(Seven Sport, 2016)

It is almost inconceivable that in this day of advanced psychological practices and training in sports that a professional athlete can ‘choke’.

That is what Australians witnessed as world record holder and hot favourite Cate Campbell came in at sixth place in her 100m final.  Campbell described her performance as “the greatest choke in Olympic history”. (Clark & Larkin, 2016)

It didn’t stop there as dual Olympian and 100m Gold Medal favourite Cameron McEvoy finished second last, explaining he “got stage fright”. (Clark & Larkin, 2016)

At the completion of the 2016 Rio Olympics campaign the Australian Olympic Team’s eight gold medal achievement fell well short of the Australian Olympic Committees predictions.

(Seven Sport, 2016)

If the AOC’s annual benchmark study had been realised, the Australian team, consisting of 422 athletes  (Australian Olympic Committee, 2016) should have taken home a total of 37 medals including 13 Gold (Decent, 2015).  The final tally was a total of 29 medals proving to be poorer performance than the 2012 London Olympics.

This performance has motivated Labor to call on the Turnbull Government to review it’s Olympic funding model. (O’Brien, 2016)

Stephen Conroy, the opposition spokesman for sport, said (O’Brien, 2016) whilst the level of competition was increasing there are systemic problems that need to be addressed by the federal government.

The primary Olympic athlete funding body, the Australian Sports Commission has spent $376.7 million on 35 elite sport programs since the 2012 London games, an extra $40.6 million over four years for taxpayers. (O’Brien, 2016)

Can the Australian Government continue to pay $47 million per Gold Medal in preparation for the 2020 Olympics in Japan?  Can we afford to commodotise these results into a punitive return, without considering what sport means to Australia?

(AFL Cairns, 2015)

Sport is the life blood of our great nation, it represents the hopes, dreams and aspirations Australians everywhere bridging the gaps of gender, generation and race.

The spirit of Australia embodies our love for sport …. Priceless!

References:

AFL Cairns, 2015. AFLCJ Signon Day. [Online]
Available at: http://www.foxsportspulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=1-3392-0-0-0&sID=53234&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=33201411
[Accessed 23 August 2016].

Australian Olympic Committee, 2016. Australian Olympic Team. [Online]
Available at: http://rio2016.olympics.com.au/team
[Accessed 23 August 2016].

Clark, A. & Larkin, S., 2016. Rio poses headaches for Dolphins. [Online]
Available at: https://au.sports.yahoo.com/rio-2016/a/32402127/rio-poses-headaches-for-dolphins/#page2
[Accessed 23 August 2016].

Decent, T., 2015. Rio Olympics 2016: Australian Olympic Committee predicts bumper gold medal tally. [Online]
Available at: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/rio-olympics-2016-australian-olympic-commitee-predicts-bumper-gold-medal-tally-20151215-glogyq.html
[Accessed 18 August 2016].

O’Brien, S., 2016. Rio Olympics 2016: Is an Australian culture of mediocrity behind our medal choke?. [Online]
Available at: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/olympics-2016/rio-olympics-2016-is-an-australian-culture-of-mediocrity-behind-our-medal-choke/news-story/6cd4ed30731375c5865cce8110ca2b54
[Accessed 17 August 2016].

Owens, J., 2016. Rio Olympics 2016: Labor urges funding rethink after poor Rio showing. [Online]
Available at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/rio-olympics-2016-labor-urges-funding-rethink-after-poor-rio-showing/news-story/0e1aceabe7197bde0822584c64885b8a
[Accessed 18 August 2016].

Seven Sport, 2016. Rio poses headaches for Dolphins. [Online]
Available at: https://au.sports.yahoo.com/rio-2016/a/32402127/rio-poses-headaches-for-dolphins/#page2
[Accessed 23 August 2016].