London (dpa) - Hosting a modern Olympic Games does not come cheap
with London 2012 expected to cost the British taxpayer in excess of
15 billion dollars.
With such huge figures in play, it is not surprising that any
country hosting an Olympics also expects to enjoy a healthy degree of
sporting success at as many of the expensively assembled venues as
possible.
Securing a high medal tally does not come cheap, however, as
evidenced by the investment figures in pre-Olympic funding programmes
such as the one put in place by China ahead of hosting Beijing 2008.
China accumulated an incredible 51 gold medals in Beijing but only
after the government ploughed almost 5 billion dollars into a
sophisticated system that identifies sporting ability at an early age
and provides a rigid and demanding training programme.
Britain also upped its spending on elite Olympic sport programmes
in the run-up to 2012, where it has 1,050 athletes competing with the
target of ensuring a top four finish in the medals table.
UK Sport - the body responsible for investing public funds in
performance development - has invested in the region of 450 million
pounds in Olympic sports since Athens 2004.
Brazil is also following a similar path, focusing investment on
individual Olympic events in an attempt to lift the country's medal
tally at the 2016 Rio Games.
"We need to improve in that area because it could make a big
difference," explained Brazil President Dilma Rousseff ahead of the
London Games.
Brazil plans to construct 6,000 new multi-purpose sports
facilities within the next four years to add to the 4,000 already in
place.
David Forrest, Professor of Economics at Salford Business School
and head of the Madrid Sportometrics Study Group which produced the
most accurate prediction of the Beijing 2008 final medals count,
believes the fruits of this investment will be clearly seen in
London.
"We're predicting that at London 2012 the Brazilian team will win
nearly double the number of medals they achieved in 2008 - up from 15
to 29," he said.
Professor Forrest's research also points to the Olympics remaining
overwhelmingly a "rich man's Games" despite the International Olympic
Committee's commitment to improving equality of opportunity in
Olympic sport.
Olympic medals can effectively be bought by wealthier countries
prepared and able to invest in sports infrastructure, governing
bodies and athletes.
The United States Olympic Committee invested more than 232 million
in 2008 to help American athletes win 110 medals in Beijing while
Russia invests nearly 16 dollars per capita in state athletic
programmes compared to just 3.76 dollars for Australia.
Of the 204 nations that sent athletes to Beijing, only 86 won
medals, and 118 went home empty handed.
The difficulties posed by challenging the likes of China or the US
in disciplines they excel in has led many countries to target
specific sports in the search for Olympic success.
Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev's support for cycling
paid off at London 2012 with Alexandr Vinokurov's victory Saturday in
the men's road race while Ireland's targeting of boxing resulted in
three Olympic medals in Beijing.
There are high hopes for London too with all five Irish male
boxers thought to be in with a chance of a medal while Ireland's
best-funded athlete and four-time world champion Katie Taylor is a
strong favourite to win gold in the women's 60kg division.
While many countries now target specific sports, others such as
Qatar and Bahrain have gone down the road of targeting athletes with
lucrative financial packages.
In 2003, Kenyan runner Stephen Cherono switched allegiance to
Qatar, changing his name to Saif Saaeed Shaheen, while Saif Saeed
Assaad, formerly Bulgarian Angel Popov, won the emirate a bronze
medal in weightlifting at the 2000 Olympics.
On the eve of the first London Games in 1908, Bishop Ethelbert
Talbot famously said in his sermon at the Olympic service in St
Paul's Cathedral that "it's not the winning but the taking part".
This could not be further from the truth at London 2012.
