Guest Blog by FirstPoint USA Chief Executive and founder, Andrew Kean - University of Cincinnati
With the curtain coming down on a hugely successful London 2012 Olympics, I will be looking at the impact American-based college athletes have had on the games.
Particular focus will be set on the overall performance of NCAA college athletes versus those from other nations, and whether there is in-fact any evidence to support my belief that the infrastructure of American Collegiate sport provides the sporting elite an unrivalled setting to develop and become the World's best.
Over the years, several of Britain's sports governing bodies have voiced their displeasure - whether be off or on the record - at the prospect of the UK's leading athletic talent crossing the Atlantic to take-up
American college scholarships. For those athletes that have made the decision to pursue their
academic and athletic careers in America, many have found that they are no longer considered for national representation - in a sense, it is a penalty for leaving their country behind to take up an opportunity overseas. This has been particularly true for the likes of
Track & Field,
Swimming and
Women's Soccer.
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This years Olympics have provided us with over 1000 medal winners from over 10,000 competing athletes, representing 204 nations.
But, just how well did American-based college athletes contribute to the overall medal haul?
Is there enough data from the 2012 Olympics to suggest that college sport is responsible for the success of Team USA?
Is American college sport also responsible for 'training the enemy' by developing foreign athletes with the provision of sports scholarships?
Over the next few days we will be digesting all of the data in an attempt to draw some conclusions about the impact of American college sport. I will be looking at not just the names of those athletes that are actively enrolled with American colleges or Universities, but researching the background of those who have previously been developed within American collegiate sport....
