Olympics: Medal hopes drive funding calls

Boosting New Zealand’s relatively poor conversion rate from 2015 pinnacle event podium finishes to 2016 Olympic medals is the priority for High Performance Sport New Zealand chief executive Alex Baumann in the wake of the annual investment announcement for next year.

Rowing, cycling, athletics, canoeing and paralympics have increased funding, while swimming, men’s hockey and women’s football suffered decreases.

“Prior to 2012 in London, we had 21 top three finishes [in Olympic disciplines] so our conversion rate was 13 medals [six gold, two silver, five bronze],” Baumann said. “That’s lower than a number of other countries like the United States who convert at more than 100 per cent.

“We’re good at converting gold to gold, but not so good at retaining silver and bronze or converting fourth and fifth to medals. This year, we had 16 fourth or fifth-placed finishes. Ideally we’d convert some of those but can’t underestimate how difficult that will be.

via Olympics: Medal hopes drive funding calls – Sport – NZ Herald News.