Now that she’s run and won her 22nd consecutive race in the Diamond Jubilee at Ascot, Black Caviar’s’ future as an athlete is uncertain. She’s had a great career, winning all the races she’s run, but what next?
It may be that if she returns home with an injury, she will enter retirement. This is likely to be even more lucrative than her racing career, and she will be enjoying the attention of some of Australia’s top stallions with which it is hoped she will breed future champions.
Which leads me to the question, should our professional athletes be considering similar retirement plans?
It is not uncommon for athletes to have lucrative second careers in retirement, however think of the future benefits to Australian sport if they were to consider taking part in a nationally coordinated breeding program.
It is clear the Australian Government is behind the push for international sporting success by Australians. The largest-ever injection of funds into Australian sport was made as part of the 2010-11 Budget and increased international success is one of the Australian Sports Commissions’ goals under its current strategic plan.
With that in mind, would it not make perfect sense to implement a breeding program for athletes, similar to that so successfully implemented in the horse-racing world?
Imagine the progeny created from a successful breeding program between say, the top male and female Australian cyclists. The directors of the GreenEDGE team would be poised at the playground, ready to sign them up to the next development program from the moment they set their feet on a bike pedal.
Likewise, imagine the upset at the Olympics as the offspring bred from Australian swimming legends begin to trickle out in the pool, dominating the world stage like never before. Little Libby Thorpes, Stephanie Magnussons and Ian Schippers could do wonders.
Olympic greats would surely enjoy taking part in a big after party at their final Olympics.
Perhaps it’s a Phar fetched idea, or just a Lap away from reality, but dreaming that an AIAB (Australian Institute of Athlete Breeding) could one day exist may give Aussies that extra edge on the sporting field, now and into the future.
Slaudy
Guest
Great idea to keep a sport crazy nation at the top of its game, where winning is getting even tougher. Maybe even the fertilised eggs could be put up for sale to us mere mortals!!!!!
Swampy
Guest
Lol brilliant! However the Chinese started a breeding program three decades ago in planning for the Beijing Olympics. Yao Ming was in fact a result of this program. The USA and Caribbean nations have long benefitted from the selective breeding programs instituted by the cotton farm overlords, who only allowed the fittest, strongest and best slave workers to breed in the 1700's and 1800's. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
Johnno
Guest
shirvington. cathy freeman, jane fleming we had a golden generation.
jameswm
Guest
Nah guys tennis players aren't right, that's hand-eye which is flukier. You want the really athletic ones breeding for more guaranteed success. Say a 400 runner with an 800 runner. Or a couple of sprinters. Is Sally Pearson's husband sporty? Jana Rawlinson's husband-ex-husband-ex (are they currently together?) was a Commonwealth level athlete. But their kids would probably run for England.
Purple Shag
Roar Guru
hahaha classic. The Chinese offer only the tallest of government approved women to Yao Ming, so this isn't as far fetched as you think. I was always kind of hoping that Hewitt & Aussie Kim stayed together to see the forehand on their spawn. It might have had some classic future battles with the Graf/Agassi hybrid, but alas, all we get is another soap actress screaming 'C'mon' between takes.
Rabbitz
Roar Guru
Didn't they try that with Lisa Curry and Grant Kenny? Oh and what about Stephanie Rice & Eamon Sullivan? It seems that captive breeding and athlete husbandry have a way to go...