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
Rowdy
Guest
Agree that too much importance is put on Olympic medal counts. Unfortunately, we in the UK seem to be going the same way as Aus in throwing money at our top athletes; winning medals does make you feel quite happy for a few days, but really it's about participation and a healthy population, not how many millions each Gold cost.
cuzybro
Roar Rookie
the answer is straight forward bro. The southern states of VIC, TAS and SA as well as WA are absolutely brainwashed in AFL. Children are taught to eat, breath and sleep AFL. Very few other sports get any air time and if children in these states play anything but AFL they are belittled bro. hence, people in these states have little interest overall in playing or following other sports in a serious manner. In VIC, If you can schedule an event outside of the AFL season and it is not a football code, it will be tolerated. Look at potentially how many seem bolwers etc from VIC have turned their back on cricket bro when they get to 18. So good on you Australia, the once mighty sporting nation is now great at AFL (not that anyone else on the planet would realise) but getting crapper at every other sport bro. Australia will soon be the laughing stock of world sport. England has not only beaten you in the Ashes, they will beat you in the commonwealth games as will canada and India. UP their cazaly bro.... NSW and Queensalnd are having to represent Australia against the world in most sports!!!
Mick of Newie
Guest
We will be a fully grown country when we stop caring about these scorecards. John Coates appears to be a one man driver of this debate. I put it down to his own claim to olympic achievement being the coxswain. Presumably the blokes he was yelling at got on with their lives post olympics whilst little Johnny spends his life telling the Australian Government how it should be spending our money.
MattRusty
Roar Pro
This issue irritates me for so many reasons... 1. Sport is about achieving, not always winning and to achieve you need to have confidence. I hope someone in the Government, when presented with the 2009 survey that said Australia would finish with 9 gold medals, screwed it up and threw it in the bin. How would you feel, training your guts out, only to have the AOC president say, we're probably not going to win many gold medals. 2. Olympic motto: faster, higher, stronger, not win more medals than other countries. I need to take a deep breath and see that the Australian Government must see the light too by not throwing more money at sport. If our self esteem is wrapped up in how many gold medals we win, we're in trouble. It's not about keeping up with the Jones' Mr Coates, it's about supporting our athlete's and congratulating them on giving 100% no matter how they do. 3. By God I hope they don't start publishing that survey. I remember the 1988 Olympics, when we had no idea who was going to win gold medals and when Duncan Armstrong won it was a thrill. Don't tell us who you've banked on to get gold medals. Hell, you have no idea who will be in form in 2012 anyway, let alone be world champs. 4. I love sport, but education, health, safe roads and safe streets are more important than winning another gold medal at the Olympics and being 6th instead of 7th on the gold medal tally. Well done Aussie Gov't. 5. Remind me where this money goes and how it gets repaid to Australian taxpayers Mr Coates? Stephanie Rice gets funded all the way to glory, then instead of having to repay a HECS or HELP debt, she goes and signs up corporate sponsorship with knickers companies and makes more money. I think this needs attention. It's about time sportspeople started making better use of their time between training sessions. Instead of shopping or getting a degree in X-Box how about you become the face of a charity and use your fame to good use - that way you'll attract sponsorship and get the support you need. But I guess if you've got Mr Coates going around knocking on doors, raising money for you, why would you bother?