Olympic Success and ASEAN Countries

Abstract

This study considers the factors behind the poor performance of ASEAN countries at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. We find that, inter alia, relative GNP, hosting activity, the political system, climate, and relative population size of a country are jointly able to predict its likely performance. In the ASEAN context, we show that although economic and demographic factors are significant, improvements in these variables through governmental policy are likely to have only a limited effect on the actual number of medals won. In contrast, an increasing cultural focus on sport offers some potential for increased Olympic performance but is likely to be outside direct policy influence. We also derive projections for future ASEAN Olympic medal performance based on economic forecasts.