From Melbourne’s West to the Olympic Podium: reflections on place and performance
Photo by Barry Talley from Pexels
Yesterday marked the end of the 2024 summer Olympic season with the closing ceremony of the Paralympics. As we reflect on an eventful games, being Australia's most successful yet and perhaps most controversial in recent memory; we, your authors, are exploring some of the broader themes in the context of our own experiences.
For many athletes it was their first time in France, or potentially abroad at all. They would likely have experienced some level of culture shock; from language and fashion to escargot and politics. This left us wondering, can you experience culture shock in your own city? We grew up in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, more specifically Brimbank, even attending the same high school. Just as there is a wealth disparity between rural and metro areas; the western regions represent some of the most disadvantaged areas in Melbourne, compared to their eastern counterparts1. Lauri left the west to complete their VCE at another public school, this time in the inner eastern suburbs, whilst Margaux left later to continue her studies at a prestigious university. Years apart, both of us had a significant adjustment period that we have since reflected on. This largely involved the realisation that the area we grew up in is widely considered “disadvantaged”.
Culture shock describes the impact of moving from a familiar culture to an unfamiliar one2. As we found out, culture shock can occur from any change of environment, including leaving high school or changing job fields, not just moving to (or visiting) a different country. It happens because the language, symbols, norms, and customs that previously helped make sense of the world have entirely different meanings – or no meaning at all. We experienced this ourselves when completing our education outside of Brimbank.
When meeting new people at university, Margaux quickly realised those who came from high schools in the eastern suburbs often had opportunities and connections that were rarer for students from the west. For example, better access to excursions, facilities, and networking opportunities than our peers. Similarly, government funding for services like public transport is more common in the eastern suburbs, leading to fewer transport options and longer commutes for those living in the west. Generational wealth was also notably different during Lauri’s move. The only peers who had heard of their suburb were people whose parents had investment properties there because it was “so cheap”. A jarring thing to hear when you have watched so many families around you struggle to break into that same “cheap” housing market. Just as students from eastern suburbs often have a ‘leg up’ when entering university, athletes from high-income countries have a higher chance of winning medals in the Olympics. Opportunities such as training in world class facilities with top tier coaching are more prevalent in high-income countries, allowing for athletes to have a winning advantage3.
We realised growing up in a low socioeconomic area places automatic barriers on our futures; barriers we had no idea existed because we had no comparison point. Young people from these areas often grow up internalising limiting beliefs4 and are continuously shown what they want is unrealistic. Young people from more advantaged communities are often told they can be whatever they want when they grow up. Whilst we might be told the same, we also see those around us struggling; we recognise that necessities like the costs of living are going to hit us a lot earlier than people with familial financial support. It’s harder to be what you can’t see, so we choose pathways out of necessity and pressure rather than passion. For those of us who do push ourselves for passion, we often hold ourselves to the same standards as advantaged peers, without the same resources. In doing so, we work ourselves to a breaking point, resulting in burn out or social stressors like family disputes.
With this in mind, what does it take to be an Olympian? Is it raw talent and drive, or existing privileges? There is no doubt our athletes work incredibly hard, dedicating their lives to their sport and the pursuit of greatness. However, it takes a team to succeed. Parents with time to drive to training, cook holistic meals and cover the cost of daily living. Money for equipment, coaches, dieticians, injury management and travel to competitions. So many factors go into elite level sports that young people from lower socioeconomic areas often don’t have access to. Managing school, a casual job to contribute to the household, and training six days a week without the full-time support of a parent is near impossible. In the western suburbs specifically, getting to training has added layers of difficulty, with facilities often being far away and/or difficult to access with limited public transport. Even without these factors, these young people often would not consider a career in sports; being too much of a gamble to dedicate yourself to a passion without promise of stability. It becomes an automatic process to assume barriers and limit our own capacity, disregarding opportunities that come with risk.
The Olympics highlights an issue that is unfortunately all too relevant in wider society; success does not come down to pure skill, but rather the support and environment that fosters it. The communities we grew up in are full of young people who need these resources the most, but whose voices are left out of the conversation. Their hard work and passion deserve to be recognised with their own place on the podium. The sporting world is already making some significant changes, with the success of the Matilda's opening pathways for girls in soccer. Their programs challenge the saying “you can’t be what you can’t see” by showing young women that soccer is a space for them. Another recent change has come as this year Paralympians received the same pay as Olympians for their medal wins. These changes can largely be credited to the work done by lived experience advocates, who just needed the world to start listening. The 2032 Olympics will bring the games to Brisbane, eight years offers us a lot of time to change - if we start now.
We have included the links below to three different maps that highlight visually the disparities between the eastern and western suburbs of Melbourne. This includes Victoria's SEIFA scores, spatial wealth scores and the SNAMUTS Composite Index. We encourage you to explore these maps in your own time and notice where Brimbank and the wider west fit in comparison to their eastern equivalents.
Lauri Pavlovich, Lived Experience Researcher
Margaux Truong, Co-design Project Support
References:
1. Craig Butt, “Melbourne’s richest and poorest suburbs: how your area compares”, The Age, accessed September 9, 2024. <https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/melbourne-s-richest-and-poorest-postcodes-how-your-area-compares-20230426-p5d3cz.html>
2. “Culture Shock,” Study abroad at Rider, accessed August 23, 2024. <https://studyabroad.rider.edu/index.cfm?FuseAction=Abroad.ViewLink&Parent_ID=CA9FFBA2-26B9-564D-D652760D19521658&Link_ID=80CF11BD-26B9-564D-D6A6782EC7551E82#:~:text=Cultural%20Causes%20%26%20Symptoms%20of%20Culture%20Shock&text=The%20cultural%20elements%20that%20cause,Headaches%20or%20stomach%20aches>
3. Michael Klein, “What Determines Countries’ Olympic Success?,” Economics of Sports, accessed August 23, 2024. <https://econofact.org/what-determines-countries-olympic-success#:~:text=People's%20ability%20to%20reach%20their,in%20countries%20that%20are%20richern>
4. Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington and Jessica Rea, How poverty affects people’s decision-making processes, accessed September 4, 2024. <https://www.lse.ac.uk/business/consulting/assets/documents/how-poverty-affects-peoples-decision-making-processes.pdf>