MELBOURNE: Australia will start a nationwide search to unearth promising athletes and boost the sports-mad country’s chances of winning Olympic gold in the wake of a disappointing London Games where it slumped to its worst medal haul in 20 years.
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) would invite “physically fit” athletes between 15 and 27 years of age to compete in state-based selection trials throughout October and November, with the best to compete in a five-day AIS camp in December, the government-funded academy said in a statement yesterday.
“The first AIS Sports Draft will focus on boxing, judo and provide a fast-tracking opportunity for athletes who aspire to become an Olympian but who may not have had past experience in Olympic sports, or show potential to transfer from one Olympic sport to a new Olympic sport,” AIS Director Matt Favier said.
The top graduates from the camp would be given further training by “world best” coaches and join national programs looking towards the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Games, the AIS said.
Future talent searches would focus on specific sport “clusters” including paddling or running sports, or take a “theme-based approach such as speed and power, target or acrobatic,” the AIS added.
Australia has traditionally punched above its weight at the Olympics but posted its lowest medal haul in 20 years in London, prompting local media to slam sports authorities for wasting taxpayers’ money.
Having slumped to 10th in the medals standings in 2012, from sixth in Beijing and fourth in Athens and Sydney, Australia has set itself a target of returning to the top five at the next two summer Olympics.
It is also aiming to produce at least 20 world champions annually as part of its national sports masterplan.
The Australian Olympic Committee welcomed the initiative and its director, Fiona de Jong, rejected suggestions the country was placing too much emphasis on medals.
“The medal count is important to Australia,” she said. “We have all grown up with sport being a rich part of our society and I think to pretend that we don’t care is just not the reality that the public expects of our athletes.”
Meanwhile, while some athletes danced around Russia’s anti-gay legislation yesterday American skiing great Bode Miller met the issue head on by calling next year’s Sochi Winter Olympic hosts “ignorant.”
Speaking at the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) media summit, the outspoken Miller was very clear on his view of a controversial Russian law which bans the spread of homosexual propaganda among minors.
“It is absolutely embarrassing that there are countries and people who are that intolerant, that ignorant, said Miller, who will be bidding for a place on his fifth US Olympic team. But it’s not the first time we’ve been dealing with human rights issues since there were humans.”
Critics say the law bars all gay rights rallies and could be used to prosecute anyone voicing support for homosexuals while supporters say it will help protect children.
Earlier, six members of the US figure skating team were also asked their thoughts on the law that has drawn worldwide condemnation and cast a shadow over the buildup to the February 7-23 Winter Games.
All of the figure skaters, with the exception of US women’s champion Ashley Wagner, danced around the delicate issue saying they were only athletes and leaving it up to the USOC and International Olympic Committee (IOC) to establish a position.
Miller, however, has seldom let anyone else speak for him and has never shied away from controversy during a skiing career that has made him one of the sport’s most popular and successful athletes.
The five-time Olympic medallist, who once broke away from the US ski federation to form his own team, also had a shot for the USOC and the IOC for not standing up for the values of tolerance and openness they preach in their charters.
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