sportscotland Research Report An Analysis of Scotland’s Performance in the Commonwealth Games 1950-2002 Research Report no. 95 A study for sportscotland by Simon Shibli and Darryl Wilson Sport Industry Research Centre (Sheffield Hallam University) Edited by Elaine Wolstencroft sportscotland Published by: © sportscotland Caledonia House South Gyle Edinburgh EH12 9DQ tel: 0131 317 7200 website: www.sportscotland.org.uk ISBN 1 85060 459 2 Price £15 July 2004 CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. TERMS OF REFERENCE 1 3. METHODOLOGY 1 4. RESULTS 2 4.1 Context 2 4.2 Evidence of increasing competition 6 4.3 Scotland’s performance in the Commonwealth Games 7 4.4 Analysis of sports medalled in overall and by gender 11 4.5 Market concentration 14 4.6 Analysis of medals won by gender 15 4.7 Analysis of medals won by type 17 4.8 Breakdown of success by sport 18 5. CONCLUSIONS 25 Appendix I – 1950 – 2002 Commonwealth Games: Venues and Sports Contested TABLES Table 4.1 Scotland’s overall performance by sport 1950 - 2002 7 Table 4.2 Comparison of points won with market share 9 Table 4.3 Performance of comparator nations 1950 - 2002 12 Table 4.4 Market concentration for Scotland and competitor nations 14 GRAPHS Graph 4.1 The number of nations taking part in the Commonwealth Games 2 Graph 4.2 The number of athletes taking part in the Commonwealth Games 3 Graph 4.3 Number of sports contested at the Commonwealth Games 1950 - 2002 3 Graph 4.4 The number of events contested at each Commonwealth Games 1950 - 2002 4 Graph 4.5 Number of events by gender 5 Graph 4.6 Proportion of events by gender 1950 - 2002 5 Graph 4.7 Number of countries winning a gold medal and any medal 6 Graph 4.8 Scotland’s medal winning performance by edition 8 Graph 4.9 Scotland’s points 1950 - 2002 8 Graph 4.10 Scotland’s market share 1950 - 2002 10 Graph 4.11 Market share by gender 10 Graph 4.12 Number of sports medalled in at each edition 1950 - 2002 11 Graph 4.13 Sports medalled in by Scotland and international comparators 13 Graph 4.14 Medals available by sport 2002 15 Graph 4.15 Number and proportion of medals won by gender 1950 - 2002 16 Graph 4.16 Number and proportion of type of medal won 17 Graph 4.17 Analysis of medal winning success by sport 18 Graph 4.18 Absolute achievement in athletics 19 Graph 4.19 Market share in athletics 19 Graph 4.20 Absolute achievement in boxing 20 Graph 4.21 Market share in boxing 20 Graph 4.22 Absolute achievement in swimming 21 Graph 4.23 Market share in swimming 22 Graph 4.24 Scotland’s points won compared with points available 22 Graph 4.25 Athletics, boxing and swimming 1978 - 2002 23 Graph 4.26 Absolute achievement in lawn bowls 24 Graph 4.27 Market share in lawn bowls 24 1 1. INTRODUCTION This report has been compiled by the Sport Industry Research Centre (SIRC) at Sheffield Hallam University on behalf of sportscotland. The research is concerned with informing sportscotland’s approach to the support and development of medal winning athletes competing for Scotland in the Commonwealth Games. The significance of the Commonwealth Games is that it is the only major multi-sports event in which athletes representing Scotland compete for Scotland rather than for a combined Great Britain and Northern Ireland team - as is the case at the summer and winter Olympic Games. The approach used to conduct the analysis is an adaptation of the secondary analysis of the performance of Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the summer Olympic Games’ conducted by SIRC for UK Sport in 20031. 2. TERMS OF REFERENCE The specific requirements of the research are detailed below and the results are presented in the same sequence. An overview of the Commonwealth Games held since 1950 covering the number of sports, the number of events and the number of athletes taking part. The number of countries winning a gold medal or any medal between 1950 and 2002. Scotland’s points through medals 1950 – 2002 where a gold medal equals three points, a silver two points and a bronze one point. Scotland’s overall market share 1950 – 2002 where market share is defined as the percentage of points won expressed as a function of the total points available. Scotland’s market share sub-analysed for men and women 1950 – 2002. Analysis of the sports Scotland has medalled in overall and by gender. Comparison of the sports Scotland has medalled in compared with other countries (Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Wales, Northern Ireland, South Africa, Malaysia and India). Analysis of the medals won by the three most successful sports for Scotland and the comparator countries. Breakdown of the number and proportion of medals won by gender for Scotland and the comparator countries. Breakdown of the number and proportion of medals won by type (gold, silver, bronze) for Scotland and the comparator countries. Breakdown of success by sport – swimming, athletics, cycling, badminton, boxing, bowling, weightlifting, shooting and gymnastics. 3. METHODOLOGY The method used to compile this report was desk research whereby a programme of secondary analysis was conducted on the results database of the Commonwealth Games from 1950 – 2002. The Commonwealth Games takes place every 4 years and thus the results are based on 14 editions of the event. The results data for each edition 1 UK Sport (2003) European Sporting Success: A study of the development of medal winning elites in five European countries, UK Sport, London. 2 was downloaded from the official website of the Commonwealth Games (www.thecgf.com) and was formatted and analysed to meet the requirements of the terms of reference. A list of the venues for each of the 1950-2002 Games and the sports contested is included in Appendix I. The results focus on delivering the material facts of the analysis and are not at this stage concerned with interpretation and policy implementation. Analysis of historical data can explain what has happened in the past, but the results of historical analysis in isolation can only be considered to be a contribution towards informing future direction. 4. RESULTS 4.1 Context The Commonwealth is an alliance of some 72 ‘nations’. One of the ways in which the alliance expresses itself is via a quadrennial Commonwealth Games. Participation in the Commonwealth Games by member states is not compulsory, but as can be seen in Graph 4.1 the number of nations taking part at each edition has steadily increased to the point that all 72 nations were represented in the 2002 edition held in Manchester. Graph 4.1: The number of nations taking part in the Commonwealth Games 80 75 72 70 70 65 63 60 55 55 50 47 45 45 42 39 40 36 35 35 35 30 26 Number of Nations Taking Part Taking ofNumber Nations 24 25 20 15 12 10 5 0 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 In the first post-Second World War Commonwealth Games 12 nations took part and this increased steadily over time to 1982 when 45 nations took part. A boycott led by the African nations in 1986 reduced the number of nations taking part to 26, but in the four editions since, the number of participating countries has increased to 72/72 in 2002. One of the modern themes of the Commonwealth Games is inclusivity and it is likely that future editions will attempt to emulate Manchester’s feat of having at least one representative of each nation attend the Games. 3 Graph 4.2: The number of athletes taking part in the Commonwealth Games 4000 3800 3690 3638 3600 3400 3200 3000 2800 2557 2600 2400 2200 2073 2000 1800 1662 1583 1600 1519 1383 1400 1276 Number of Athletes Taking Part Taking ofNumber Athletes 1130 1200 1050 1000 863 800 662 590 600 400 200 0 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 In the same way that the number of nations taking part in the Commonwealth Games has increased, so too has the number of athletes. In 1950, 590 athletes took part in the event and there has been a growth trend in the intervening years peaking at a record 3,690 athletes in 2002. The growth in the number of athletes taking part has been driven by a number of factors, notably: increases in the number of nations taking part; increases in the number of sports contested; and, perhaps most significantly, increases in the number of events contested. The number of sports contested at each edition of the Commonwealth Games since 1950 is shown in Graph 4.3. Graph 4.3: Number of sports contested at the Commonwealth Games 1950-2002 18 17 17 16 15 15 14 13 12 11 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 7 Number of Sports Contested ofNumber Sports 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 In Graph 4.3 the word ‘sports’ involves all aquatic ‘disciplines’ such as diving, swimming, water polo and synchronized swimming being counted as one sport. The sport v discipline categorisation is not applicable to any other sports. Between 1950 4 and 1994 (12 editions) the number of sports contested at each Commonwealth Games was either nine or ten. Kuala Lumpur 1998 showed a significant increase from ten sports to 15 when sports such as netball, cricket, ten pin bowling, squash and rugby 7s were included for the first time.