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Ellis fires medal challenge back at Brits

Posted August 7, 2008 11:34:00

Federal Minister for Sport Kate Ellis has rejected comments that the Australian Olympic team is afraid of the British and has instead accused the British Government of putting pressure on its athletes to beat Australians.

British Secretary for Sport Andy Burnham ignited the feud earlier this week when he said the British could win more medals than the Australians in Beijing.

But Ms Ellis, who is in Beijing with the Australian team, says the British have a history of choking under pressure when competing against Australians.

"We will soon find out within a few days to see whether their athletes can indeed hack this sort of pressure, because we've seen from both British sportsmen and women in the past that they've been known to choke under the pressure when up against the Aussies," she said.

"I hope the British team can handle the pressure that their Government is putting on them because they were the ones that were making some pretty bold predictions.

"I'm meeting this morning coincidently with the British minister for sports, so I'm quite prepared to bring up these issues."

The Athens Olympics saw Australia finish fourth on the medal table, while Great Britain finished in 10th place.

Tags: federal-government, olympics-summer, australia, china, united-kingdom

Comments (29)

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  • dragon:

    07 Aug 2008 12:44:29pm

    Show boating pollies wanting to jump on the popular olympic bandwagon. A very poor metaphor for baby kissing ! Pollies have no bounds when it comes to poor taste !

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  • Ford:

    07 Aug 2008 12:44:31pm

    lol!
    Where have the Brits been the past few decades?
    It's absurd for them to claim that we are either afraid of them or likely to come behind them in the medal tally.
    Until whining and cricket become Olympic Sports, the Mother Country will remain where it belongs...at the bottom of the medal tally.
    The sun has set on the empire baby!

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      • Wagner:

        07 Aug 2008 2:01:00pm

        bring cricket in as well...20/20 is a joke anyway

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  • Harry Jackson:

    07 Aug 2008 12:49:39pm

    We better beat the Poms in the medal tally. Anything else would be a national embarrasment

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      • Brad:

        07 Aug 2008 1:09:39pm

        It could be a lot worse. To quote Andrew Denton from 1992, "as long as we beat New Zealand".

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  • frOgman:

    07 Aug 2008 12:55:20pm

    Oh dear, This is stupid. Its like primary school. My dads stronger then your dad!

    Good to see our tax paying money going to serious matters of mines bigger then yours contests! woo!

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      • Spider Dijon:

        07 Aug 2008 2:28:36pm

        Oh come on. This is hardly the end of the world. Whats wrong with a little bit of trash talking with the mother country. Apart from New Zealand, they're our biggest international rival. Think of the Ashes, the Rugby World Cup, etc. We're constantly sledging each other, but its all in good fun. I think its great to see some pollies really getting into the spirit of competition and having a little fun. In the end, Australia has placed in the top four for the last three olympic games, and we have a proud sporting tradition, so I don't think the poms will get anywhere near us, but we'll see.

        Although there's a lot of political banter about human rights (very justified), there are other aspects to the Olympic Games, and to see people actually able to joke around a bit and talk a bit of trash is rather refreshing.

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  • Mim:

    07 Aug 2008 1:01:55pm

    Crikey, is this why the government spends so much taxpayer money per gold medal, so the Australians can beat the Brits? I'm glad to see it's all come out in the open now.

    It's official! The Olympics is not about applauding the prowess of athletes from around the world, no matter where they are from; it's about which government can afford to train elite athletes the best. My Sports Commission is bigger and better than yours.

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      • chip:

        07 Aug 2008 1:23:50pm

        What did you think it was about?

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          • Mim:

            07 Aug 2008 1:43:21pm

            Lol! I knew it was never about the athletes themselves. Even the question is always how many gold medals, not who won a gold. It's called psychosocial spending - where the government, as well as being led by the nose by the elite sports mafia, also sees value in keeping the television-loving populace happy and sedated. (Somewhat tongue in cheek, but not that far from the truth).

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  • Curly:

    07 Aug 2008 1:06:24pm

    I once heard a rumour that the olympics was about being there and doing your best whilst representing your country.

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      • Mick Lynch:

        07 Aug 2008 2:53:35pm

        Are you from New Zealand? Glorious Gold, Socialable Silver and Shameful Bronze

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      • Rob:

        07 Aug 2008 3:42:07pm

        I heard a rumor these olympics were all about letting the Chinese know that they can do whatever they want. A few dogs may bark but that's only out of guilt.

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  • Seamus:

    07 Aug 2008 1:13:36pm

    I would feel no embarrassment at GB having a better medal tally than AUS.

    GB does have three times AUS' population after-all, and are economically, socially and health-wise just as sophisticated, so why not?

    Those AUS sports fans who would feel embarrassed must lead terribly empty lives.... nothing to occupy their minds but pine over a medal count...good grief.



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  • Terry:

    07 Aug 2008 1:13:39pm

    I've heard all of this garbage before about one race being better than another. The last time the proponents at least had the honesty to call themselves the 'Master Race'
    '

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  • Will :

    07 Aug 2008 1:18:49pm

    Best we beat them in smogtown as it's going to be harder in London 2012. The English will throw some serious money at their sports in the leadup to that.
    I think there going to own us in the rowing in this one though. British rowing has come along in leaps and bounds.

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      • Brad:

        07 Aug 2008 2:08:55pm

        It takes more than 4 years to bring your sport system up to speed. We've got a 20+ year head start on the UK. Beating the Poms on their home turf in 2012 is going to be sweet!

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  • ActionMan:

    07 Aug 2008 1:21:02pm

    "But Ms Ellis, who is in Beijing with the Australian team, says the British have a history of choking under pressure when competing against Australians."

    This is golden!

    Dead right though whinging poms!

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  • wayne:

    07 Aug 2008 1:28:50pm

    I dont care as long as we beat New Zealand

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      • Brad:

        07 Aug 2008 2:07:52pm

        It's about time the ABC brought out that song again!

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      • ant:

        07 Aug 2008 3:48:27pm

        especially after the wallabies efforts against the All Blacks last weekend....

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  • virgil:

    07 Aug 2008 1:32:16pm

    It would be good to see a tally of medal winners divided by the amount of money spent on elite athletics in each sport per country.

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      • redexile:

        07 Aug 2008 1:58:20pm

        I think Cuba normally does quite well on the number of medals divided by GDP rankings, despite america's best efforts...good on 'em!

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  • redexile:

    07 Aug 2008 1:55:50pm

    There used to be a time (I think) when at least the British were noble losers with some dignity (but still losers). Now it appears they shoot their mouths off first (world cups and now the Olympics) but unfortunately will still be a bunch of losers in the sporting field as well as many other areas. Quite sad and pathetic... especially considering its just pollies mouthing off and we know how much attention we should pay to themZzzzzzz

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  • jak:

    07 Aug 2008 1:58:44pm

    Why is everyone taking thess harmless comments so seriously ... ????

    It just adds a bit of fun, thats all.

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  • Ford:

    07 Aug 2008 2:16:56pm

    As long as the UK team has a good pharmacist, I'm sure they'll do just fine.

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  • Eric:

    07 Aug 2008 2:46:24pm

    Athens ...

    Australia = 49 Medals, 17G, 16S, 16B --- +4th overall
    UK = 30 Medals, 9G, 9S, 12B --- 10th overall

    'nuff said.

    Imagine what the results for them would be like if they actually competed as individual countries and not as the UK.

    Beijing will be no different, "Big Talking Poms Fail Again".

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  • rb:

    07 Aug 2008 3:32:08pm

    Yeah, yeah - GOLD, GOLD, GOLD for Australia.

    How can we lose!!

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