Gold that is worth more than its weight
August 31st 2008 09:06
It's been a week since the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games finished. What was the focus of a nation (or at least Channel 7) for 24 hours a day for 2 weeks is now but a distant memory, and the rest of us have shifted our attention to other non-Olympic matters (apart from debating whether Stephanie Rice and Eamonn Sullivan will get back together).
I'm a massive Olympic Games fan, and I loved seeing Australia win gold in Beijing. It's great seeing our country near the top of the medal tally alongside the big nations like China, USA and Russia. But, now a week later with it almost forgotten, is it worth it?
In Beijing, each gold medal cost Australia $17 million (with some reports as high as $50 million - Prof Kevin Norton, Uni of South Aus). So those 2 weeks cost us hundreds of millions of dollars.
And following all that, the Australian Olympic team came home with a "worse than expected medal haul". Well, we exceeded our predicted medal tally, but apparently the colour of the medals was wrong. You can spend as much money as you like, but it wouldn't change the fact that Alain Bernard may have had longer fingernails on the day.
Anyway, due to this "relative lack of success" John Coates now wants at least $200 million so that we can try and keep up with the Brits expenditure for London 2012.
No, it's not a good investment. The USA and Australia being the fattest nations in the world and the fact that they are getting fatter is proof of that.
Elite sport should be funded, but possibly not to the extent that it is, and definitely not to be increased. The sums of money that are being discussed are better spent elsewhere. For a suggestion of where, check out one of my previous posts!
Really Long Link
I'm a massive Olympic Games fan, and I loved seeing Australia win gold in Beijing. It's great seeing our country near the top of the medal tally alongside the big nations like China, USA and Russia. But, now a week later with it almost forgotten, is it worth it?
In Beijing, each gold medal cost Australia $17 million (with some reports as high as $50 million - Prof Kevin Norton, Uni of South Aus). So those 2 weeks cost us hundreds of millions of dollars.
And following all that, the Australian Olympic team came home with a "worse than expected medal haul". Well, we exceeded our predicted medal tally, but apparently the colour of the medals was wrong. You can spend as much money as you like, but it wouldn't change the fact that Alain Bernard may have had longer fingernails on the day.
Anyway, due to this "relative lack of success" John Coates now wants at least $200 million so that we can try and keep up with the Brits expenditure for London 2012.
No, it's not a good investment. The USA and Australia being the fattest nations in the world and the fact that they are getting fatter is proof of that.
Elite sport should be funded, but possibly not to the extent that it is, and definitely not to be increased. The sums of money that are being discussed are better spent elsewhere. For a suggestion of where, check out one of my previous posts!
Really Long Link
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Comment by Anonymous
Everyone should be forced to ride to work so that they all get hawt and skinny
p.s. another good post