1. A2 Physical Education
Managing Elite Performance

2. Learning Objectives
 To gain an understanding of the history
and development of elite sport
 To gain an overview of elite sport in
different countries including:
 East Germany
 Australia
 USA

3. History and Development of Elite
Performance
 Right think back to last year . . . . . . . . .
can you guess at what stage elite
performance came about?
 What about examples?

4. Examples
 Prize fighting
 Cricket
 Horse Racing
 Foot races
 Patrons
 Lower classes
The driving force was wagering and the quest for sporting excellence was
fuelled by the patrons’ desire to increase their chances of winning and
therefore the size of their purse!

5. 19th Century Elite sport
 By the late 19th Century there had been a
social shift in terms of sporting excellence
 Using your knowledge of pre-industrial
Britain and sport in the 19th Century,
explain what this change was and how this
may have come about. (4)

6. Answer
 Best performers were now almost
exclusively drawn from middle and upper
classes
 Public Schooling
 Muscular Christianity
 Games ethic
 High value given to sporting prowess
 Sporting success was big pulling

7. Influence of Schools
 What ways could schools in the late
19th/early 20th Century create opportunities
for the development of elite sport?
 Improved facilities – swimming pool, gym,
practice grounds, pavillions etc
 Increased access to sport – greater time given
to Phys Ed on timetable, extended after school
programme for sport
 Weekend sport
 Employment of ‘professional coaches’

8. Influence of Universities
 This approach was mirrored by the
universities
 Eg oxford and cambridge rivalry became the
pinnacle of elite sport – competition, formation
of rules etc
 Sporting Blues – elite band of sportsman

9. Diffusion
 What is it?
 Through diffusion came the spreading of
rules and games which eventually led to
international fixtures
 A chance to ‘test’ your nation against
others
 ‘Test’ Match!

10. The Olympic Games
 IOC 1894
 De Coubertin
 1896 Athens – largest international
sporting event to that date – 250
competitors

11. Task:
 Using the text book, draw comparisons
between the East German, Australian and
American approach to sport.
 Compile your findings in the form of a
short essay.