Seeking Sustainable Success in Turkish Sports Management: Structural Analysis of Athlete Selection, Development, and Performance Systems

The aim of this study is to examine the capacity of Turkish sports administration to produce sustainable success at the Olympic level from a public policy perspective and to analyze it through its institutional structure. Based on the assumption that sports services constitute a strategic public service in terms of national identity construction, social integration, and the realization of public benefit, it is accepted that Olympic success, embodied in medals, is directly related to the state's planning capacity, institutional coordination power, and human resource management. In this study, the legislation of Athlete Training Centers (SEM) and Turkish Olympic Preparation Centers (TOHM), which hold a significant place within Turkish sports administration, is examined comparatively, and talent scouting and Olympic performance monitoring mechanisms are evaluated within the context of systemic integrity. The findings suggest that the multi-actor executive structure based on sports federations and sports clubs has structural limitations in its capacity to produce sustainable Olympic success; conversely, it is predicted that a centralized management model based on early talent identification, central planning, and merit-based human resource management will offer a more systematic foundation for athlete development. In conclusion, sustainable Olympic success; This is a sensitive and national issue that is too strategic to be reduced to individual initiatives, too long-term to be left to temporary preferences, and must be addressed beyond electoral concerns. In this context, it seems possible to make the Olympic athlete training system more predictable, accountable, and sustainable if the ongoing transformation process in sports management in Turkey is supported by a strong managerial framework based on the proposed Turkish Sports Model. Accordingly, this study goes beyond a detailed legislative analysis and offers a conceptual contribution to the reassessment of the institutional transformation of Olympic athlete training policies in Turkey within the context of public sports management literature, and provides a perspective on future policy designs based on Strategic Focus.