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In Olympics of the recent past, the Aussies punched higher than their population weight in terms of the number of medals collected. Not sure what's happened in the last few years. Maybe they just got unlucky this year.
We've definitely underperformed, I think we would have expected another 2-3 gold medals at this stage but a few of our high profile athletes haven't lived up to pre-games expectation. 1 gold, 9 silver and 4 bronze suggest we've been a little unlucky, our swimming team lacks the depth we've seen in previous games which creates a significant dent in our tally in what is traditionally our strongest sport. I think we'll probably see a long-term decline in our medals as other larger countries invest more into Olympic sports, just as GB did after their poor Sydney 2000 performance.
Still have gold medal chances in the the womens medley relay tonight, 100m hurdles, cycling, mens hockey and sailing so I wouldn't be writing off these games just yet.
Last edited by sulkiercupid; 08-03-2012 at 08:57 PM..
We've definitely underperformed, I think we would have expected another 2-3 gold medals at this stage but a few of our high profile athletes haven't lived up to pre-games expectation. 1 gold, 9 silver and 4 bronze suggest we've been a little unlucky, our swimming team lacks the depth we've seen in previous games which creates a significant dent in our tally in what is traditionally our strongest sport. I think we'll probably see a long-term decline in our medals as other larger countries invest more into Olympic sports, just as GB did after their poor Sydney 2000 performance.
Still have gold medal chances in the the womens medley relay tonight, 100m hurdles, cycling, mens hockey and sailing so I wouldn't be writing off these games just yet.
That is still an incredible achievement considering Australia's population. I bet the Kiwis are rubbing it in now though
In Olympics of the recent past, the Aussies punched higher than their population weight in terms of the number of medals collected. Not sure what's happened in the last few years. Maybe they just got unlucky this year.
Every nation gets a boost when they host the Olympics, the Sydney games were the peak for Australia.
Australia is still a small nation (population), but generally does well in the Olympics. Oz has had a good run for the last 4 Olympics though
And how biased is the Australian media?
Channel 9, the official oz broadcaster of the games, showed a medal tally with only the top nine countries?
who was number ten?
not NZ..oh no! can't show that!
At the time being NZ has slipped down to 12th but we're still ahead of the aussies
Every nation gets a boost when they host the Olympics, the Sydney games were the peak for Australia.
Australia is still a small nation (population), but generally does well in the Olympics. Oz has had a good run for the last 4 Olympics though
Sydney was not the peak!
Australia actually did better at the next Olympics in Athens, the first time a former host nation had done that, even if it was only marginal.
It is not quite as bad as it looks, a lot of Silver Medals, many of which could have turned to Gold with a bit of luck and good management.
Scary that NZ may probably beat us at this Olympics, as there are only a handful of opportunities left - possibly Sally Pearson, Rowing or one of the team sports.
Swimming has not been as strong as in the past, but countries such as China, France, Netherlands, Japan and South Africa have emerged to challenge the US.
The lack of depth in swimming is particularly apparent in the Relays, although the Men's 4 x 100 metre Freestyle was an unexpected poor result.
Not a great Olympics, but it is no Montreal either where there were we won no Golds and very few minor medals - which gave rise to the AIS - the Australian Institute of Sport under the then Fraser government.
I have no idea why the Brits now have the upper hand over the Aussies but...
i'm guessing that the fact that Olympics is held in London strongly motivated and pressurized the Brits to over perform this year. That was especially the case for China too back in 2008 although they have already been among the top for a few years.
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