Crowne Plaza wrote:
Some of it has to do with their lack of maturity on the men's national team. When your athletes are walking around a international hotel in only a towel with suspenders, and acting like complete douchebags, sponsors tend to want to distance themselves from you.
There were many prominent figures in the sport that were very unimpressed by the actions of the Aussies. Congrats boys!... You played a role in digging your own grave!
Did you see this first hand or is this word of mouth? I would be interested to hear more about this, as here in Australia a massive shake-up of our Swim Team has occurred due to the males being 'out of line'.
The heads of the sport here in Australia have no idea how to promote the sport. Also, with only support to the best of the best athletes (Sally Pearson etc), the athletes who are on the brink of break through get left behind. I understand no one should get handouts, but when your sport is getting poor exposure mixed with negative action from the top, individual sponsorship becomes non-existent.
I still believe the best way to promote the sport is through gift-style racing. That way you have betting at the track, bars at the track and a general interest in the race. We all know who the fastest is, but never are quite sure if the fastest can catch a dude 30m ahead. Generates mass interest.