Home advantage to boost Australia’s medal tally

Sydney: Hosting the Olympics will send Australia's medal tally soaring if past games are anything to go by.

Spain's medal haul jumped by over 500 percent from four to 22 from the 1988 Seoul Olympics to when they staged the Barcelona Games in 1992.

Japan's total rose by 400 percent from Rome to Tokyo and South Korea's doubled from Los Angeles to Seoul.

Sports-mad Australians work themselves into a frenzy supporting their hometown heroes -- and Sydney is no exception. One million people turned up to greet the Olympic torch. Games fever has hit the harbour city.

But that also adds to the pressure of expectation on such superstars as swimmer Ian Thorpe and track queen Cathy Freeman.

Thorpe, who has broken all his world records on home ground, said, "I don't know if it is an advantage or a huge disadvantage that can be very hard to overcome and overwhelming."

"I have been able to compete in front of a home crowd in the past and hopefully I can do that at the Olympic Games," he added.

Australia's athletics captain Steve Moneghetti believed 400 metre world champion Freeman could cope with having the hopes of a nation weighing on her shoulders.

"She is the best performer I have ever seen," he said. "If she can't handle the pressure, then none of us can."

Equestrian star Andrew Hoy said, "There will be extra pressure but because of that we will ride personal bests."

Cycling star Shane Kelly suffered the ultimate heartache in Atlanta when his foot slipped out of the pedal when he was one of the hottest favourites of the Games. Victory was denied him at the start.

"The crowd can really make a difference. Hopefully it will be enough," Kelly said. "I have got to make up for what happened in Atlanta."

The support of family and friends is a great comfort but sport psychologists have advised Australia's chosen ones to switch off their mobile phones and stay focused on the job in hand.

Phil Jauncey, working with Australia's baseball and softball teams, told the 'Daily Telegraph' that for some athletes "the expectation will be so high and the interruptions so great that competing at home will be a disadvantage."



(c) Reuters Limited.