What's it all about?........ *

There's a lot of debate raging in British Fencing at the moment about the upcoming Olympics that we are hosting in the UK next year. The focus seems to be on winning medals, presumably based on the theory that a lot of money is being pumped into fencing (although the facts of that matter is another debate altogether...) so therefore the money givers want a result i.e. a medal. Shiny shiny is the only thing that matters or so it seems...... Today it was announced that after the upcoming world championships the athletes aspiring to Olympic selection will be reviewed as follows:


The initial cohort of athletes, have been selected up to and including the period to the end of the World Championships (end of October). Immediately following the World Championships a fundamental review will be undertaken of all athletes selected for the Programme from 1st August 2011.
As a result of the review athletes will be categorised as:

1. Capable of winning a medal in 2012

2. Showing a performance and training trajectory that would deliver a medal in 2016

This is a very difficult subject to discuss as everyone will have their perspective on this. My personal one is that I am not convinced that the 'medal or bust' approach is the right one. For me the thing is all about the journey; imagine the feel of walking out onto an Olympic piste..... is that something that should be denied an athlete just because it is judged by some statistician that their weapon/gender/age group is not going to get GB a medal? Shouldn't it be a little bit about the wonder of it all? The sheer achievement of even getting there? Or is it all about satisfying an ultimately shallow desire for medals from an instant-fix nation?
Now I'm talking about it from the perspective of a 'never going to have been there or done it journeyman coach' so I might be romanticising it a bit in terms of ultimate outcomes. It may be different for the athletes concerned; they may accept it's all about the glitter and not the journey and I imagine the feelings of gaining a medal are truly remarkable, but not everyone can or will. My views may well be completely out of touch with the times but let's think of the impact on youngsters coming up; on the future top athletes of fencing. Are we really saying that unless they can win a medal they won't get funded? Who is to judge this? How will they do it? What criteria will the selection be made on? Are we really sure that this is what UK fencing is all about?

As I say, it's a really tricky subject and everyone will have a strong opinion. If I was to introduce selection criteria they would look something like this:
Fighting spirit
Decent technique
Role model for other athletes in their sport
Behaviour appropriate to representing your nation
An appreciation of and delight at the opportunity

Looking at them, they're just as hard to judge as any other yardstick. But they seem much more worthwhile to me.
 
* if you found yourself subconciously saying "Alfieeeee...." after the title you're a person very much like me....