Competitive advantage of National Olympic Committees in a sport: from periphery to Olympic silver and bronze medal successes

This article examines a National Olympic Committee’s (NOC’s) ascent from a consistent underperformer to a contender for Olympic silver and bronze medals through a case study of artistic gymnastics in Taiwan. Porter’s national diamond model served as the theoretical framework. Qualitative data were collected from twelve senior interviewees.Taiwan’s significant progress in artistic gymnastics has been driven by the emergence of specific gymnasts, the improved coaching skills of particular male coaches, increased government financial support, and favourable rule changes introduced by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). However, Taiwan has been unable to win an Olympic gold medal in artistic gymnastics, constrained by limited knowledge resources and competitiveness, particularly among female gymnasts; poor gymnastics facilities; and strategic and structural issues. This article further advances four sport-specific propositions: partial diamonds can produce narrow medal advantage; chance events do not operate through external shocks alone; demand conditions require sport-specific sophistication; and NOC-level governance functions as an amplifier rather than an automatic generator of competitive advantage.