… like CIA funding of the ab expressionists lol
Weren’t 80s athletes living off food stamps (whatever they are) and the dole
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some still are.,…
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The Olympics may not be officially amateur anymore, but finger in the air, i bet 90% of athletes are as good as.
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Like artists - old saying up here
From GSA to JSA
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Secret is getting the funding - guess with athletics it’s more straightforward in that it’s performance based. In the arts … 
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With an element of favourism/nepotism thrown in 
but yes win enough you cant be ignored forever.
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Lucy hall’s reaction when she heard that the average british triathlete earned 50k pa was priceless…
what they do get is accommodation, often an education, coaching and support services and food…not much cash left to spend, unless they can get some endorsements and sponsorship, but even then it is rarely cash…
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A good example of how much faster / stronger elite men are over elite women, considering our chats over the last few days!
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Ballsed up the choices on this 4 x 100m mixed
Relay
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Im not sure they had much option especially with Peaty out and probably better medal hopes in mens tomorrow.
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Tbh Balding looks tonight like she’s been dressed in material made from a Christmas cracker
I think someone needs a word with the Beeb wardrobe
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Think Australia maybe could have made different choices to try finish with Chalmers and have Mckeown swim the fly, but GB just didn’t have the swimmers to make any difference.
I thought maybe 4-5th going in. None of those 4 swimmers made the final in their individual.
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Fastest 400m split since eastern european women in the 80’s
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Always good to see the yanks eat humble pie
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Lottery athlete funding was definitely a game changer because it allowed athletes to go full time. Lots of athletes are still taking a financial hit by putting more lucrative careers on hold.
Not so much of an issue if you work as a barista in Costa, but it is a big deal if you are a lawyer or a doctor
One of my mates rowed for Australia. I think they got some funding for the run in to Sydney and he would have got a cash bonus if he’d got a medal (he was in the 4x and they finished 4th 
). He also raced in Athens and Beijing, but he got no funding for them and was expected to work to support himself.
Australia has a lot of support for younger athletes through the Australian Institute of Sport, but after that they’re cast out and expected to support themselves
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i am not doubting its importance…but the impetus came from the ideology which was the political posturing of the cold war…
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A little history of Oz Oly funding. In the lead up to the the 2000 Olympics, there was a definitive ministerial shift to align funding directly with RoI on medals.
It caused a right old stink because funding was directed in a much more targeted way to certain sports. So the big shiny things got even bigger and shinier and the also ran sports fell off the cliff even further.
Funding is extremely fickle though and one bad cycle sees a severe cut and then it goes somewhere else.
Lotto money is also a consideration (or used to be). But state and Fed Inst of Sports do have a big say. The issue is that they are nearly all metro based, which causes big issues for country athletes.
Interestingly for you Whisk, the NSWIS was based at Narrabeen, where I lived and the rowers practices on the lake. But the regatta rowing and whitewater facility was at Penrith which is a complete westy shithole of a place. You couldn’t pay me enough to live there!
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This boxing match is being reffed by a Weeble….
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pretty much as it has been here in the UK…
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