Clustering of national elite sport policy systems and association with international sporting performance

National governments search for efficient ways to improve their results at international sporting events such as the Olympic Games. The SPLISS 2.0 project (Sport Policy factors leading to International Sporting Success) observed a great diversity between the elite sport policy systems of sixteen nations. The current study built on data from the SPLISS 2.0 project to assess the existence of groups of similar sport policy systems. Sports performances as well as the size and wealth of nations were then compared between the groups. Cluster analysis (hierarchical and k-means) and Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon tests were applied to answer the research questions. Four groups of sport policy systems were identified (Leading, Challenging, Emerging and Specific). Population size, GDP per capita and sport performance in summer sports were significantly different between clusters; performance in winter sports wasn’t.