Sporting success goes beyond gold medals

Apparently the new funding model for elite sport in New Zealand, announced late last year, represents an increase on the previous one. However, it focuses heavily on already successful sports, putting athletes under increased pressure.

High Performance Sport New Zealand will invest NZ$162.8 million over the next four years in preparation for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games.

In a context where government spending is severely constrained, with cuts in many public services, this investment represents an increase of 31.8 million compared to the 131 million allocated during the three years preceding the Paris Olympic Games of the year last.

However, this funding remains considerably lower than the investments made by other countries in their elite sports performance programs.

In June, the Australian government announced the equivalent of an extra $300 million for sport over the next two years, raising funding to $530 million over that period. In December, the United Kingdom announced a record $664 million for Olympic and Paralympic sports for the upcoming Games.

To remain competitive, New Zealand is therefore forced to develop a revised financing model. Over the next four years, funds will be allocated to 36 sports.

On the other hand, funding will decrease for 23 of these sports, with some even losing their funding completely.

The new model explicitly prioritizes funding based on podium results. Only sports that performed well in Paris and those predicted to win medals at the next Olympics, Paralympics and World Championships will benefit from funding this time.

National sporting organizations submit proposals to High Performance Sport New Zealand. Evaluation criteria include past performance, future potential and quality of pathways to developing talent.

Using these criteria, decisions favored sports with sub-podium results, with the latter being “highly likely to achieve multiple medals at major events across multiple cycles”, to the detriment of other indicators of success and performance. sporting impact.

These criteria do not take into account sports with high participation levels, and podium sports are not always the most accessible for everyone.

Sports researchers have expressed concerns about such targeted investment in elite sport, both in New Zealand and overseas.

Some people suggest that this type of strategic funding could, in fact, have unintended negative consequences on sports organizations, performance metrics, and the health and well-being of athletes. Others question the extent of this investment in high-level sport.

Depending on the priorities of the podium, winners and losers clearly emerge. Rowing comes out on top, with more than $6 million in funding for the next cycle, a result of 11 athletes winning medals in Paris.

This is followed by Cycling, sailing, athletics and canoeing, with all but sailing receiving significant increases.

On the other hand, swimming, horse riding and hockey are seeing big funding cuts.

Swimming New Zealand loses more than 40% of its funding, equestrian sees a 45% reduction and Hockey New Zealand’s funding is cut by almost half.

Other sports, such as surfing, diving, badminton, e-sports (competitive video games, recently integrated into the Olympics with the announcement of the first Olympic eSports Games in 2025) and Football will not receive any funding.

The football decision is particularly surprising, given the national enthusiasm for the Football Ferns at the 2023 Women’s World Cup and the level of talent on the field.

On an Olympic scale, two talented New Zealand surfers distinguished themselves among the world’s best on difficult waves in Tahiti.

These budget cuts will have a significant impact on the ambitions and determination of current and future Olympic athletes.

High-level funding is crucial to supporting athletes in qualifying and competing internationally.

However, it is also essential to building strong athlete development pathways to ensure success far beyond Los Angeles in 2028.

With this new funding model, New Zealand could see fewer sports represented at Olympic level.

It remains unclear how these reductions might influence the types of sports that children (and future athletes) will be encouraged to play. But as the saying goes, “if you can see it, you can be it.”

The other risk is a return to a “win at all costs” approach, a model that was poorly constructed in the past.

Cycling New Zealand, for example, will see its funding cut from $770,433 to $5.25 million in the next cycle. This is mainly due to the seven medals won by female track runners in Paris.

However, at the same time, the organization has been criticized for its treatment of athletes, highlighted by two reviews and a judicial inquiry into the death of Olivia Podmore.

Cycling is not the only sport to have been exposed for toxic cultures that prioritize podium results over the health and well-being of athletes.

However, the new funding model appears to clearly reinforce the “win at all costs” model, which has harmed many athletes in the past.

Although High Performance Sport New Zealand has clarified that some of the funding will go towards ensuring the health and wellbeing of athletes (including a comprehensive wellness programme), the pressure on athletes to win medals will be stronger than ever.

When medals are everything, sports organizations make decisions knowing that future funding depends above all on their ability to win.

However, research has consistently shown that it is often sporting stories of character, resilience and courage that inspire people the most.

As we have seen in both football and surfing, it is not always podium results that generate strong national pride and important social legacies. The long-term impacts of budget cuts on these and other sports cannot be ignored.

Sometimes success cannot be measured in medals alone. – theconversation.com

Original article written by: Holly Thorpe.