Does gross domestic product correlate with sports supremacy or the haul of gold medals at the ASIAD 2006?

Yes and no.

Yes, rich countries normally do better in sports. As in the Olympics, where the US is perennially among the top three, the traditional powerhouses in the Asian Games are China, Japan and South Korea, the region's largest economies.

With hefty trade surpluses and heavyweight GDPs, the economic giants can allocate resources to hire top coaches and offer attractive incentives to build up sports excellence.

GDP is the total market value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a given year, equal to total consumer, investment and government spending, including exports but excluding imports. The size determines which nations are richer than others and shows the position of a country in financing more infrastructure, professional training, acquisition of international equipment and international exposure if a country wants to excel in sports.

Japan has the largest economy among the 36 countries participating in the games, with GDP of US$4.3 trillion (Bt152 trillion), according to The Economist Pocket World in Figures 2006. Trailing is China's $1.4 trillion.

Assuming that Japan allocates 1 per cent of its GDP to promote sports, that is equivalent to $43 billion. In China's case, it's equivalent to $14 billion. That's huge compared to Thailand's exports, worth slightly more than $100 billion this year.

Thailand is a midget compared to the top three winners, China, South Korea and Japan, with GDP of only $143.2 billion. One percentage point would be as little as $1.4 billion or Bt49 billion at the exchange rate of Bt35 to the US dollar.

That figure is beyond the imagination of Thailand's sports associations, which have cried foul over the low level of government sponsorship. The government's lack of enthusiasm in promoting sports can be seen in its incorporation of sports activities into the Ministry of Tourism and Sports. Nowhere in the link to ministries' websites from www.thaigov.gov.th can you find the word "sports". Only locals who know that the ministry incorporates sports would click on the Ministry of Tourism and Sports icon.

All this should add to the surprise that Thailand managed to snatch 13 golds from the Asian Games and end up fifth in the medal stakes. Though the ranking is much lower than that of China, Korea and Japan, it's higher than India and Taiwan, with much larger GDPs than Thailand's.

Yet GDP can't entirely explain why a small economy like Kazakhstan, with GDP of only $29.7 billion, ended up fourth with 23 gold medals. Uzbekistan also fared better than India, though its GDP is only $9.9 billion.

An explanation can be found in the history of these two countries. They were parts of the Soviet Union, which was known for its dedication to sports when the iconic communist country tried its best to prevail over democratic Western countries.

Japan's GDP didn't guarantee top place either, probably because of its smaller population base than China's, 127.7 million versus 1.3 billion. But if GDP and population ensure top place, then how did South Korea beat Japan with a GDP of $605 billion and a population of 47.7 million?

It's also strange to find India trailing behind many other countries in the eight spot. But India with 1 billion people has realised the importance of money in building up sports supremacy. From a mere 430 million rupees in 1991-92, or about Bt645 million, the Indian sports budget has improved greatly since, with the allocation for 2004-05 touching 2.52 billion rupees or about Bt3.78 billion. China has also poured a large sum of money into sports, although that can't compare with the $35 billion allocated to its military.

One factor could be the median age of the population, for it is generally known that the younger athletes are, the better is their chance of winning, due to better physical fitness.

Among the first 20 countries, Saudi Arabia's median age is the lowest, at 21.6 years, but Saudi Arabia is supported by a small population base of only 24.2 million. It's not surprising that it ended up in 13th place.

Generally, to ensure sports supremacy, a country needs a mixture of money, youth, people and, of course, the dedication of its athletes.

Whatever, the 13 gold medals argue Thailand's overwhelming competitiveness. Despite financial constraints, its athletes managed to push themselves to the limit. It would be interesting if the psychology could be transferred to the troubled business sector, which is struggling for survival amid a host of negative factors, particularly the recent appreciation of the baht.

And interestingly, those gold medals came from a wide variety of sports, not just boxing as in the past. Probably the export sector could learn from this. The more diversification, the more success.

Achara Deboonme

The Nation