It is not uncommon for us to know that an American athlete wins another world or Olympic title in a race. Lastly, was the news from the Helsinki World Championships, where Americans were clearly more prominent than others in each of the athletic categories. They have won more titles than any other nation taken together. Of course, that is not always the case, but the benefits for American athletes because of their superiority are obvious. Although foreign athletes come to the sport elite and travel, the American people remain indoors. Moreover, it is impossible to imagine an elite sprint without Americans. They have run the short distance races now. They have been dominant throughout the history of modern athletics since the first Olympic Games in Athens in 1896.
To prove this point of view,I offer what is called the average of all the international Olympic athletes who have ever taken prizes at the modern Olympic Games. The nation gets 3 points for every gold medal, 2 silver points and one bronze point. For example, at the 2004 Olympics, the Americans won all the medals in the men's 200 m relay. In the women's 200-meter dash, the Jamaican runner won gold, the American won silver, and the Bahamian runner won bronze. So the Americans get 8 points, the Jamaicans - 2 points, the Bahamians - 1 point. To summarize the points for each year we get the following statistics:
100 meters:
USA - 120
Germany - 22
Great Britain - 20
Canada - 14
Australia - 13
Other countries - 69
200 meters:
USA - 117
Germany - 18
Jamaica - 16
Australia - 14
Great Britain - 12
Other countries - 63
400 meters:
USA - 97
Germany - 22
Great Britain 20
Jamaica - 13
Australia - 12
Other countries - 52
In all cases the American people are far ahead of the rest. However, even if we consider such a huge advantage, it would be a mistake to conclude that foreign athletes are highly trained. During the twentieth century there were stars among British, Canadian, Caribbean athletes and other athletes whose success was part of sports history. Many of them are Olympic and world champions. There are also world record holders among them. Now we talk about Asafa Powell, Veronica Campbell and Tonique Williams-Darling. We also remember Linford Christie, Donovan Bailey, Marita Koch and the old Marie-Jose Perec.
The point, however, is that they are the only representatives of their tribes. They go into sports, they show good performance and they go out and are followed by none of our people who match their level. But only USA athletes who always show high performance. It is very difficult to find reasons why the level of training is so high in so many other countries. It is not really the training program itself that separates the provinces from other countries. Rather it is a sports organization that selects, promotes and motivates athletes.
A common practice in athletics
There are two types of sports system organization in the world.
The first is a multi-country government funding program. The National Sports Department directs Sports Associations to provide athletes with the best possible training conditions, medical care, fitness opportunities and more. The State cares for athletes from the start of their games and they feel comfortable in such situations.
Many of them go into athletics and train as a hobby, in view of the running concept: “I have the opportunity to train. First I will train for fun and I will see if I am good at running. If I am good, I will pay more attention to training. If I don't, I will just enjoy the level that has been achieved. My country will take care of me and give me the opportunity to receive such “fun” training. For some of them running is a hobby. Some of them get good results at the local level during a performance of 10.4-10.2 seconds on a 100-meter dash, and they think it is good enough. Those who are most motivated move forward and sometimes take prizes at the international level. But most such athletes do not even reach the 10-second mark, let alone the 9.8-9.7 second required for major competitions.
So there is no good selection process and no high level of competition in such a system.
National Collegiate Athletic Association
Another example is where business interferes with sports and the government does not participate in the program by providing athletes with conditions. Such a model is being developed in the USA. In addition to professional sports, there is a separate university sports program that spawns a host of world-renowned athletics stars. The games of the National Collegiate Athletic Association are incredibly popular and are widely available on television and in newspapers. Even world-renowned bookmakers offer betting lines in NCAA leagues. No country in the world can boast of such a thing. College teams earn a lot of money from their team sponsors and are keen to achieve high results that attract well-trained athletes. It means that talented athletes receive scholarships that cover the cost of studying and living. For many of them, such an approach is the only way to enter university. So athletes competing with the university team are highly motivated to achieve good results. Not only do they train, they protect the stability of their lives. Usually at NCAA competitions college athletes get higher results than professional athletes from other countries.
There is another good feature of the USA model. Many sports events are very popular in the United States. These are football, basketball, baseball, hockey, track and field and more. Almost all universities have their own teams participating in these games. If an athlete first chooses a particular event, and after a while it turns out that he or she is the best at another event, he or she may simply change the event within the same university.
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