INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY 7th JOINT - IOA

3. Index value per sport for each country
To calculate the Olympic index value for each sport, the number
of points obtained in one sport is divided through the total number of
points that can be won in this specific sport, multiplied by 100. This
percentage indicates the market share of a country in this sport. In this
method points are not weighted because each sport is handled
separately. The results are compared between the six countries and
between the editions, but only in one sport.
4. Conclusion
Australia clearly was the most successful country between 1992
and 2000. Australia obtained good results in two thirds of the sports
disciplines that are taken into account in the Olympic Index. Probably
these good results are due to the sports culture of Australia. Sport is an
absolute priority in the Australian policy. Australia is a country
comparable to Belgium concerning GDP/capita and population but
nevertheless, Australian athletes perform much better than Belgian
athletes. Moreover, Belgium is the only country that shows a decrease
in performances at the Olympic Games of Sydney. The Netherlands
obtained good performances through the three editions. The Dutch
athletes won more medals in Sydney than Belgium over the three
editions.
Sports policy is often indicate as a cause for the bad performances
of athletes. In fact, only little is known about the influence of policy
factors on performances of elite athletes.
REFERENCES
• De Bosscher, V. (2002). Internationaal vergelijkend onderzoek naar de
prestatiebepalende factoren op beleidsniveau in tennis, voorbereidend
doctaoraatsonderzoek. Brussel: VUB.
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