Two Thoughts from the Marriott

On Friday afternoon at the IFAC Conference, Frank Dick showed the results of a survey done last year which investigated the reasons behind athletics success in any given country. It was a long period of research which went into every detail and the top three factors behind success in any country or even club were first, financial support, second the number and quality of coaches and third having appropriate facilities! (The others were things like talent i.d., equipment, competition opportunities, etc.) How do we stack up on these measurements?

Then on Saturday, Wilson Kipketer who had two brothers who were good athletes told of going to the club and being told to start running at that line over there. "There is no line!" "The line is between the two cones." "There is still no line!" ie using the most basic of facilities. Which of the two is the more accurate? The answer is that they are both acccurate - the first investigation was into athletics success (ie across all events, for all athletes at all standards) while the second was simply for running and running at the most basic level. It true that for runners, the ingredients for success are well known but it is how they are put together that matters and even for them, if they are sprinters or middle distance runners they will need access to a proper track and a gymnasium as well.

It indicates what most of us know - you can become a seriously good middle or long distance runner using only the terrain around you but if you aspire to reach the top then facilities matter more and more as you make progress.