Australian sporting success will "no longer be measured solely by Olympic medals and world titles," with the country acknowledging that it cannot "compete financially with larger countries," according to Greg Stutchbury of REUTERS. The Australian Sports Commission, which was rebranded as Sport Australia, released its national strategy for the next 12 years -- Sport 2030 -- on Wednesday and recognized it has been "slipping behind countries since the turn of the century." The report said, "High performance sport has become an ultra-competitive arms race where countries pour hundreds of millions of dollars into elite programs aimed at landing gold medals and pushing nations higher up the Olympic medal table. ... While we'll never stop striving to be the best in the world in as many sports as possible, our aspirations must acknowledge that success in high performance sport is correlated to investment and we should measure our performance using more than just the medal table. The measurement of success must now also include the impact of athletes as role models, their engagement with the community, and delivering a respected system" (REUTERS, 8/1).
