Adam Scott’s British Open collapse is just another chapter typical of Australia’s sporting story across the past 10 years. Gone are the days when we could boast our sporting superiority on the international stage and draw respect from much larger nations.
In the British Open, Scott became the fourth Australian since 2007 to lose after leading into the final round. Our procession of unsuccessful sporting campaigns now warrants our place as the butt of sporting jokes, which was traditionally reserved for such nations as England, South Africa and Spain.
The rot commenced in 2003, when we lost a sole Ashes Test (before recovering to win the World Cup); Mark Philippoussis lost the Wimbledon Final to Roger Federer (before recovering to help win the Davis Cup); New Zealand claimed Australia’s world netball championship; and Australia allowed England to win their first ever Rugby World Cup on our home turf.
What has followed has been an end of the golden era of Australian sport and the relinquishing of many cherished titles, with a sprinkling of success stories in between.
The Wallabies have been spluttering along in major tournaments since 2003 and could be a permanent second-class citizen now that the All Blacks have discovered their mojo. Even the Kangaroos inexplicably lost to the Kiwis in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.
The Australian cricket team have joined the middle of the pack at Test level, having previously thrashed the Rest of the World eleven, owned every major trophy, and had legitimate claims that our domestic teams could have made World Cup semi-finals.
Australian tennis has completely flatlined since the 2003 Davis Cup victory; we haven’t won a major golf tournament since Geoff Ogilvy triumphed in the 2006 US Open; and the Socceroos’ golden generation are well into their 30s, with Tim Cahill’s departure to Major League Soccer making it the first time since the late 1990s that Australia has not had a significant player in the English Premier League.
It seems Australia’s plight can be attributed to the new generation of athletes having a greater sense of complacency and entitlement, compared to the previous generation who were forced to work harder through tougher economic times locally in a pre-globilisation era. Everything comes easier these days due to technology, particularly in Australia where the economy is so much stronger than the rest of the world.
Also to blame for Australia’s international sporting struggles is the domination of AFL and NRL in attracting the latest athletes coming through the ranks. These two leagues offer great financial opportunities along with the chance to perform at home and achieve the highest celebrity status in Australia.
We haven’t yet hit rock bottom – that would require South Africa to win a cricket World Cup, and the status quo to be maintained with the loss of our netball, hockey and surfing world championships.
But it’s hard to imagine Australia’s global sporting reputation improving over the next decade.
And perhaps that’s not such a bad thing. We can get back to our roots, backing ourselves as underdogs while enjoying our lifestyle in one of the strongest economies in the world, while we still can.
Cameron
Guest
I get the choke part but when you have had an Australian win a grandslam post 2003 it is a bit inaccurate to say we have "completely flatlined". If we had noone even make the semis in that timeline then that phrase may be more appropriate to say.
Johnno
Guest
-These things run in cycles but i think ultimately the biggest reason for Australia's sports decline has been more nations are taking sport seriously than ever before, and investing in sports. -However despite this new competition a lot of our administrators are having to modernise and re-model to be more competitive. And also more profitable. As we need money to keep the spending on development going.
sheek
Guest
DH - It was uncanny you & Smith both nominated 2003 as the year when the "worm turned", so to speak. But yes, you could say that from circa 1990 to circa 2008, just about two decades long, we enjoyed tremendous success across a wide range of disciplines.
Matt F
Roar Guru
Our men's hockey team is in better shape then it was 10-15 years ago but our women's side has fallen a fair way from the teams of 1996 and 2000. Further evidence of the cyclical nature of it all I guess.
tonysalerno
Roar Guru
Good pick up DH; Our Hockey team is still on top of its game but for the vast majority they have slumbered. I do believe our cricketers, Union players ( but not golfers) will return to the top of the world rankings- it's just a matter of when...
DH
Guest
Surfing comment was an editing error Matt, it was written in reverse originally. Agree that it is cyclical as you clearly point out. Will be interesting to see if we improve over the next few years.
DH
Guest
Disagree Steve, especially with the influence of AFL becoming a professional sport in the 90's. I reckon a whole generation of Victorian cricketers were lost to the game and are now playing in the AFL. Consequently, we are seeing an Australian cricket team with no quality depth whatsoever.
DH
Guest
Nice one!
DH
Guest
Completely agree that it goes in cycles Sheek, and to be honest we still do alright given how big we are, it's just that we were spoilt 10 yrs ago and now it feels different. Haven't read Wayne Smith's article either btw, haven't even heard of him actually, but will look it up.
DH
Guest
Happy to discuss Sam Stouser Cameron, since 2003 she's played in 36 grand slam tournaments and made it past the 4th round on 5 occasions. Even in her "prime" since 2009 she has only made it past the 4th round 33% of the time. Given Stouser could easily be nicknamed the Queen of the Choke and classed as Australia's greatest choking athlete of all-time I think she's a pin-up Australian athlete who has lost their mojo!
King Robbo
Guest
haha true
Cameron
Guest
"Australian tennis has completely flatlined since the 2003 Davis Cup victory" Sam Stouser? Was she purposely left out to prove your point DH?
sheek
Guest
DH, These things go in cycles. Nor is it even across the board in all sports. You obviously read Wayne Smith's article in The Australian. It was a humourous read, but not to be taken as gospel. Back in 1976 our Olympics team hit rock bottom, failing to win a gold medal since yonks. We won only one silver & 4 bronze medals. Yet in 1974, the Socceroos made the FIFA world cup ( a feat that would not be replicated until 2006). And our cricket team in 1975/76 had just thrashed the Windies 5-1, having despatched the poms 5-1 in 10 home & away tests previously. The Kanagaroos won both the 1975 & 77 rugby league world series/cups. So whether we're up or down, there are always exceptions. It's never even across all sports. Besides, while both our rugby & cricket fortunes have headed south recently, the past 3 Olympics have been our best 3 ever - 2000, 2004 & 2008. Realistically, we won't quite match these efforts in London, but we're still expected to reach 40 medals. That would still make these Olympics in London either our 4th or 5th best. It just depends how we go against Atlanta (1996) - 9 gold, 9 silver, 23 bronze, 41 total. I rekon we'll reach double figures in gold anyway in London.
clipper
Guest
It's a bit unfair to place too much blame on AFL and NRL. Aussie Rules and league have always been domestic games, but international games like Tennis, Golf and Rugby have become much more international over the last few decades - the golden period when either Australia or USA won most of the Tennis titles has well and truly gone - the latest top 10 has 8 different nationalities and not a single Aussie or American. Although this is but one reason, Australia are still a big fish but are competing in a much bigger pool.
Matt F
Roar Guru
A lot of these are cyclical and some are a result of increased global competition. I won't go into every sport but here's a few. Yes, we were the best cricket team in the world for a long time but we were awful in the 80's and were good, but not the best in the 70's etc. We had a golden era that happens once every so often. It was never going to last. Have a look at the amount of time other sides have spent at the top since we were deposed. India had it for a little bit but have fallen away badly and England haven't been great in recent test series and look to be up against it at home vs a very good South African team. Nobody looks like spending the best part of a decade on top like we did. To think that it was going to last forever is ludicrous. The Wallabies had a fantastic period in the late 90's to around 2001 but you only have to look at our historical record against the All Blacks (106-45 for the All Blacks with 5 draws) to see exactly where we sit as Rugby nation. We're in the top few but over an extended period we've never really been the dominant number one side. Besides we did make the semi's at te last World Cup. That's hardly a bad result. The current state of Australian Tennis is really the end result of a steady 30 year decline. Yes there's been some poor management by the officials but we should remember that when we were truly a dominant tennis nation there was really only us, Britain and the USA competing. Now tennis is a truly global sport which means we have far greater competition. That being said, last year we won our first women's major since 1980. I'm not quite sure what you're talking about with us falling away in Surfing? Didn't Steph Gilmore just win her 5th title very recently? Of the current Top 15 ranked surfer's 8 are Australian as well. I'm far from a surfing expert but that seems like a pretty good number.
Titus
Guest
Brett Holman will be in the Premier League this season, a lot of guys on the fringes such as Herd, Lowry, Loungo, Williams. Troisi going to Serie A, plenty of potential youth coming through, Amini and Langerak at Dortmund. My only hope for Cricket is we get a few more players showing good sportsmanship in the vein of Steve Waugh, Brett McGrath, a bit more of a multi-cultural makeup would be nice also.. Just hope the Wallabies start to play with a bit more flair an creativity, you just want these teams to make you feel proud to be an Aussie and hopeful for the future of the games.
Hansie
Guest
In fact, funding to the Australian Sports Commission has increased significantly over the last decade, including in real terms.
Redb
Roar Guru
I'd be looking at playstation, x-box.
Steve
Guest
World's biggest sporting myth that the NRL and AFL are nabbing our best athletes. We lost a rugby league world cup to NZ in which they have 25,000 registered players and is the 5th or 6th most popular sport in NZ and as for AFL, well Graeme Hick once looked good when he scored 405 for Worcestershire. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
BigAl
Guest
It's no bad thing to not totally rely on sporting success for healthy self esteem.