A Team GB presence in every Olympic sport has resulted in significant improvements by British athletes in minor sports
UK Sport director of performance, Peter Keen, has overseen the sharing of knowledge and systems across Olympic sports. Photograph: David Levene
Athletes in a dozen Olympic sports in which Team GB will compete in just over a year's time have extra reason to celebrate that the Games are in London. For it is very possible that none of them would be there were it not for the fact that the British Olympic Association has been able to rely on accepting "home-nation places" in each sport.
The full list reads: rhythmic gymnastics, wrestling, fencing, synchronised swimming, beach volleyball, basketball, table tennis, judo, handball, indoor volleyball, water polo and weightlifting. In some of those sports, such as handball and beach volleyball, there is no history of British Olympic competition, and the Games is seen as an unparalleled opportunity to establish them. In others, the decision was made to take a home-team place because of doubts whether athletes would have reached the qualifying standard.
A British presence in every Olympic sport will swell the size of the GB team to 550 and create its own challenges. One will be around engendering a common team spirit across athletes from well‑established sports in which medals are not only expected but demanded, and those from less well-recognised sports who are hoping only to deliver credible performances.
According to the British Handball performance director, Lorraine Brown, that should not be difficult. "We are very focused on being professional and ensuring we go out to compete. When we started, there was only one way to go. We've proved we can consistently improve and it's exponential."
She said that "phenomenal progress" had been made, particularly by the women, who recently beat Slovenia (ranked 12th) and have qualified for the European Championships, and that it was realistic to expect the handball teams to qualify by right for Rio 2016 and target the podium in 2020.
"We would not be sitting here if it wasn't for the London Games. Great Britain has never been able to put a team in because we didn't have the infrastructure or quality of athletes. When we started, we had a talent pool of three women and seven men. We've had to create two Olympic teams from scratch."
Some play abroad for professional clubs in handball heartlands such as Germany and Scandinavia, while others have been picked up through UK Sport's talent-identification programmes. But there will be some challenges around suddenly being pitched into an Olympic environment, she concedes, and surrounded by 17,500 athletes including some big names. "We will arrive five days early so they can acclimatise. They are not there to collect autographs, they are there to play handball." Volleyball was forced to rethink its pre‑2012 planning in January 2010 when UK Sport reduced the investment in eight Olympic sports to deal with a funding gap. That highlighted the tensions inherent in a system where most of the money is remorselessly, if understandably, directed to those with the best hope of converting it into medals. Cycling, swimming and rowing all get more than £25m over four years, while volleyball receives £3.5m, handball £2.9m and table tennis £1.2m.
To deal with the shortfall, the women's volleyball team had their funding withdrawn, forcing them into a money-raising drive, and the men's development squad had to be axed. Kenny Barton, British Volleyball's performance programme manager, said the men had maintained their trajectory regardless – as demonstrated at this weekend's 2012 test event at Earl's Court. "We got within two points of the USA in two sets. If you'd told me that a year ago I wouldn't have believed you. They didn't faze us and they had to work hard to beat us," he said. Britain, ranked 94 in the world, then went on to beat Egypt, ranked 14th, in four sets on Sunday.
Their coach, the Dutchman Arie Brokking, does not pull his punches when it comes to criticising the decision to cut volleyball's funding. But he said that making it out of the group stage and into the quarter-final remains a realistic aspiration.
The BOA forced each sport hoping to secure a home-nations place to appear before a panel to convince it they would be able to compete creditably. "We made all the home-nation places demonstrate whether they have a legacy plan from the Games," said the chief executive, Andy Hunt. "That was not only in high performance terms – how will they qualify on merit for future Games – but also what have they done to work with the home-nation associations in each of those sports. Can they demonstrate they are ready to receive any upswing in those sports?"
"Handball, volleyball or table tennis, have they built solid plans? Are they co-ordinated? It's often the coaches that are the constraint. Sometimes it's facilities, in archery for example. But usually, it's coaches." Biz Price, performance director for synchronised swimming, said the prospect of the Games acting as a shop window for potential athletes and coaches was particularly alluring. "The media exposure at this Games is going to open up the opportunity for more athletes to get involved with this incredibly dynamic and interesting sport," she said. "The second thing is coach development. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity and we want to make sure we get it right."
Peter Keen, left, the UK Sport performance director, said the sharing of knowledge and the replication of systems that had worked for successful sports like rowing and cycling had helped accelerate the development of some of the smaller ones. On Monday, handball's "traffic light" ranking went from amber to green on the Mission 2012 tracker board employed to monitor progress among Olympic sports. Of the 28 Olympic sports, 11 have an overall green rating.
The UK Sport chief executive, Liz Nicholl, said the overall mood was one of "measured confidence" and that Team GB remained on track to hit its goals of at least fourth in the medal table and "more medals, across more sports" than in Beijing.
For Brown, medals are highly unlikely to be on the agenda. But the ultimate boost to the sport could be just as significant: "What's important is that we use it as a springboard. We don't want to be a flash in the pan. We're not just turning up to get the blazer."
Source http://www.guardian.co.uk/
The full list reads: rhythmic gymnastics, wrestling, fencing, synchronised swimming, beach volleyball, basketball, table tennis, judo, handball, indoor volleyball, water polo and weightlifting. In some of those sports, such as handball and beach volleyball, there is no history of British Olympic competition, and the Games is seen as an unparalleled opportunity to establish them. In others, the decision was made to take a home-team place because of doubts whether athletes would have reached the qualifying standard.
A British presence in every Olympic sport will swell the size of the GB team to 550 and create its own challenges. One will be around engendering a common team spirit across athletes from well‑established sports in which medals are not only expected but demanded, and those from less well-recognised sports who are hoping only to deliver credible performances.
According to the British Handball performance director, Lorraine Brown, that should not be difficult. "We are very focused on being professional and ensuring we go out to compete. When we started, there was only one way to go. We've proved we can consistently improve and it's exponential."
She said that "phenomenal progress" had been made, particularly by the women, who recently beat Slovenia (ranked 12th) and have qualified for the European Championships, and that it was realistic to expect the handball teams to qualify by right for Rio 2016 and target the podium in 2020.
"We would not be sitting here if it wasn't for the London Games. Great Britain has never been able to put a team in because we didn't have the infrastructure or quality of athletes. When we started, we had a talent pool of three women and seven men. We've had to create two Olympic teams from scratch."
Some play abroad for professional clubs in handball heartlands such as Germany and Scandinavia, while others have been picked up through UK Sport's talent-identification programmes. But there will be some challenges around suddenly being pitched into an Olympic environment, she concedes, and surrounded by 17,500 athletes including some big names. "We will arrive five days early so they can acclimatise. They are not there to collect autographs, they are there to play handball." Volleyball was forced to rethink its pre‑2012 planning in January 2010 when UK Sport reduced the investment in eight Olympic sports to deal with a funding gap. That highlighted the tensions inherent in a system where most of the money is remorselessly, if understandably, directed to those with the best hope of converting it into medals. Cycling, swimming and rowing all get more than £25m over four years, while volleyball receives £3.5m, handball £2.9m and table tennis £1.2m.
To deal with the shortfall, the women's volleyball team had their funding withdrawn, forcing them into a money-raising drive, and the men's development squad had to be axed. Kenny Barton, British Volleyball's performance programme manager, said the men had maintained their trajectory regardless – as demonstrated at this weekend's 2012 test event at Earl's Court. "We got within two points of the USA in two sets. If you'd told me that a year ago I wouldn't have believed you. They didn't faze us and they had to work hard to beat us," he said. Britain, ranked 94 in the world, then went on to beat Egypt, ranked 14th, in four sets on Sunday.
Their coach, the Dutchman Arie Brokking, does not pull his punches when it comes to criticising the decision to cut volleyball's funding. But he said that making it out of the group stage and into the quarter-final remains a realistic aspiration.
The BOA forced each sport hoping to secure a home-nations place to appear before a panel to convince it they would be able to compete creditably. "We made all the home-nation places demonstrate whether they have a legacy plan from the Games," said the chief executive, Andy Hunt. "That was not only in high performance terms – how will they qualify on merit for future Games – but also what have they done to work with the home-nation associations in each of those sports. Can they demonstrate they are ready to receive any upswing in those sports?"
"Handball, volleyball or table tennis, have they built solid plans? Are they co-ordinated? It's often the coaches that are the constraint. Sometimes it's facilities, in archery for example. But usually, it's coaches." Biz Price, performance director for synchronised swimming, said the prospect of the Games acting as a shop window for potential athletes and coaches was particularly alluring. "The media exposure at this Games is going to open up the opportunity for more athletes to get involved with this incredibly dynamic and interesting sport," she said. "The second thing is coach development. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity and we want to make sure we get it right."
Peter Keen, left, the UK Sport performance director, said the sharing of knowledge and the replication of systems that had worked for successful sports like rowing and cycling had helped accelerate the development of some of the smaller ones. On Monday, handball's "traffic light" ranking went from amber to green on the Mission 2012 tracker board employed to monitor progress among Olympic sports. Of the 28 Olympic sports, 11 have an overall green rating.
The UK Sport chief executive, Liz Nicholl, said the overall mood was one of "measured confidence" and that Team GB remained on track to hit its goals of at least fourth in the medal table and "more medals, across more sports" than in Beijing.
For Brown, medals are highly unlikely to be on the agenda. But the ultimate boost to the sport could be just as significant: "What's important is that we use it as a springboard. We don't want to be a flash in the pan. We're not just turning up to get the blazer."
Source http://www.guardian.co.uk/
No comments:
Post a Comment