Olympic Games: Slovenia leaves US trailing in medals league
claims The Times
The nation with the proudest record at the Sydney Olympics is not
Britain, the United States or even Australia, but Slovenia, a Times
analysis of the population needed to win a gold medal Slovenia ows its
success to its men's double sculls team and to Rajmond Debevec, who
triumphed in the 50 m rifle three-position event
A haul of two golds in rowing and shooting has given Slovenia an
Olympic champion for every million of its citizens with a day of
competition remaining, the best record of any country competing in the
Games.
According to The Times, Marjan Setinc, the Slovenian Ambassador to
Britain, said his country's Olympic success was attributable to the
national character. "There is something in the Slovenian mentality
that has always helped us to perform well at sport," he said. "Even
when we were part of the Austrian Empire, before the First World War,
we were winning medals, and we continued when we were part of
Yugoslavia. It says something about the national character, and a
unique temperament, that is a combination of Mediterranean and Central
European. The team's triumph would help to build national confidence
and prosperity. For us it is something of very high importance that we
appear on this kind of table. Sport is a very important promoter of a
country, which helps investment and the distribution of wealth."
Slovenia's Olympic performance caps an excellent year for the
country's sport. After a good performance in the skiing World Cup, the
national football team reached the finals of Euro 2000, where they
achieved creditable draws with Yugoslavia and Norway and narrowly lost
to Spain. "The successes were also a fitting tribute to Leon Stukelj,
a Slovenian gymnast who was the world's oldest living Olympic champion
before his death last year at the age of 100," Mr Setinc said.
Slovenia owed its success to its men's double sculls team and to
Rajmond Debevec, who triumphed in the 50 m rifle three-position
event. The Times table, which was compiled using the United Nations
official population figures, shows that Eastern European and
Scandinavian countries, along with Australia, punch well above their
weight in Olympic competition, while traditional giants of the Games
such as Russia and the US are not nearly as potent as they would
appear from the official tables, adds the Times. Of the countries
currently in the top 15, all are drawn from Eastern Europe,
Scandinavia, the Balkans or the Antipodes.
For original article see : The Times: Olympic Games: Slovenia
leaves US trailing in medals league, 30 September 2000
