Athletics is actually a really good example of what I'm talking about. I was involved in the sport for a good while and let me tell you, a bigger bunch of mediocre prima donnas you'll never see in your life. This is especially true among the sprinters (my area of expertise). If half of them worked as hard as they talked themselves up they'd be world beaters. We need to set much tougher standards in that sport, rather like we did in swimming. Guys like John Steffenson are a classic example. That bloke is all show and no go. If I had my way, him and the other blokes like him wouldn't be going to the games at all.
For me it's not about writing off the sport, more about individual events within the sports. The qualifying standards need to be set higher and these guys need to compete more. Also, running a qualifier once and then not producing it at nationals isn't enough. We should be absolutely ruthless at the selection table. All the other major countries are and they are who we compete against.
The resources for our Olympic tilt aren't unlimited, so we need to prioritise I believe.
I totally disagree TBH. Obviously all A qualifiers should go and compete. But I also believe that if you are the best at your event in Australia and you get a B qualifier you should compete as well.
WADA announced before the start of the Olympics that 10% of the 12,000 athletes would be doped up. That averages up to about 4 cheats for each of the 303 gold medals up for grabs. The 'super human' results these guys produce determine the cut off for the A and B qualifiers, so in a country where ASADA is vigilant and proactive, Australian athletes are often left out or have to decide to go down doping pathway. If you read the Dr Exum report, the BALCo expose and realise that Jamaica, home to the current great sprinters, doesn't have drug testing at all, you will understand why Aussie sprinters don't feature in medal calculations.
If Australia can reward and praise our national champions irrespective of what other nations choose to do, then we will have a healthier sporting arena that is focussed participation and not medal counts.
The athlete that comes to mind is Tamsyn Manou(Lewis). She has competed in international athletics for 18 years, won 3 world championship medals(G,S,B), 3 gold Com. Games medals and
17 Australian Championships. What a role model, yet despite a B qualifier, she was not taken to London. You can have your gold winning Michelle Smiths, Misty Hymans and Ye Shiwens who do 5 second PBs and then disappear in a cloud of suspicion. Give me a team of Manous instead.
