2024 as well. The Oz result in Rio was better than any Olympics between 1976 and 1996 inclusive.Not sure there's any room for excuses the swimmers clearly underperformed.