ABSTRACT

Besides the direct competition between athletes, nations compete indirectly for collective national success (e.g., medal tally) at Olympic Games and other international championships. To facilitate these outcomes, national sport organisations (NSOs) around the world have established organised talent identification (TID) and talent development programmes (TDP), designed to catalyse their most promising young athletes’ performance development. Over recent decades, the respective investments in these programmes have increased substantially (e.g., De Bosscher, Bingham, Shibli, & van Bottenburg, 2008; Oakley & Green, 2001).