Olympic Games: The monster investment to kickstart athletes’ preparation for the LA Games
The sports that didn’t quite live up to their own expectations in Paris have all been given another chance as part of a monster funding package for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
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Even the losers have come out as winners this time.
All the sports that failed to contribute to Australia’s astonishing medal tally at the Paris Olympics and Paralympics can finally breathe easy after being reassured they won’t get whacked in the hip pocket.
Fearful that they might cop a reduction to their funding levels for Los Angeles 2028, the sports that didn’t quite live up to their own expectations in Paris have all been given another chance.
Instead of cutting investment to athletes who didn’t make the podium, the federal government is doubling down on its financial commitment to LA with a monster investment that will enable sporting bodies to kick start their preparations for 2028 and beyond.
“This is a record funding package for Australian sport, so they can take full advantage of the generational opportunity between now and Brisbane 2032,” the Minister for Sport Anika Wells said.
READ MORE: Olympic sports axed as crippling funding crisis deepens
Hoping to eclipse the overall fourth-place finish at the Paris Olympics, that featured an unprecedented 18 gold medals across 15 different sports, Australia’s approach to LA is straight out of the Americans’ playbook for success at the world’s biggest sporting event: that a rising tide lifts all boats.
So, Australia’s most reliable medal-producing sports, such as swimming (35% increase), cycling (49%), athletics (65%) and canoeing (42%), have all been given hefty raises as a reward for their incredible performances in the French capital.
But so too have all the sports that came home empty-handed: including soccer (25%), hockey (37%), rugby (34%) and golf (54%).
In the biggest sport at the Olympics, track and field, Australia won seven medals, including gold to pole vaulter Nina Kennedy, and the sport’s leaders are hoping for an even better haul in LA after getting a bigger slice of the funding pie.
“This record investment in high performance by the Australian Sports Commission is a game-changer for Australian athletics,” Athletics Australia CEO Simon Hollingsworth said.
Disproving the outdated notion that Australia only loves winners, 95% of Olympic and Paralympic summer sports will receive increased funding over the next 18 months, with a formal announcement expected on Friday.
All up, the government’s top-up comes out at an eye-watering $385 million, with Para sport investment doubling by an additional $54.9m over two years.
The figure was originally announced just four weeks before Paris, leaving administrators with the jitters before they got told their share this week.
There have been repeated claims that governments use taxpayer funding as a bargaining chip, giving preference to rich, professional football codes, but the government has strongly denied that was the case.
The long list of winners include the five sports that have been added to the Olympic program for California after missing out in Paris: cricket, baseball/softball, lacrosse, flag football and squash.
Squash received a 27% increase, taking its high-performance program funding to $2.6 million, which Jess Van der Walt, Australia’s top ranked female player, said was critical.
“At the moment, as squash athletes, we don’t get any funding that comes directly to us, so we’re paying for everything off our own backs, which as you can imagine is quite costly,” she said.
“A lot of squash athletes have sponsors, which is great, but being in Australia, we have a very strong sporting landscape, and we’re competing with sports like swimming and rugby league for example that have really high profile athletes.”
Lacrosse, which is returning to the Olympics for the first time in over a century, is looming as a strong medal sport for Australia. Previously given only a small funding pool for grassroots participation, the sport has hit the jackpot this time, receiving a $4.4 million injection of cash.
The Australians are consistently among the best performing teams in the world, both in the men’s and women’s games, and with a player base of over 100,000 participants, local officials are convinced Aussies will go wild for the sport when they see it played at the Olympics.
“It’s tough, it’s fast, it’s skilful,” Lacrosse Australia president Abbie Burgess-Brice said. “It’s really exciting for us to be back on the biggest global stage.
“We have a really strong and proud history of batting above our average when it comes to international competition and we have a number of gold medals at World Championship events.
“We’re really excited to be able to see lacrosse go mainstream because we genuinely believe people are going to fall in love with lacrosse when they see it and are exposed to it.”
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