Measuring Competitiveness of Nations in Elite Sport Policies: Renewing the Debate on Comparing Nations

Reflecting recognised principles of economic competitiveness measurement, this paper details a method for comparing nations' elite sport systems less descriptively by measuring and comparing determinants of national competitiveness quantitatively. A theoretical framework was used from previous research, revealing that there are nine sport policy dimensions or 'pillars' that are important for international sporting success. These are operationalised into 103 critical success factors that have been tested in a pilot study with six sample nations in order to develop a scoring system. Data from each nation were collected through an overall sport policy questionnaire completed in each country, and through a survey with the main stakeholders in elite sport, namely athletes (n=1090), coaches (n=253) and performance directors (n=71). With pillar five (athletic and post athletic career support) as an example, the paper demonstrates how critical success factors containing quantitative and qualitative data can be aggregated into a final percentage score for the sample nations on each pillar. The findings suggest that the method is a useful way for objective comparison of nations, but it should not be isolated from qualitative descriptions and from a broader understanding of elite sport systems.