Opinion: Getting everyone active the ultimate prize

After years of bragging about its sporting success and systems being the best in the southern hemisphere, the recently released Crawford Report suggests Australia must do an about-turn and focus more on participation and physical activity than gold medals.

I can't help but think: about time.

For years, Australian governments have poured millions into elite sport in an attempt to foot it with bigger nations on the Olympic stage.

Increasing spending of this nature often happens as a knee-jerk reaction to a poor performance at the Olympics, and Australia's one gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Games opened the floodgates of funding in that direction.

This peaked in 2007, when the majority of the $90 million federal sports budget was spent on Olympic sports, and the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) wants more.

The same happened in New Zealand in 2001.

I was a member of the government taskforce which produced the Graham Report released soon after New Zealand's dismal performance at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

At the time, there was an overwhelming feeling that our focus on participation and fair play in schools was to blame for our poor performance in Sydney.

Of course, none of these feelings were based on hard evidence, but gold fever is a contagious condition for nations to come down with and it can cause sane people to make irrational decisions.

Once infected, governments can pour millions into this endeavour in an attempt to satisfy their gold lust.

Australia has always seemed desperate to be considered the down under version of the United States, and doing well at the Olympics was part of this strategy.

Initially it did do well, finishing in the top four on the medals table, but as more and more nations pour money into the quest for medals, Australia's hold on the top four has been weakening, but not by much.

Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) chairman John Coates has been the most put out by the recommendations of the Crawford Report as he sees his little empire start to crumble.

Was the reaction to the Graham Report in New Zealand similar?

The Graham Report was written after months of consulting community groups and organisations which varied from Girl Guide Associations to Olympic sporting organisations.

There was no way we would produce a report that would please everyone.

From the outset, a case for doing away with the Hillary Commission, Office of Tourism and Sport, and New Zealand Sports Federation to form one umbrella organisation was on the agenda.

In addition, the people who make up a review committee also influence the outcomes. Members of the New Zealand taskforce were predominantly past elite athletes involved in traditional sports such as rugby, cricket, and squash.

How can a group of individuals who have benefited from elite sport write a report that suggests funding into elite sport should be done away with?

The Australian taskforce was dominated by business people who haven't hesitated to recommend the throat of Olympic sporting organisations be cut, and it isn't surprising that in economically difficult times, it is suggested that the systems be more streamlined.

The Australian Government wanted a certain outcome, and put together a committee that would do that.

For too long, Olympic sports in Australia have been enjoying the bottomless pockets of previous federal governments and gloating about their Olympic medal tally as if it was a sign of their genetic and cultural superiority rather than their over-the-top spending.

The fact that many Australians were couch potatoes and Aborigines were still waiting for an apology while Cathy Freeman ran around the Olympic stadium was ignored by those who were putting their hand out for more funding.

Initially, I think the Graham Report was a little heavy-handed and prescriptive and the turnover of staff at Sparc was high as we adjusted to a different system and focus.

A change in government has also seen a change in focus from physical activity in general to more sport-specific initiatives.

Have we got the balance right? Personally, I'd rather we were a nation of doers and go-getters than silver-spooned, gold medal-wearing show-offs.

Winning medals at the Olympics does make us feel good as a nation for a brief moment, but playing sport, getting active, and everyone, every day doing something active has to be better for us in the long run, doesn't it?

Mind you, I'd trade in everyone, every day for beating any Australian, any time, any day.

So bring on 2012 and let us see how Kiwis go when the Kangaroos don't have so much cash in their pouch.