Medal machine turns 40
ONCE the envy of the world, the Australian Institute of Sport turns 40 today, blowing the candles out on its past successes while secretly wishing that life really does begin at the birthday milestone.
Devised after Australia failed to win a single gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, the AIS has been one of the driving forces behind the success of Australian high-performance sport.
More than 60 per cent of the total Olympic medals Australia has accrued since 1896 have come since the AIS was opened by then Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser on January 26, 1981, and its alumni is a who’s who of Australian sport.
From Olympic and Paralympic champions such as Anna Meares, Louise Sauvage, Michael Klim and Alisa Camplin, to professional sportsmen as diverse as Ricky Ponting, George Gregan, Patty Mills and Mark Viduka, the AIS has helped thousands of stars shine bright.
“In some small way, it helped inspire some of our biggest sporting moments of the past 40 years,” AIS chief executive Peter Conde said.
“Think about: John Aloisi’s goal that returned the Socceroos to the Football World Cup in 2006; Cadel Evans winning the Tour de France in 2011; John Eales kicking Australia to Bledisloe Cup victory in 2000. Think about Cathy Freeman and that race in that Olympics in Sydney 2000.”
From humble beginnings initially only in Canberra, the AIS now has facilities all over Australia and overseas, with a European training base in Italy.
When the AIS first opened, it didn’t even have its own pool. These days, it has a water-jump facility in Brisbane so our winter Olympians can train at home.
There are now more than 2200 athletes from 38 sports supported by the AIS, 15 times the initial intake of 150 from just eight sports.
The federal government says it is pumping $145 million a year into AIS programs, including $14m a year in athlete grants, as part of a bold vision to make Australia become the sporting capital of the world.
“There is a lot to look forward to,” Minister for Sport Richard Colbeck said.
“Australia will host the women’s World Cup of basketball and football, we’ve invested in a bid for the 2027 Rugby World Cup and, in the next two years, we are considering a bid for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”