Perth's sunny weather, sporty lifestyle and big backyards have proven golden assets for Perth's Olympic athletes.The western suburbs of Cambridge, Claremont and Nedlands have been identified as Australia's hot spot for producing successful Olympians athletes, new University of Sydney research shows.Olympic researcher Kristy O'Neill examined the profiles of 2160 Australian athletes who had competed in the Olympic Games between 1984 - the first Olympics after the Australian Institute of Sport was established - and 2012, the most recent event in London.The PhD student traced where each athlete was raised, with the three Perth suburbs emerging as a "hot spot" for nurturing the highest number of Olympians relative to population.Cambridge, Claremont and Nedlands produced 34 Olympians in eight different disciplines, including Ric Charlesworth, Eamon Sullivan, Sally Carbon and Elise Rechichi, and house some of WA's best sporting facilities.There will be 37 West Australians competing for Australia at the Rio Olympics from   August 5 to 21. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, WA athletes won close to 24 per cent of Australia's medal tally, while the figure was 23 per cent in Seoul in 1988. In London in 2012 it dropped to 11.4 per cent.Ms O'Neill originally wanted to find the top three hot spots in Australia but discovered Claremont (3rd), Nedlands (4th) and Cambridge (7th) were bordering and many athletes from these suburbs traversed between the three for home, schooling and sport."The area collectively stood out in my top 20 list and was chosen as the 'hot spot' for this reason," she said."There were multiple athletes and representations, with most from the area going more than once to a Games, so they were very consistent also."  
 Ms O'Neill visited Perth twice over 18 months to interview 11 WA Olympians and 31 relevant community members like coaches, managers and sporting clubs who helped her ascertain what made Perth a strong sporting environment.Rather than solely possessing elite talent, it was access to better competition, outdoor facilities, favourable weather and bigger backyards that helped propel WA athletes to Olympic level."The geographic location in Perth is ideal for encouraging a sporting culture," Ms O'Neill said. "The climate is more Mediterranean, the community has access to lots of built and natural facilities - beaches, parks and open spaces - as well as access to larger backyards. "All of this encourages people to engage with sports from an early age and fosters a physically active population."Ms O'Neill said Perth's sporting lifestyle often struck a chord with potential athletes growing up with big backyards but this could change as local planning authorities pushed for higher-density housing."There's lots of houses now in Perth with no backyard, or apartments popping up all over the area," she said.Previous research into "the birthplace effect" on elite athletes in Canada and the United States showed regional areas were more likely to produce Olympians but Ms O'Neill's data from athletes in Cambridge, Claremont and Nedlands bucked that trend."Here people were able to try out lots of different sports from a young age, usually at their primary school or community sporting club, and then find one sport they are really good at," she said."The passion for that sport is instilled from a very young age in those three suburbs."Other factors like the close proximity of sporting facilities and little traffic congestion in the western suburbs cluster were as beneficial to aspiring athletes as a good coach or competitive training squad.Ms O'Neill's findings piqued the interest of the International Olympic Committee, which provided her with a research grant and published the results of her study - 'The influence of early developmental environment on Olympic success: a multiple case study analysis of Australia's top sporting communities' - on the IOC Olympic Studies Centre website.Once she completes her PhD, Ms O'Neill wants to continue researching Olympic and athlete development and hopes to predict future hot spots like those identified in the west between 1984 and 2012.Other factors that made Perth gold:
 - smaller population allowed younger athletes to compete and learn from older athletes
 - great facilities and a smaller population where promising athletes were noticed earlier
 - easy commutes to sports facilities allowing for better training and recovery