Determinants of a Nation’s Sport Performance at Different Mega Sport Events

This paper presents the initial results of a significant research conducted under the IOC PhD Student Research Grant Programme with the support of the Hungarian Olympic Committee. A macroand meso-level analysis were conducted within the framework of this research; this paper presents the macro model, with the aim of capturing important features of the economic, political and institutional environments which affect the productivity of a nation’s sport performance and growth; with this the paper contributes to an understanding of the key elements of high-performance sport development. The macro model divides sport into two groups – individual and team sports – in order to determine if there are any differences at the macro level. The influence of the economic factors which were included in the models shows a decreasing effect on the market share of nations, which means that other factors must also play a significant role in a nation’s international sporting success. The responsibility of national sport governance will become even more important in elite sport success in the future, which shows that the efficient utilisation of recourses will also become a key factor, along with an appropriate structure, organisation and integrated coordination.