L’évolution que connaissent les Jeux Olympiques a aussi une influence sur le sport en Suisse. Le nombre croissant d’épreuves et donc de médailles, et la concurrence internationale qui ne cesse de s’intensifier en font un défi toujours plus grand à relever pour les nations qui y participent. Les victoires aux Jeux Olympiques viennent couronner la carrière de sportifs et peuvent jouer un rôle considérable dans le développement d’une discipline à l’échelle d’un pays. La Suisse en tant que nation sportive soutient ses athlètes et ses fédérations. Même si les championnats d’Europe et du monde continuent parallèlement à gagner en importance, le nombre de médailles visé aux Jeux Olympiques constitue un indicateur central pour le versement des subventions. Sans un soutienefficace et une vision stratégique, il est en effet impossible pour une nation de s’assurer un succès àlong terme aux Jeux Olympiques. Le rapport «Sport d’élite Suisse – Etat des lieux SPLISS-CH 2019» présente de manière documentée le système du sport d’élite suisse et l’analyse de façon critique à la lumière des objectifs de médailles. Pour l’établir, les auteurs ont interrogé pas moins de 1151 athlètes, 542 entraîneurs et 102 chefs du sport de performance, chefs de la relève et responsables de la formation, et ont confronté les réponses obtenues à des sources bibliographiques, à des analyses de documents et à des avis d’experts recueillis au cours de 87 entretiens. Le rapport reprend également des argumentations présentées lors de divers ateliers ainsi que dans des travaux de recherche internationaux. Enfin, il s’attache à comparer sur certains thèmes choisis les résultats de l’enquête 2019 à ceux obtenus en 2011. Dans de nombreux domaines du système du sport, la Suisse apparaît comme une nation capable de soutenirla concurrence et d’encourager efficacement le sport d’élite dans une perspective olympique. A cet égard, il convient de souligner le nombre de mesures mises en oeuvre dans le champ de la politique du sport depuis 2011, dont les effets constatés de manière empirique chez les athlètes et les entraîneurs ont de quoi réjouir. Afin de pérenniser le développement du système suisse du sport d’élite, le rapport met en lumière six champs d’action dans lesquels des actions pourraient encore être entreprises et formule les recommandations suivantes: Améliorer le pilotage stratégique du système Optimiser encore le parcours des athlètes Accroître les possibilités de carrière des entraîneurs Améliorer à long terme la promotion des structuresmultidisciplinaires S’associer à des organisations de premier plan Renforcer le sport d’élite en tant qu’élément du patrimoine culturel suisse
Management Summary Die «IBU Jugend & Junioren Weltmeisterschaften 2020 in der Biathlon Arena Lenzerheide» (YJWM 2020), die vom 23. Januar bis 2. Februar 2020 in der Lenzerheide stattgefunden hat, soll eine nachhaltige Wirkung erzielen. Die Thematik Nachhaltigkeit wurde mit einer Stabsfunktion im Organisationskomitee (OK) hinterlegt. Weiter wurde vor und nach der YJWM 2020 jeweils ein Nachhaltigkeitsworkshop durchgeführt. Vor dem Event wurden die Eventziele und die Nachhaltigkeitsziele, die für die YJWM 2020 anzustreben sind, definiert. Nach dem Event wurden die Learnings der YJWM 2020 sowie generelle Massnahmen im Bereich der Nachhaltigkeit diskutiert. Der vorliegende Bericht fasst die Bemühungen zusammen und schlägt in den fünf Dimensionen - Sportpolitik, Sportförderung, Soziales, Ökologie und Ökonomie - Massnahmen vor.
Research question: This paper explores the extent to which nations prioritise elite sport funding; whether such nations are more successful than those whose funding is more diversified; and, if the sports that receive the most funding are also the most successful.Research methods: Data on public expenditure for elite sport programmes (2011/2012) were collected on a sport-specific basis in 16 nations (n?=?445 funded sports). The Herfindahl index and concentration ratios of the four/eight most funded sports (CR4/CR8) are used as proxies for prioritisation. Success was measured using top three and top eight places during the Olympic Games and World Championships. Descriptive analysis and linear regression are applied to identify the relationship between the distribution of funding and success.Results and findings: Generally, all sample nations are prioritisers. Nations with smaller total elite sport budgets tended to prioritise more. There is a slight negative association between the distribution of funding within a country and subsequent success, indicating that the sample countries that prioritise more tended to be less successful. Sample nations that diversify their funding more, are found to be successful in a wider range of sports. In addition, the data illustrated only low allocative efficiency for some nations.Implications: The study produced ambiguous conclusions that prioritisation as a deliberate strategic choice is an efficient way to invest funding. The findings have important implications for high-performance managers and suggest that a more diverse resource allocation policy may help to avoid unintended negative consequences.
AbstractMeasuring performance at the Olympic Winter Games: Comparing different performance measures from a Swiss perspectiveResearch Background and Aim: Different measures are applied to analyse elite sport performance of nations at the Olympic Games, such as number of medals, or market share of medals/diplomas (De Bosscher, Heyndels, De Knop, Van Bottenburg, & Shibli, 2008; Shibli, De Bosscher, Van Bottenburg, & Westerbeek, 2013). In practice, Swiss Olympic prioritizes resources between disciplines by analysing, amongst other things, the number of medals/diplomas won, whereas when analysing the development of the nation’s performance at the Games over time, market share is used (SwissOlympic, 2013). However, to date there is no study analysing different performance measures for different research purposes. The aim of this study is to detect differences in the performance indices applied and to identify a suitable measure to rationalise the prioritization of resources amongst sports.Research Method: The performance of Switzerland, Austria, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands at the 2014 Sochi Games is analysed per discipline (i.e. 15), as measured by a) total number of medals won, b) number of diplomas won, c) market share of total medals won, and d) market share of diplomas won. Additionally, two new indices are introduced: market share of e) contestable medals, and f) contestable diplomas (see Weber, Kempf, Shibli, & De Bosscher, 2016). The performance data is derived from the Gracenote Sports database and the number of contestable medals/diplomas from the explanatory competition books published by the IOC. To detect differences between these indices, we apply the two-sided Spearman’s rho coefficient.Results and Findings: In contrast to the high correlations found in existing research between different measurements of success (De Bosscher et al., 2008), in this sport by sport analysis, the correlation values vary notably. Our interpretation of the identified differences between market share of medals/diplomas and contestable medals/diplomas, is that the first is suitable to compare a nation’s overall performances over time, while the latter is more suited to comparing performance in a specific sport over time. However, when prioritizing resources amongst sports, these relative indices are less suitable than absolute indices, because the number of medals/diplomas won includes information on the market size for medals, and therefore includes best the number of winning possibilities. This distinction is particularly valid for that are strong in many disciplines.2Keywords: Olympic Winter Games, comparing performance measures, market share, Spearman’s rho coefficientLiteratureDe Bosscher, V., Heyndels, B., De Knop, P., Van Bottenburg, M., & Shibli, S. (2008). The paradox of measuring success of nations in elite sport. BELGEO, 2, 217-234.Shibli, S., De Bosscher, V., Van Bottenburg, M., & Westerbeek, H. (2013). Measuring performance and success in elite sports. In P. Sotiriadou & V. De Bosscher (Eds.), Managing high performance sport (pp. 30-44). Abingdon and New York: Routledge.SwissOlympic. (2013). Berechnungstabelle für die Einstufung der Sportarten. Ittigen b. Bern: Swiss Olympic.Weber, A. C., Kempf, H., Shibli, S., & De Bosscher, V. (2016). Measuring competition in the Olympic Winter Games 1992–2014 using economic indices. Managing Sport and Leisure, 21(6), 399-420. doi: 10.1080/23750472.2017.1304232
Main objective A recent study outlines the difficult financial situation for Swiss professional athletes, who compete in an international environment (Kempf, Weber, Renaud & Stopper, 2014). The situation implicates two problems in the promotion of elite sport in Switzerland: On one hand, entering the elite sport system in Switzerland is financially and professionally not attractive for high-qualified specialists and on the other hand, there is a lack of post career support. This is shown in a cross country analysis of post career support of 14 countries, where Switzerland lags behind (De Bosscher, Shibli, Westerbeek & van Bottenburg, 2015). As part of the response to the postulate described below, this abstract outlines the difficult situation for elite sport athletes in Switzerland based on their employment status and their income level, which diverges significantly from the one of the conventional labour force in Switzerland. Purpose and background In May 2014 the Science, Education and Culture Committee of the Swiss National Council (one of the two chambers of the Swiss Federal Assembly, representing the people of each canton by proportion) requested from the Swiss government, the Federal Council, a report on how the financial and social security of elite sport careers can be improved effectively. The Federal Council as well as the National Council approved this so-called postulate in September 2014. The purpose of the report was to give an overview of the situation for elite sport athletes and to make aware of the problem of funding elite sport in Switzerland. The report was approved and published by the federal council in November 2016. Design and implementation The paper is based on a survey of the Federal Office of Sports (Kempf et al., 2014), where 959 (n = 959) elite sport athletes were interviewed on different aspects of their career. It is extended through descriptive statistics comparing the employment situation of elite sport athletes in Switzerland with the regular labour force by working hours (part-time or full-time) and the number of jobs athletes have (multiple job holding). In our definition, a full-time elite sport athlete only focusses on sport and doesn’t work or study on the side in contrast to parttime elite sport athletes. The comparison was made with the Swiss labour force in total and that in a similar age-range with the athletes during the time of the survey, depending on the available data of the Federal Statistical Office. The paper analyses the situation for elite sport athletes in Switzerland, outlines the problems they face and suggests how to overcome them. The report reflects literature regarding dual career and elite sport career development. The main statements for my contribution are the late post-career concern of the athletes (Wylleman, Alfermann & Lavallee, 2004), as well as the difficulty of developing a general formula for success in the post-athlete career due to differences in maturation of athletes (e.g. biological growth, behaviour) respecting different sports (Bergeron et al., 2015). Results and Future of the Project The results show that while 72% of Swiss employees between age 15 and 39 work full-time, only 29% of elite sport athletes don’t pursue another profession. The difference regarding multiple job holding is even more extreme. While 37% of elite sport athletes hold multiple jobs, which means they hold at least one regular job next to being a professional athlete, only 6% of the Swiss labour force aged between 15 and 39 and 7% of the whole Swiss labour force hold multiple jobs. Both, working part-time as well as holding multiple jobs, lead to financial gaps in the pension fund for life after retirement, but also in the disability and unemployment insurances. The Swiss social security system is financed at least to fifty per cent by the employer. Because athletes are often self-employed, they have to finance their pension fund all by themselves. The low median income of elite sport athletes — is less than a third of the median of the general full-time labour force and only 40% of the median income of the labour force aged 20 to 29 — amplifies this problem. As a result we suggest making the athletes aware of their personal responsibility as well as implementing entrepreneurial thinking. In practice, an athlete should view his career as an enterprise and should take measures for the time after the elite sport career. The athletes should get easy access to coaching for these matters. The main stakeholders, who should initiate, support and finance these programs, are the National Olympic Committee and the Sporthilfe, a charity that supports Swiss elite sport athletes financially.
Since the early 1990s, competition in the Olympic Winter Games has changed notably in terms of events contested and nations taking part. Despite, these changes, which are overseen by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the number of medal-winning nations has remained relatively stable. As a first attempt to illustrate this issue on a discipline by discipline basis, economic techniques are used to examine the outcome of competition between 1992 and 2014. The purpose of this paper is to measure: market size; the number of competing nations; and the balance between competitive nations in six disciplines. Focusing on competitive balance, the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index is applied to measure the concentration of domination; while the Przeworski Index is used to quantify instability over time. Important changes are identified in biathlon (2010) and short track (2014). While the change in the former is consistent with the IOC’s substantial increase in biathlon events, the latter can be attributed to athletes changing their nationality. IOC policy-makers can benefit from this research as it provides a method by which to monitor competition in a discipline. This method provides the potential for evaluating the likely effects of governing the Olympic Games by increasing the number of events.
