Sporting greats share fears for Australia’s Olympic standing as Australian Institute of Sport marks 40 years

When the 180 Australian athletes returned home from competing at the Montreal Olympics in 1976, the sporting-mad nation could not believe they had not brought a single gold medal home with them.

Despite competing in 20 sports, the team brought home just one silver and four bronze medals.

It was in the face of the subsequent public backlash that the government of the day set up the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in a bid to elevate the nation as a leader in sport.

As the centre prepares to mark its 40th anniversary tomorrow, there are concerns that early vision for the institute has been lost and that the AIS has become little more than a “consultancy”.

The boss of the AIS disputes that critique, arguing the next phase of the…