Taipei, Oct. 13 (CNA) Australia's sports development experience could provide Taiwan with something to learn from, a visiting Australian university president said Friday.
"Australia wanted to be good at sports internationally. It invested and waited for the results. Along the way, a new industry -- the sports-related industry -- was created, " Brian Stoddart, president of La Trobe University, said in a speech titled "Developing Sports Success: Thinking about Taiwan and Australia."
Australia's failure in the 1976 Montreal Olympics was a turning point, said Stoddart, who has more than 20 year's experience in research on sports culture, journalism and policy-making.
The government decided that the priority was to gain international recognition in sports, so the bulk of sports budget went to the top 3 percent or 4 percent of elite athletes. The results did not show until the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, when Australia climbed up on the medal chart, Stoddart said.
In recent years, the Australian sports administration has shifted more of its focus to grassroots and community-based sports, especially after the success of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he went on.
In 20 years, Australia has gone from a "sports failure" to a country that exports its expertise to the United Kingdom, where many Australians have been hired in sports administration, Stoddart noted.
Australia's devotion to gain sports excellence is very inspiring for a country like Taiwan, which is also struggling for international sports success, said Peng Tai-lin, director of the Department of Planning of the National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.