Talent Identification
• LO – demonstrate knowledge and
understanding of Talent ID within
International countries
Homework
• Peer assess each others homework
• Give marks for the following correct answers:
Question 1
1. Suggest reasons why the USA were so
successful in the early Modern Olympics (4
marks)
Question 2
1. Explain the differences between sport in
American schools and colleges and sport in
the UK school/college system (6 marks)
Question 3
• Why does the USA have so much success in
Olympic Sport despite having a largely
spectator based society (8 marks)
Talent Identification in East Germany
• One of the first nations that developed Talent
Identification
• ‘Eastern Bloc’ – East Europe and Soviet Union
• Small country, divided after the WW2 (1949-1990) (The
Cold War and Berlin Wall)
• Known as GDR (German Democratic Republic)
• Population of 16 million
• Forefront of international sport for 40 years – all money
going into sport programme
• 1976 – 2nd place on medal table (behind Soviet Union)
• Used sport and success at the Olympic Games as a SHOP
WINDOW
• School sport at Primary level used Talent ID – every child
was screened at the age of 7!!
Talent Identification in East Germany
• Results analysed by National Sports
Federation
• Scored well in biometric and sporting tests,
were invited to attend local training centres
several times a week
• At the age of 10, if pupils were still performing
well, they were transferred to a sports
boarding school (25) for further training
• These were linked to elite sports clubs (6 hrs
training a day, 2 hrs of study, 6 days a week!
=50 hrs!)
East German Sports Model
National Sports
Institute
Child and
Youth Sports
Boarding
School
Primary
School
Talent ID
Program
Annual
Spartakiad and
State-run
sports clubs
East German
National
Squad
Talent Identification in East Germany
• Elite athletes were based at high performance centres (8
altogether)
• Top class facilities
• Best coaches
• Sports Scientists
• Own doctor and coach
• Technical support
• Female Track & Field and Swimming stars took the most
gold medals home…
And…
• Drugs…(State Plan 1425 – doping of all East German
athletes)
• Spartakiad (mini-olympics) were held each yr to replicate
the pressure of the real event as well as for
developmental purposes!
Talent Centres
• Neubrandenburg Institute in East Germany was
the main centre that which most modern sports
institutes are based
• Egalitarian ideology – everyone was equal in
status, everyone had the same access to success
in sport (if you were successful, it didn’t matter
what race/gender/background you had)
• Centres linked with local clubs to continually
develop individuals - Dynamo (police), Sartak
(Electricians Union), Lokomotiv (Railway Union,
CSKA (Army)
Talent Centres
• German College of Physical Culture in Leipzig
housed the Research Institute for Physical
Culture and Sport
• Forefront of Sports Science – treadmills,
swimming flumes and hypoxic chambers
(mimic effects of altitude)
The message…
• Early Talent ID
• Introduction of school and university provision for elite
athletes
• State sponsorship and control – everything from diet, training,
selection
• Top coaches
• Best sports medicine
• Globalisation of sport and the continued emergence of
cultures have meant virtually all countries now have Talent ID
systems
• France followed suit in 1960’s, Australia in 1980’s
Outcomes…
• 2005 – 190 East German athletes launched a legal case
on pharmaceutical company Jenapharm (Oral
Turinabol)
• Androgens were particularly used on girls and women
• Steroids were given to them from 1960-1990
• Jenapharm blame the communist regime
• $4.1 million were paid in compensation ($12,200 per
athlete)
• Effects – hair, sex drive, voice changes, liver damage,
miscarriages and gynecomastia
Quiz…
1.
2.
3.
How many sports centres were there for young athletes?
What does GDR stand for?
What Olympic Games did East Germany come 2nd place on the
medal tables?
4. What age did Germany test children for Talent ID?
5. What was the name of the mini-Olympics held annually?
6. Draw and label the East German Sports Model
7. State 3 benefits of Talent ID in East Germany
8. What was the Neubrandenburg?
9. What type of ideology did East Germany have?
10. Name one sports science invention created by East Germany
11. Describe the 2005 court case involving German athletes
Answers…
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
25
German Democratic Republic
1976, Montreal
7
Spartakiads
Elite athletes were based at high performance centres (8
altogether),Top class facilities, Best coaches, Sports
Scientists , Own doctor and coach, Technical support
Neubrandenburg – main institute that other countries
followed
Egalitarian ideology – everyone equal
Treadmills, swimming flumes, hypoxic chambers
Jenapharm, side effects, 190 athletes, $4.1 million
compensation
East German Sports Model
National Sports
Institute
Child and
Youth Sports
Boarding
School
Primary
School
Talent ID
Program
Annual
Spartakiad and
State-run
sports clubs
East German
National
Squad