It costs states 40mn euros to win one Olympic gold medal

WASHINGTON - A new study has revealed that a government has to invest close to 40 million euros in order for the country to obtain the highest Olympic prize.

Researchers at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid calculated the price with a model that measures the number of medals according to government expenditure in sport, along with other variables.

“This model allows accurate measurement of how much extra expense is necessary to win each medal,” said Juan de Dios Tena and Ramsn J. Flores.

“We have estimated the relation between this expenditure and Olympic success once relevant economic, political, and demographic variables are taken into account, such as the size of the country,” Tena explained.

The basic general idea is that there are many possible causes for a phenomenon.

“A regression model offers an estimate of the individual effect of each of these causes, once the others are controlled for”, explained Flores.

The model allows him to draw rigorous conclusions from the statistics models that can thus determine the concrete influence of an element within the context of sport.

The team found that the effect of sacking a coach during the season is more negative than positive when this situation happens more than once.

“Changing coaches reduces by half the number of points obtained in the next eight games for a unit,” he remarked.

“Similar studies carried out in European leagues, where the number of sackings is lower, does not show such an effect, suggesting that abusing the number of sackings can generate negative consequences within this context,” concluded these UC3M Statistics Department professors.

“Due to the media nature of anything related to sport, there are often statistical studies of low quality or which are carried out directly by fans and obtained by unscientific methods from samples which are not at all reliable,” they said.

“Our intention is to apply them profusely, and to collaborate in resolving issues which generate debate in society, and which produce interesting conclusions.”

This study was presented at the workshop “The Economic of the Olympic Games” at Groningen in July of 2008. (ANI)