'Medal Factory' boosts Australia's 2000 Olympic chances.

SYDNEY, May 5 Kyodo Since Sydney won the right to host the 2000 Olympic Games, the 65-hectare Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) located on the outskirts of Canberra has been dubbed the "Medal Factory." Set up in 1981 after years of substandard performances by Australian athletes, the facility was designed to be a training complex for the development of the country's elite world and Olympic competitors. Today, the AIS has become one of the world's premier sporting institutions with intensive programs for 28 sports ranging from archery and athletics to volleyball.

The complex also houses one of the world's top sport science laboratories, providing research and support to athletes and coaches in the areas of nutrition, biomechanics, physiology and psychology.

Perhaps the institute's greatest asset, however, is the winning attitude cultivated among those who live and train there.

"We are here for one reason and one reason alone. And that is to become successful sportsmen and women and win," volleyball player Fay Avery said.

Of the 550 AIS scholarship holders, 180 of them live in the AIS dormitories as part of the residential program, with about 70 living in private accommodations around Canberra. The rest reside and train at other AIS centers around Australia.

Each athlete has had to prove to be among the best in their chosen sport in the country to receive a scholarship that is worth an average 25,000 Australian dollars (about 15,500 U.S. dollars) a year.

"As a general rule, we try to select athletes that are competing well at the national championship level or are recognized as being potentially elite," AIS Director John Boultbee said.

"The AIS then provides facilities and assistance, including access to high-performance coaches, strength and conditioning, nutritional advice and career and education guidance."

Boultbee said the residential program helps athletes better manage their sporting and personal lives.

"I think the residential program is like a pressure cooker. We put athletes in this environment to accelerate their development for a year or two and hope it stays with them after they have left the AIS," he said.

Boultbee, stressing the importance of balance in an athlete's life, added "We also make sure that AIS athletes do not become too obsessed with their sport and that they also work or study."

The Australian government set up the AIS as part of an effort to counter Australia's dismal medal tally at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

For the first time since the end of World War II, Australia failed to win a gold medal at an Olympic Games, shocking the Australian people and then Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser.

Fraser set about developing an infrastructure to foster the talents of Australia's elite athletes -- and from that came the AIS in 1981.

Today, the AIS is made up of three active divisions -- the Elite Sports Division which administers the athletic program, the Sports Management Division, which helps national sporting organizations with funding and expertise, and the Sports Science Division which focuses on research and sports technology.

These three divisions have a combined budget of 66 million Australian dollars (about 41 million U.S. dollars) -- which is funded by the federal government and corporate sponsors, which develop commercial products in association with the AIS.

In the lead-up to Sydney 2000, however, it is the athletic program that gathers most of the attention since it is the best indicator of Australia's chances for medals in the Olympics.

Avery and her twin sister Megan, both 17, were accepted at the AIS only in February and both dream of representing Australia at the Olympics.

"Qualifying for an AIS volleyball scholarship has really helped our chances for the Olympics and taught us to be better athletes," Megan said, adding that she has also been helped by the institute's facilities for physiotherapy, massages, physiology and hydrotherapy.

"And the food is really good," the developing young spiker said.

Fay said the sports science facility helps her better understand her body as a tool. "The sports science facility helps us understand and monitor our bodies in relation to our sport."

Fay and Megan are also among many athletes who benefit from the Olympic Athlete Program (OAP), a six-year, 135 million Australian dollar (about 84 million U.S. dollar) program designed to prepare Australia's elite athletes for 2000.

The OAP is designed to enhance current funding to Olympic sports and it provides better support for the athletes through better coaching and more experience in international competitions.