Olympic Sports Facilities in South Africa

[capetownguy]

R11 million was spent on a 2010 expo in Beijing attended by 4 people. Only R9 million was spent on our Olympic athletes.

Should funding for our athletes not be closer to R1 billion rand?
Considering our R500 billion infrastructure spending by 2012 could some of that not be set aside for our future stars? We don't face issues with a lack of funds like many poor countries do(poor countries who win many many more medals than we do)

Should South Africa invest more in legacy Olympic facilities as it has in Cape Town? (i.e. olympic standard venues with very low seating capacities that can be increased in capacity for larger events e.g. Turfhall Softball Stadium, Hartleyvale Hockey Stadium, Bellville Velodrome etc.)

Should we get the Ozzies and Chinese in to prepare our team for London 2012?

 

[Boodles]

South Africa have an incredible amount to learn when it comes to professional sport.

 

[ID10T]

we have the Kings Park swimming stadium which is FINA standard, but there is not nearly enough sitting space...

i think we may *MAY* have a second/third FINA standard swimming pool/s up here in Gauteng, but they are not nearly endorsed enough.

 

[Syndyre]

Considering all the problems in this country I could think of better things to spend R1 Billion on than olympic athletes.

 

[capetownguy]

Swimming South Africa will be redeveloping Newlands Swimming Pool in Cape Town to become a FINA International Aquatic Centre for major events. In terms of sitting space only 2,000 seats are needed buts it the option to increase capacity with temporary seats for larger events thats important.

see skyscrapercity.com

 

[capetownguy]

Considering all the problems in this country I could think of better things to spend R1 Billion on than olympic athletes.

how about R500 million.

 

[Syndyre]

how about R500 million.

I don't know enough about it to know what the effect of R500 million would be vs R1 billion or whatever, what's the current spending anyway?

I'm not saying no money should be spent on it, I just think there are more pressing priorities here, but that's just a personal opinion.

Obviously you'd have to analyse what the likely effects of a given budget were and see which'd give a reasonable result at the lowest cost.

I remembered reading this recently, obviously as it shows budget allocation must have an impact and probably increasingly so:

The article "A Tale of Two Seasons: Participation and Medal Counts at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games", published in 2004 in the Social Science Quarterly by Professor Daniel Johnson of Colorado College and a co-author, examines the determinants of how many medals were won by different countries in the summer and winter Olympics since the end of World War II. Their regression analysis shows that two very important variables are the total population and per capita incomes of different countries. Also important are whether a country has an authoritarian government-such as communism- a country's climate, and whether a country is the host country for a particular Olympics. These five variables taken together predict closely the total number of medals won by different countries in the winter as well as summer Games.

 

[HavocXphere]

Yeah, the Olympics were handled very poorly.

There was a talk on radio about the athlete's (informal) gear. They had to send in *precise* measurements about arm length etc....and then they ended up with tent-sized shirts and clothing made of material more suitable for the winter olympics.

A good start would be if the politicians would stop interfering in sports.

 

[capetownguy]

2010 expo in beijing - R11 million
Funds for Olympic athletes - R9 million

I really dont think pushing it up to R500 million will mean other causes will suffer. We don't even need to divert funds from elsewhere to reach this figure.

What I would like to see is major consultation with the Ozzies and Chinese in terms of getting athletes ready and the commitment and facilities needed to get there.

 

[milomak]

IT’ S become crystal clear in the past two weeks that there ’s a yawning chasm between the expectations of frustrated fans at home and the expectations of Team SA’s Sascoc management in Beijing.





While those at home have been baying for blood because of the dearth of medals, management here has been congratulating itself on the number of personal best times recorded by South African athletes.


As fans at home have been asking what has gone wrong after the successes in Athens and Sydney, team management here has already turned an eager eye towards London in 2012.


The difference between the camps is that South Africans at home want success yesterday. Sascoc believes it couldn’ t be expected from a young team that’ s building towards London.

They believe there’ s enough evidence from Beijing perform-ances to suggest there could be a flurry of medals in London.



They have gloried in the way young athletes such as hurdler LJ van Zyl, marathon swimmer Chad Ho, rower Shaun Keeling and 1500m runner Jean van Deventer have handled the pressure of an Olympics.

The fans don’t see it that way. They see the US, China, Great Britain and Australia winning medals and they wonder why Team SA isn’t doing the same.


They choose to forget the Sascoc budget to prepare Team SA for this Olympics was R93m.



Between the 2000 Sydney Games and the 2004 Athens Games, R60m was spent on preparing South African athletes. According to reports, Australia spent R3,6bn in the same period. Heaven knows what the Americans spent, but it would have been a lot more than the Australians — and Australia would have spent a lot more in the past four years than in the preceding four-year cycle.



When I see these figures I have to ask myself: why on earth are we comparing ourselves with Australia, the US or Great Britain? They are all first world countries; SA is a third world country. Why have these massive expectations when reality suggests that we could never keep up with these countries?

Well, the cricketers have felt it; the rugby players have felt it.

In a country ridiculed by other nations as the crime capital of the world and whose political leaders have often been a laughing stock of the international community, the only thing we can turn to is sporting success.


So, failure becomes unacceptable; defeat is a dirty word.


Does it take such a leap of faith to change that attitude in order to understand where Sascoc is coming from?

Is it so hard to see that with SA’s meagre resources, success cannot always be a given? Is it so difficult to believe that the right groundwork has been done, and the foundation laid, for success at the next Olympics?

And is it so hard to understand that competing at an Olympic Games means competing against the world, whereas rugby and cricket are limited to just a few countries?

Maybe Sascoc are not just politicking when they say that . Maybe it is true. Maybe we will get gold medals from the likes of Van Zyl, Ho, and the other youngsters at London’s Games.

They have insisted all along that this team in Beijing is a young team and that they didn’ t have any great expectations.



Then, some say, why did we send a team to the Olympics?

The answer to that is that athletes who qualified with A standard times deserved to go to Beijing. The fact that some of the qualifying standards are so “soft” that there is a huge gulf between them and medal-winning performances is not the fault of the athletes or Sascoc — although they will do well to remember it in future.



The qualification route through Africa is another question entirely. It ’s been shown time and again that it’s a waste of time. Africa’s standard in such sports as gymnastics, archery and hockey is simply not in the same league as Europe’s, Asia’s or Australia’s.

If Sascoc want more money to spend on athletes they believe have true medal potential, they will have to make some hard decisions. Among those will be what to do about “inclusivity” and continental qualification.

From the Business Day

 

[Boodles]

While those at home have been baying for blood because of the dearth of medals, management here has been congratulating itself on the number of personal best times recorded by South African athletes.

Management contratulating themselves, lol. Is that like exotic holidays, 5 start hotels and stuff, or how does it work? The aim of the olympics for gold - thats what everyone aims for. Whoopie-wack for PB's at the Olympics.

As fans at home have been asking what has gone wrong after the successes in Athens and Sydney, team management here has already turned an eager eye towards London in 2012.

I wait in anticipation to hear the plan for the next 4 years.

They believe there’ s enough evidence from Beijing perform-ances to suggest there could be a flurry of medals in London.

Please dont say this, No-one gets flurries except China.

They have gloried in the way young athletes such as hurdler LJ van Zyl, marathon swimmer Chad Ho, rower Shaun Keeling and 1500m runner Jean van Deventer have handled the pressure of an Olympics.

Thats great, they handled the pressure. Wonderful stuff. I also handled the pressure in front of my telly.

The fans don’t see it that way. They see the US, China, Great Britain and Australia winning medals and they wonder why Team SA isn’t doing the same.

Well, you need expertise, money, and facilities.

They choose to forget the Sascoc budget to prepare Team SA for this Olympics was R93m.

They can spend 100 million billion. But how would it be spent?



Ok, thats enough - i couldnt be bothered going through the rest.

 

[Syndyre]

When I see these figures I have to ask myself: why on earth are we comparing ourselves with Australia, the US or Great Britain? They are all first world countries; SA is a third world country. Why have these massive expectations when reality suggests that we could never keep up with these countries?

Just more excuses. AFAIK the US Olympic Committee receives no government funding. Talking about people's personal bests mean nothing, medals are what counts.

 

[milomak]

Well medals count in the context of what resources you throw in trying to get them. If you don't thrw the resources in comparisons to other nations, it means you will always be starting off on the backfoot.

 

[capetownguy]

93m...what a joke.

 

[Boodles]

Doing well at the olympics also raises the profile of your country - it has spin-offs.

 

[Captain Slog]

Doing well at the olympics also raises the profile of your country - it has spin-offs.

Exactly Boodles, least someone understands.





I don't care about Tibet DURING the games!

 

[GreenPunkt [clone of Skeptik]]

Swimming South Africa will be redeveloping Newlands Swimming Pool in Cape Town to become a FINA International Aquatic Centre for major events. In terms of sitting space only 2,000 seats are needed buts it the option to increase capacity with temporary seats for larger events thats important.

see skyscrapercity.com

That pool is olympic sized. The whole area is to be sold off. Joe Public won't be able to use it anymore. Flaming money-grabbing council selling off the crown jewels again.
Sad!

 

[capetownguy]

Swimming South Africa will be redeveloping Newlands Swimming Pool in Cape Town to become a FINA International Aquatic Centre for major events. In terms of sitting space only 2,000 seats are needed buts it the option to increase capacity with temporary seats for larger events thats important.

see skyscrapercity.com

Zille orders feasibility study for Cape Town International Aquatic Centre

August 21, 2008 Edition 2

Lindsay Dentlinger

Mayor Helen Zille wants a full feasibility study on alternative suitable locations for a proposed international standard aquatics centre before agreeing to a proposal by Swimming South Africa (SSA) that it be built on the Newlands pool site.

Given South Africa's lacklustre performance in the pool at the Beijing Olympics last week, Western Province Swimming has pointed out that without facilities of an international standard in Cape Town, the country can not hope to produce swimmers on par with the world's best.

Yesterday, Mayco was presented with a proposal by SSA for a long-term lease for the Newlands pool site to be refurbished as an aquatics complex suitable for swimming, diving, synchronised swimming and water polo.

But Zille said yesterday that, while council agreed in principle that Cape Town swimmers needed to have access to a world-class facility, its viability and most suitable location had to be determined first.

"The big question is not whether we should have such a facility, but where and on what basis," she said.

Zille said, as had been the case with the 2010 Green Point Stadium, alternative sites for such a facility had to be thoroughly investigated and a comprehensive business plan had to be drawn up to ensure it would not become a "drain on the city".

Zille said she would meet SSA next week to discuss their proposal.
Click here!

"We need to take this forward on a sound footing and not on a wing and a prayer," she said.

Mayco member for environment and planning Marian Nieuwoudt agreed that the item be referred back to city officials from her department to determine sound guidelines for the development. Two years ago the project carried a price tag of R270 million.

Five of South Africa's Olympic swimming team members come from Cape Town.

But president of Western Cape Swimming Brian Reynolds said this week that they did not have access to adequate training facilities close to where they lived.

The city's pools are all in a state of decay and have not been suitable to host even national competitions since the 1990s.

The country's only swimming facility of an international standard is the King's Park aquatic centre in Durban.

 

[capetownguy]

That pool is olympic sized. The whole area is to be sold off. Joe Public won't be able to use it anymore. Flaming money-grabbing council selling off the crown jewels again.
Sad!

I have the full proposal with me.

For more info. Click click

skyscrapercity.com - See more. Know more. First.

 

[capetownguy]

Proposal for Olympic pool at Newlands
Lindsay Detlinger
20 August, 2008
Cape Argus

The City of Cape Town is to consider a proposal by Swimming South Africa (SSA) to turn the ailing Newlands swimming pool into an international-standard aquatic centre to train future Olympic contenders.