Sailing Australia chief executive John Lee claims the AIS offered his sport $1 million in a letter last year but only delivered $400,000 despite sailing having good prospects of winning medals at the Tokyo Olympics.
Lee's criticism comes at the end of a week in which the AIS revealed its new funding arrangements for Olympic sports, providing more and longer-term funding for most sports, but not all. Those that have been required to show why they deserve additional funding, including athletics, have loudly criticised the new regime.
Mixed messages: Sailing Australia CEO is disappointed his sport has not received all the money he said it was promised.
While Lee conceded the AIS had given sports stability by guaranteeing funding for most sports for two years — twice as long as usual — Lee said there were "very mixed messages that were receiving out of Canberra".
"What has surprised us and shocked us as a sport is to actually be allocated $1 million and then to have 60 per cent of it pulled back less than 12 months after it was provided or funded," Lee said.
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The AIS maintains it has not cut funding to sailing, claiming $400,000 was made available from the Tokyo Enhancement Fund and the remaining $600,000 was conditional on the sport hitting performance targets, which it missed. The AIS says it has committed $16m to sailing over the next two years.
“A fresh approach to the way Australia funds high performance sport is overdue," said AIS director Peter Conde, who is a former Sailing Australia performance director.
"The previous arrangement hasnt been working. Our Olympic and Paralympic performances have declined. The number of Australian Olympic medallists at the 2016 Rio Olympics was half the number at Sydney 2000.
"That is why we are locking in our funding over a longer term to provide greater stability and certainty so that sports and athletes can plan ahead with their training programs. The new funding model will benefit the vast majority of sports and the Australian athletes we support."
Cycling Australia's Simon Jones says that requiring sports to meet benchmarks to receive their funding is an important accountability mechanism.
"I've come from a system [with Great Britain] where you have to deliver on your outcomes and there are consequences, and that's life … it's healthy, it's strategic, and I think the Australian system needs this," Jones said. "It's a really important milestone for the future of Australian sport to be honest."
The new funding model provides 12 sports including para-athletics, diving and hockey with a funding boost. Twenty-eight more sports have had their funding guaranteed for two years.
Swimming Australia's Alex Baumann said the longer-term funding arrangements would give his athletes the "stability and sustainability" to excel at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The new strategy is the second major attempt to improve Australias Olympic and Commonwealth Games performance.
Out with the old
After Australia's underwhelming performance at the 2012 London Olympics, the Australian Sports Commission introduced a new strategy called Australias Winning Edge.
It declared Australia was to rank in the top five countries at each summer Olympics and in the top 15 at winter Olympics.
Winning Edge did not work.
At the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games, Australia won no gold medals, two silver and one bronze, producing a disappointing 24th-place finish. The 2016 Rio Games were little better: with eight gold and 29 medals in total, Australia placed 10th. At the PyeongChang Games this year, Australia repeated its Sochi performance — results were a long way from the Winning Edge targets.
[Conde] says theyve scrapped the black-listed Winning Edge. This is just winning edge under a Peter Conde label.
Robert de Castella
Sport management expert Associate Professor Lisa Gowthorpe said Winning Edge put unrealistic expectations on sports and narrowed their focus to medal success, rather than wider community benefit.
“We came fourth in Sydney on the Olympic medal tally — that was our highest result and I dont think well be back to that level again, so top five is unrealistic. I think most Australians would be happy with a top-10 finish,” Dr Gowthorp said.
“Putting the pressure on the sports and athletes to achieve the unachievable isnt good for anybody.”
In with the new
With Winning Edge going nowhere, the government unveiled a comprehensive plan for sports across the country in mid-2018.
Sport 2030 broadened Australias definition of sporting success. The report said that “success must now also include the impact of athletes as role models, their engagement with the community, and delivering a respected system”.
Earlier this week, the AIS unveiled its new funding arrangements for elite sports. Sports with more than $275m in turnover and $75m in assets like cricket and tennis had their funding cut, freeing more money for poorer sports, which must be in the Olympic, Paralympic or Commonwealth Games to receive funding.
Going for gold: John Lee wants more money for his sport to chase medals, as Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page did in 2008.Credit:Andrew Meares
Reflecting the Sports 2030 report, the number of medallists a sport is likely to deliver is now important too, rather than just the number of medals.
“This means the AIS will continue to strongly invest in Australian teams, which reflect as only one medal on a traditional medal table but ultimately produce multiple medallists," Conde said.
"Through podium success, the AIS is also looking at how these sports and athletes inspire the nation, and importantly, how they connect back to their communities as role models."
Former AIS director and marathon legend Robert de Castella said a spectacular individual performance could inspire just as much as a team.
“If we ever get a male athlete into the final of the 100 metres, that's equivalent to getting any medal,” de Castella said.
“[Conde] says theyve scrapped the black-listed Winning Edge. This is just Winning Edge under a Peter Conde label.”
In addition to his concerns about sailing's funding, Lee criticised the AIS' decision to fund what he said were highly-paid club sports at the expense of struggling Olympic sports.
Women's rugby sevens is among the sports that will benefit from increased long-term funding.Credit:AAP
“Its disappointing that from what weve seen in the last round there is going to be more money for these professional-style sports rather than more money for the struggling Olympic sports who are not on TV and therefore dont have the base revenue like rugby and soccer do,” Lee said.
Womens soccer and rugby sevens are amongst the AIS beneficiaries, but in the case of soccer, the funding increase for the womens Olympic team came directly from the mens team, which had its funding cut.
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