Successful Elite Sport Policies: An International Comparison of the Sports Policy Factors Leading to International Sporting Success (SPLISS 2.0)

This presentation deals with the strategic policy planning process that underpins the development of successful national elite sport development systems. Drawing on a theoretical framework of nine Pillars and 96 Critical Success factors, it aims to understand which (and how) sport policies lead to international sporting success and to obtain a better insight into the effectiveness and efficiency of elite sport policies of nations at an overall sports level. The presentation is based on the SPLISS (Sports Policy Factors Leading to International Sporting Success) 2.0 project, involving 15 distinct nations in collaboration with 58 researchers and 33 policy makers who collected data and on surveys with 3142 elite athletes, 1376 high performance coaches and 243 performance directors.

The results showed evidence that “success is developable”, meaning that medals can be influenced by policy impact. Most Pillars correlate positively with success, either in summer or winter sports. SPLISS 2.0 also showed a strong positive relationship between the absolute amount of elite sport funding invested by nations and their success, but some nations use the resources that are invested more efficiently than others. These efficient nations (Australia, Japan, France and the Netherlands for summer sports; Canada, the Netherlands, and Switzerland for winter sports), are also the countries that are have the most integrated approach to policy development, with the best scores on the organization, governance and structure of elite sport.