Australia would slip to seventh on the medal tally if a summer Olympic Games was held this year, according to the Australian Olympic Committee’s latest annual benchmark study.
Australia would finish with just nine gold medals and 38 medals in all, its lowest return for over a decade, according to the 2009 survey.
This would drop Australia from sixth position in Beijing last year to seventh behind the US (90 medals), Russia (70), China (68), Germany (60), France (40) and Britain (also 38 but with two more gold).
Since winning a record 58 medals, good enough for fourth position, at the Sydney 2000 Games, the Australian Olympic team has experienced a decline to 49 medals in Athens in 2004 and 46 in Beijing last year.
The AOC believes Australia would need a total of 55 medals to reclaim top five status at the 2012 London Olympics.
“We are a long way off our goal,” said AOC President John Coates.
“The study highlights a steady decline in the number of medals won over the past decade, and that is a major concern.”
The AOC has applied for an additional $100 million a year in federal funding for Olympic sports for the next 10 years to keep pace with major competitors in Europe including Germany, France, Britain and Italy.
It is awaiting the release of the Crawford Report into sports funding, which some news reports indicate could recommend cuts to many sports.
The benchmark study is based on results achieved by Australians at world championship, World Cups and equivalent events in 2009.
THE RISE AND FALL OF AUSTRALIA’S OLYMPIC EMPIRE?
1976 Montreal 0 gold 5 medals 32nd place
1988 Seoul 3 14 15th
1992 Barcelona 7 27 10th
1996 Atlanta 9 41 7th
2000 Sydney 16 58 4th
2004 Athens 17 49 4th
2008 Beijing 14 46 6th
2009 9 38 7th *
2012 London 55 5th *** Based on AOC’s latest benchmark survey
** AOC projection of medal tally needed to arrest declineIF AN OLYMPIC GAMES WAS HELD NOW*
1st USA 90 medals
2nd Russia 70
3rd China 68
4th Germany 60
5th France 44
6th Britain 38 (11 gold)
7th Aust 38 (nine gold)
8th Italy 34 (11 gold)
* According to AOC benchmark survey based on world championship, World Cup and equivalent results in 2009)OLYMPIC SPENDATHON
Spending over four years on 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics*
$1.32 billion – Britain
$1.2 billion – France
$1.04 billion – Germany
$858 million – Italy
$588 million – AustraliaAmount needed for top five finish: $900+ million (AOC estimate)
*AOC figures, all in $A
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