By BERNARD ORSMAN
Prime Minister Helen Clark says New Zealand must settle for a modest medal tally or spend more money to do better at the Athens Olympics in 2004.
The cross-country skier and mountaineer said she had a tear in her eye when Rob Waddell streaked out to win New Zealand's only gold medal at Sydney.
"I guess we would like a lot more moments like that," she said on Newstalk ZB.
But Helen Clark, who leaves today for Sydney to watch Beatrice Faumuina and other New Zealanders still in the medal hunt, said that, unlike Australia, New Zealand had not spent enough money to do well at these Games.
"While our people really put their hearts into it, the truth is that if we invested more we would get better results."
Australia's 10 golds and fourth placing on the medal table is the result of a 20-year, $918 million investment to foster elite sports, with each Olympic gold medal costing Australia $A36.7 million, according to studies at the University of South Australia.
A leading factor has been the Australian Institute of Sport, funded by the Government at an annual cost of $A26 million and offering scholarships in 26 sports from a $A100 million Canberra complex.
By comparison, the New Zealand Sports Foundation has spent about $31 million of public, Lottery Grants Board and private money over the past four years developing elite athletes for Sydney, including grants of $1.1 million to yachting and $466,000 to rowing over the past year.
Helen Clark said the reality was that the Olympics were no longer an amateur game.
"We either settle for it, or we spend more, and you would need to start spending more from the point these Games close. You need a four-year buildup to do well in the Olympics."
The Government has allocated $16 million over the next four years for elite athletes.
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PM says cash the key to medals
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