Olympic Games in Sydney -- three less than travelled to Atlanta four years ago -- could be interpreted two ways. Either standards here are falling, or elsewhere they're getting tougher.

In reality, Bermuda's relatively small squad could probably be attributed to both.

Take away the Island's success at last summer's Pan-Am Games where equestrienne MJ Tumbridge struck gold and sailors Malcolm Smith and Sara Lane Wright both won silver -- our best-ever haul at a major Games -- and it's probably fair to say that Bermuda's athletes have not enjoyed a great deal of international success since the last Olympics.

As such the team chosen for Sydney -- and chosen, it should be emphasised, on the basis of extremely tough qualifying standards -- might accurately reflect how we stand in the highly competitive field of international sport.

Sailing has always been Bermuda's strong suit and this again is demonstrated with Star class skipper Peter Bromby and crew Lee White as well as Europe dinghy sailor Wright making up half of the Sydney contingent.

But we've also excelled many times in track and field, and it's disappointing to see that triple jumper Brian Wellman, now seemingly past his peak, will be the only Bermudian to compete in the week-long athletics programme.

Sadly since Atlanta, three-time Olympic semi-finalist Troy Douglas has defected to Holland (only to see his own Sydney aspirations torpedoed by a positive drug test) while no-one has emerged from an often controversial track and field programme to fill his shoes or those of former stars such as high jumper Nicky Saunders.

Kavin Smith, while head and shoulders above the domestic road running competition, found the Olympic marathon qualifying time beyond his reach, Terrance Armstrong's once-promising middle distance career didn't blossom as he would have wanted and over the jumps and sprint events, again no-one has surfaced to rival the feats of Debbie Jones, Cal Dill, Gregory Simons, Dennis Trott, Mike Sharpe and others who excelled during the 1970s and '80s.

Sprinter Xavier James, son of Bermuda Cricket Board of Control president El James, appears the Island's brightest hope, but he too has struggled to meet the comparatively `soft' Olympic `B' qualifying standard of 10.4 in the 100 metres, and might need at least another year of serious international competition to fulfil his potential.

Certainly, he's one to watch for the future, although it's worth pointing out that anything he's achieved so far has been through his own determination and resources and with little or no help from the BTFA.

In contrast to James, swimmer Stephen Fahy will probably be looking upon Sydney as his swansong. At 22, he's already comparatively old in a sport in which teenagers tend to excel.

Bearing that in mind, the Yale student has done remarkably well just to book his ticket Down Under in a sport where the qualifying standards are tougher than most.

Realistically, Fahy's goal will be to survive his opening heats, that in itself a tall order.

As for Bermuda's sixth member, three-day eventer Tumbridge, she perhaps carries the heaviest load of expectation.

Gold in Winnipeg last August came as an enormous surprise, notsomuch because of her performances leading up to those Games but moreso because her sport is low profile, she rides mostly in Europe and was relatively unknown in her own country.

That, of course, all changed as she guided her appropriately named mare Bermuda Gold to an unprecedented triumph.

It would be asking a lot for Tumbridge to challenge a far more competitive field in Australia. But judging from some of her recent results -- she won last month's Tweseldown Horse Trials in England against a number of other Olympic hopefuls -- there is cause for optimism.

Perhaps Tumbridge's biggest disappointment in the year since winning gold has been failure to attract a single Bermuda sponsor.

As she pointed out recently, she is the reigning Pan-Am champion, she travels extensively in Europe and her sport's governing body allow sponsorship material to be prominently displayed on her clothing and horse trailer.

As shown by the size of our Olympic contingent, there aren't too many ambassadors for Bermuda sport who could offer as much, and precious few of the calibre of Tumbridge. Sponsors, one might have thought, would be queuing up.

-- ADRIAN ROBSON