The Olympic effect - part 1

In the real world there is only one gymnastics competition that really matters. This competition only comes every four years and is televised around the clock every newspaper carries detailed coverage and the cyber media goes crazy.
The preparation time given to the host city is seven years but of course the process of applying for the games takes much longer and some cities or countries apply many times before getting lucky. When the IOC announces the city the work really begins. The host country not only has to put on a perfect show but their athletes also have to be at their best. So funding is pored into every Olympic Sport in the hope that the athletes will be able to bring in the medals at the home Olympics. The problem in artistic gymnastics is that seven years is not enough time to build a world class team. This could be seen in Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 when the home teams failed to make an impact in the team competition and in most cases in the individual finals also. I´m not taking into account the very contriversial medal Tambakos got on the rings in 2004. The Greek men seem to be an oddity winning medals before and after the games at the world level in various apparatuses but failing to make an impact as a team.
The interesting thing is how each of these countries "failed" at the games but made a rapid rise afterwards climbing the ladder internationally. The Korean men did not qualify for their own games in 1988 but became a force to be taken seriously in the 1990´s and early 2000´s qualifying for team finals on many occasions and having their best showing in 2004 getting an AA medal. I´m not going into the discussion of the color of the medal (not now anyway). The Spaniards had fine Olympics but not braking into the medals but in the aftermath their teams have been close to the podium specially the women. They have even won gold both in the men´s and women´s apparatus finals at worlds and coming close to doing so at the Olympic games.
In 2000 there was much talk about the Aussie WAG team. They were by some considered medal hopefuls in the team competition although this was an over estimation of the capability of the team. In the competition they even failed to make the top 6 which advanced to the team final at those Olympics. But three years later in Anaheim they came away with the bronze medal and in 2005 Russo won the AA bronze.
This shows us that building a competitive team takes more than the seven years given by the IOC selection process. It takes more like ten years showing in the stories of these three team. If funding is continued and enough interest in the sport has been lit the performance of the teams will continue to rise after the home Olympics.
This could make the future of the GB teams very exciting both for the MAG and WAG teams. The men even managed to get a team medal. But the sad thing could be the stories of the teams that did well at home US in 1984,1996 and China in 2008. After the home Olympics the performances and results declined for some time. Lets hope and I am sure based on the build up and recent results of the British gymnasts that they have not reached their best results yet but will continue with their great work they showed in the Olympic build up.