The chief executive of the national sports funding agency, Peter Miskimmin, made this public to representatives of the Otago and Southland sports industry in a talk at the Otago Museum yesterday.
He said performances at the Beijing Olympics came close to the expectations Sparc had before the Olympics Games.
New Zealand athletes won nine medals in Beijing and they came in five of the six targeted Olympic sports - athletics, cycling, rowing, sailing and triathlon.
The only exception was swimming. There were also 27 competitors from 10 sports who finished in the top eight in the world.
At the Paralympics, Sparc targeted 13 medals and the athletes came back with 12.
"These results were in line with Sparc's expectations," Miskimmin said.
Sparc intends to give backing to all New Zealanders who reach the top eight in Olympic sports.
"We are now tracking those in the top 16, top eight and top three in the world in their sports," Miskimmin said.
"If the Olympics were held tomorrow we could predict accurately those that would finish in the top three and top eight."
Sparc invested $22.5 million into the athletes who competed at the Athens Olympics in 2004 and they won five medals - three gold and two silver.
For Beijing, $34.5 million was invested and this resulted in nine medals - three gold, one silver and five bronze.
"It demonstrates that money wins medals at the Olympics," Miskimmin said.
"China and Great Britain proved this."
New Zealand made a big percentage improvement in its medal count in Beijing compared to the Athens Olympics.
This put it third on the improvement list behind Kenya and Jamaica. Big improvements were also made by China and Great Britain.
The biggest decline in the medal count came from Japan and Russia.
Sparc supports its elite athletes with performance enhancement grants and gave $40,000 to rower Mahe Drysdale in his lead-up to Beijing.
It also paid for his equipment, international travel and his sports science, sports medicine and other expenses.
It would have amounted to $120,000 all up.
Miskimmin said Sparc is investigating setting up a base in Europe for New Zealand athletes as they prepare for London.
But he admitted Sparc had no money available for the younger group of athletes who become recognised through talent identification.
Sparc has an annual budget of $100 million for all its activities.
"It is the same amount as we got over the last two years and in the current global economic crisis is not expected to rise next year," Miskimmin said.
This year sport and recreation also received $150 millions from gaming funds, but this is expected to be reduced by 15% next year.
Funding from community trusts is also expected to be down. The other significant funder of sport and recreation in New Zealand are city councils, which contribute $700 million annually for grounds, walking tracks and other activities.
"As economic times get tough and discretionary spending is reduced it is expected to have an influence on the sport and recreation sector," Miskimmin said.
"It will be a challenge, but it is not all gloom and doom because sport has an important role in lifting public morale when times are tough."
