EVEN before the spectacular Closing Ceremony swung into gear in Rio de Janiero, the post mortems of Australia’s performance at the Olympic Games were well and truly under way.
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And, again, the consensus was that many of our top athletes had wilted under pressure on the world’s biggest stage.
Australia entered the Games with high hopes of individual success in the pool and velodrome and with hockey, football and basketball teams eyeing podium finishes but, as often as not, our most favoured performers fell short when it mattered.
Instead, it was unheralded competitors such as swimmer Kyle Chalmers, pentathlete Chloe Esposito and the women’s rugby team that provided the most memorable moments for the Australian team, which might say something about the expectations we place on young shoulders at the Olympics every four years.
Cate Campbell was far and away the best performer in the women’s 100 metres freestyle at recent international events but she, by her own admission, “choked” in the final at Rio.
She was visibly nervous on the blocks before the race and badly missed the start before expending all her energy as she tried to make up ground down the first lap of the pool. She faded in the second 50 metres to finish out of the medals.
Others, including Emily Seebohm and Cameron McEvoy, also disappointed after looking to be medal certainties heading into the meet.
Even the Boomers basketball team, including some NBA stars who should be used to performing under pressure, went into their semi-final talking up their chances of snatching an unexpected gold medal in the decider.
Instead, they were out of the contest by the end of the first quarter against Serbia and then suffered a heart-breaking one-point loss to Spain in the bronze medal match. And that all shows just how much the Olympics means to Australia.
While the inevitable debates begin over how much we should be spending in the chase for medals, it’s worth remembering that the expectations on these young shoulders is a reflection of the fact we still do care about the Games.
And that means it’s worth pouring in the money to give our best and brightest the chance to star on the biggest stage.
We all share in the joy of a gold medal so it’s only fair that we share in the cost.
