- 25 Aug 08, 09:05 AM
Media Village, Beijing
From the moment Nicole Cooke surged past four rivals on an uphill sprint to win Great Britain's first gold of the 2008 Games in the women's road race, I thought we could be on to something. Not "our best Games for 100 years" something, but certainly a fortnight to be pleased with.
Those thoughts were back two days later when Rebecca Adlington pipped American favourite Katie Hoff in the women's 400m freestyle to earn our first gold medal in the pool since 1988. British team-mate Joanne Jackson came home third in the same race and suddenly our often-maligned swimming squad was on the board.
And so it continued. We never had to wait too long for a success of some sort in that first week and our wildest dreams were delivered in spades over the middle weekend, when we leapt up the medal table to heights we haven't seen since the Liberal Party were in power.
So what next? Having arrived at our 2012 target of fourth in the medal table four years early, do we dig in or take the next ridge?
But before we leap ahead, let's reflect a little longer on just how great Britain has been in Beijing.
When UK Sport, the agency that dishes out money to the national governing bodies, announced its targets for 2008 they appeared about right - 35 to 41 medals in total, with 10 to 12 of those gold. These seemed reasonable increases on what we had done in Athens and Sydney, and a huge advance on what we had achieved (or failed to achieve) in Atlanta.
I thought they adequately reflected the improved performances many of our Olympic sports had posted in their own events since 2004, without unnecessarily creating a rod for our own backs. It also set these Games up nicely to be a "staging post" on the road to our "stretch target" of fourth in London. Having come 10th in the table in 2000 and 2004, I was looking for progress up the ladder - eighth sounded reasonable.
So when we sailed past the top end of that gold medal target on Tuesday, with five days of competition still to come, I couldn't help wondering if UKS had pulled off one of the cleverest cases of managing expectations in British sporting history. If it had, it will have a job to do so again in four years' time.
The Beijing total of 19 golds, 13 silver and 15 bronzes (47 medals in all) is by some margin our best tally ever apart from 1908, which if it were a country on a medal table would be a rogue state.
We finished third on the medal table in 1920 and fourth in 1924, but from there it went downhill. We were 11th in 1928 and have more or less remained there for 80 years. During this period of mediocrity, we would win on average 4.5 gold medals an Olympics - less than a quarter of the number we have earned in the last fortnight.
Compare our Great Haul of China to the gold medals we won in four Games from 1980 to 1992. We claimed 20 golds during that time, just one more than we've managed in the last 17 days, despite two of those Games being weakened by boycotts.
So how have we done this? Well, it's simple really - money goes a long way to deciding success in Olympic sport and our boys and girls didn't have much of either before 1996.
Our Atlanta horror show, which saw us win one gold and come 36th in the table, brought a resolve to never stoop that low again. It was clear we needed to spend more on sport and the advent of the National Lottery seemed to provide the answer. The government agreed and lotto lolly was diverted in sport's direction.
Our Olympians have been reaping the benefit ever since - £265m was spent on Team GB over the last Olympic cycle - and increased funding has already been agreed in the run-up to London.
But is money alone enough? Will having £600m to spend over five years in this cycle enable us to find an extra Adlington or a Chris Hoy clone?
No, you need good people and a clear mission too. And even then it's a challenge but I'm delighted to see how far we have come already. Adlington would later add to her 400m gold with an emphatic victory in her strongest event, the 800m. She is only 19.
And it wasn't just in the Water Cube where evidence of something building towards London and beyond could be detected. Hoy's heroics - the Scottish cyclist was the first Brit to win three gold medals at a Games since swimmer Henry Taylor managed it in (yes, you guessed it) 1908 - stole the headlines but it was the youth elsewhere in the team that impressed most.
British cycling's domination at the velodrome was breathtaking at times - we were that far in front.
Our rowers and sailors also won their regattas - the first time ever for British rowing at an Olympics and third straight for sailing. And the good news was that both teams think they've got room to improve.
To be honest, we've won so many medals, it would be pointless for me to list them all. You can find them elsewhere. But I should perhaps flag up our first gymnastics medal for 80 years (won by 19-year-old Louis Smith), our first taekwondo medal (Sarah Stevenson), our first women's windsurfing medal (Byrony Shaw) and our first women's 400m gold (Christine Ohuruogu).
Inevitably, there were some sports that failed to deliver. In fact, six of the 17 sports predicted to win at least one medal failed to do so, and two more, including high-profile athletics, did not reach their targets.
For some (badminton and diving), the target was a reach; for others, Beijing must go down as a missed opportunity. Sports like archery and judo will have much to discuss when they return. As will boxing but for entirely different reasons - the sport surpassed its target but appears to be split into factions.
I would also like to see a far greater focus on the team sports: we really didn't make any kind of a mark in these events at all, although hockey is heading in the right direction.
Athletics could also use a period of reflection. It missed its target but can point to a number of near misses as evidence it is going in the right direction. This is true but the British public will expect much more from the Olympics' main event in 2012.
So it's been a great Olympics for Britain - best of the rest, top EU nation and ahead of Australia - but there is room still for improvement. We've left a few shots out there.
The task now will be to instil the virtues of our most successful sports across the spectrum. We must also, as host nation, attempt to take our place in every possible event. To squander this opportunity would be a crushing failure and a denial of our legacy goals for increased participation in sport.
Roll on London.
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Comments
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I would struggle to argue that athletics is going in the right direction... Considering the brunt of the funding has been devoted to track and field over the last decade, we're barely managing to scrape into finals, the relays are a shambles, and the athletes are all too happy to say 'they did their best, but they just weren't good enough'. If you took that mindset into the velodrome or onto the rowing lake, I can guarantee you wouldn't make it to the Olympics. They only want winners, and rightly so. Its the same policy China has used to be so successful this time. Cut the funding to Athletics, and give it to the sports that can really make use of it. At the moment, its simply a waste of cash... Oh, but don't give it to judo either.
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Please dont let Adrian Chiles cover the London Olympics. He was cringeworthy. He behaved like a silly wee boy. Poor Hazel she did really well putting up with his teenage antics. He appears to know nothing about sport and asked some of the athletes the most stupid and annoying questions. Get him off!
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I think that we need to look at what was successful and replicate it:
The Cyclists and Rowers all train together in Elite set ups and that has proven extremely successful (in the same way that Success breeds success at Man Utd)
As a first move I would like to see this system taken into Athletics (Sheffield perhaps)
Secondly I would like to see the forming of a competitive Collegiate system similar to that run by the US, this has proven to be the bedrock of their success and I am sure that if Universities are incentivised enough that this could happen.
Thirdly, I would like to see the Olympic site in Stratford become the QE2 National University of Sport, surely the best Olympic legacy that we can leave is to give the country an Olympic high every four years.
We will be letting our children and sports people down if we do not do this.
For too long we have had the talent, please, please, please lets give these world beaters the sporting infrastructure they need to keep on performing for our country.
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In support of Comment 1
Spain spent a considerable amount of money for Barcelona and also run the same system as China and our rowers and cyclists.
Its interesting that the rowers started all this years ago and the coach is not British and extremely ruthless in his decision making. Seems to have worked.
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I read yesterday that Dave Brailsford (cycling) is unhappy with the amount he is being paid, saying he isn't a charity and he has to put food on the table. We cannot let this chap be poached by another country - the Australians would be in there like a shot - for goodness sake lets pay him what he is worth.
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talking about 'Great Hauls from China',
Has anyone read the 'Australian' online this morning?
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is claiming that Australia actually finished above Britain and third in the medal table on the basis of 'individual medals'
Does anybody know what he's talking about?
I assume that he is counting up medals earned by individual members of teams such as the basketball squads,etc.
Isn't it wonderful to see the Aussies grasping at straws to explain thei eclipse by Britain on the medals table!
Another rather bleating article asserts that 'England won the Ashes by cheating'
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If we simply want more medals then we can target the 'elitist' sports that have few competing nations. That should bring a good medal haul. That's kinda what happened this time around when most of our medals came in sailing, rowing, cycling etc.
But if we really want to make sports more accessible to young people. Then we're going to have to continue funding athletics, boxing and team sports.
Team sports won't bring many medals though.
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It isn't just about the elite, it is a system that stretches over ten years to identify those with potential, and as a by product gives many kids the opportunity to find an enjoyable sport that keeps them fit and healthy.
How does cyclign do it? It establishes a series of youth oriented clubs (Go-Ride), pours money into them to provide bikes, coach training, and events. Open to all, just turn up, pay a nominal fee (less than the cost of going to the swimming pool) and ride.
Kids with potential are encouraged - those who just do it for fun but aren't medal prospects are encouraged too (though the funding and support isn't there to develop them - these people are needed to provide a critical mass)
Young teens (12-15) are given the opportunity for advanced training alongside people like Chris Hoy and Jamie Staff. A talent team of those with potential (e.g. getting onto the Scottish Talent team as a 15 yo requires the ability to do a flying 200 in under 11.2 secs) and desire is given structured coaching and training - mess up and you are off the program and have to prove you are worthy of it all over again.
Then there is the Olympic Podium Programme. Take the very best, with potential and bring them to Manchester (or the base in Italy) where they get the best of training, coaching and racing. Again, keep the standard up, show you have potential or you are out.
The support is there but it still requires talent, potential and dedication. It is something that many sports could learn from. Those who don't make the grade for elite coaching/training are by no means failures - many go on to enjoy the sport and are vital to it's health at the grass roots level. But they wouldn't have got there without the initial opportunities.
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Give the powers that be more money. Be ruthless with funding. Can the ludicrous PC attitude to competitive sport in schools. Stop letting schools sell of playing fields. Stop being the plucky losers or arkward winners.
BBC - don't let us forget about these sports for another 4 years. Show us the regattas, swim meets, athletics etc.
Please lose Gabby Logan. Watching her ask Tom Daley, Chis Hoy and James DeGale to canvas for votes for the pathetic sports personality of the year was the most cringe-worthy point of the last 3 weeks.
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I find it interesting some of the contributors appear to have missed the point; we have been employing some of the best coaches in the world to produce our elite athletes.
The games are over and in the next few weeks some of these coaches are to be approached by other countries and let’s be honest bought to shift to them.
In the GB we have not been very good at training coaches, we keep shifting the goal posts as to standards, and generally pussy footing around.
We now have the opportunity to get our act together in the next 6 months, yes that’s the timescale. Not as is being looked at by the blazer-arty who want to re-assess every 12 months leading up to 2012.
To bring on the elite athletes in this country we require stability within the lead coaches, we require coaches at club level, at county and regional levels to find the potential at grass roots that’s where it has to start.
In order to employ these coaches effectively we require facilities and we require them now, the amount of medals won at these Olympic Games is strictly related to the facilities legacy from the Manchester Commonwealth Games and the World Student Games held in Sheffield.
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It snot all about winning medals for crying out loud! Its about competing in the right spirit.
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Agree with Rentino
There are other sports for the media to cover apart from football. Let's have less of the overpaid Premiership prima donnas on our screens and more of the Olympic sports, so we can watch them develop towards 2012, so when the London games happen, it won't be the only time we've watched rowing/swimming/taekwondo etc in 4 years.
Instead we will all have some insight into the sport, and know the sportsmen and women who will be going for gold.
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At 11:06am on 25 Aug 2008, J?rgen Hingsen wrote:
It snot all about winning medals for crying out loud! Its about competing in the right spirit.
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Sorry, I think you'll find it is all about winning medals.. try telling those who came fourth, or who got a silver instead of a gold that 'its the taking part that counts' and 'its all about the spirit of the games'.. If its not about medals, then why have we been constantly lauding our achievements rather than simply commenting on the spirit of the games. Obviously with the Olympics there is the tradition and sportsmanship, but its a competetive event, and we shouldn't be fostering the attitude that coming second doesn't matter that much.
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People don't seem to get that you can't just apply what we've been doing in cycling to athletics. China put far more funding into athletics than any other sport, and presumably also applied the techniques that worked so well for them in other areas. However, China still suck at athletics. Can you guess why that is?
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"It's not all about winning medals for crying out loud! It's about competing in the right spirit"
How about, for the sheer novelty value, we compete for once as if it were. There is no shortage of mediocrity should we decide that that is what we want to revert to. It certainly is cheaper.
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Previous posters have alluded to this issue, but I feel that UK Sport needs to look very carefully at how to harness the inevitable blip of sporting keeness that occurs post-Olympics. Harness it, sustain it and convert it into members of the sporting pyramid in all sports. It seems SportUK managed something similar since 2004, but this time it needs to be embedded into the public consciousness throuigh the media, schools and events. SportUK only has the autumn term to do this, otherwise the potential energy is lost.
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Matt Slater is right to call for better achievements in the team sports, but where are school sports centres (volleyball, basketball and handball) and sports pitches (hockey, baseball/softball? Oh yes, as Mr Brown has said - the loony left got rid of competitive sports in the 70s and 80s, and schools sold their land to make some short-term cash. He now says it's time to put more effort into schools' sport - so is he going to buy back some land? Don't think so, keep dreaming. Unless someone conjures up facilities we'll only see a repeat of these niche sports in 2012: cycling, rowing and sailing. At least we're getting more swimming pools now, and those non-competitive kidney-shaped leisure pools of the 70s and 80s are becoming less favoured.
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There were news that because of limits in funding some coaches in cycling, sailing and sailing in the GB team who won golds are tempted to leave to join other countries with mega cash offer.
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To win more golds in athletic, swimming, gymnastics, judo etc is going take more than just throwing money at them. A change in priority and choice is required in our schools and the facilities to support them.
Were I live to get my children on a swimming course I have to join a queue to get on the queue. Our local secondary school (who specialise in sport) do have their own swimming pool. But do they have a swimming team? NO, but they do offer trampolining!!
Compared to America, Australia, Russia etc, what we teach and how we teach sport in our schools is poor at best.
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Thanks Matt, appreciated your analysis of Team GB's Olympic performance.
Must add my respect for the quality and dedication of the performance directors in GB's cycling team - surely Dave Brailsford is just the latest leader of the most professional management team in world sport? Agree with you lottery funding CAN bring success, but only if/when you also select the most professional coaches and performance directors eg Grobler in GB Rowing and Terry Edwards in boxing, and avoid wasting money on personalities or functions which fail to prove their worth in top-flight competition (eg Clive Woodward's current role) ie the Blazer Brigade.
Also thought you were kind to GB Athletics - surely it could be argued that they lost our hard-won 3rd place in the medal table, winning only 1 track and field gold to Russia's 7. Steve Cram said UK Athletics failed to get ANY men in the top 8 of all events 800m and over for the 1st time since 1896.
Why not send ALL GB Olympic teams to the Manchester velodrome, so that GB Cycling can teach them all how to succeed in elite sport?
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I would be conservative in our 2012 targets.
I would wish GB to consolidate 4th and target a threshold 20 golds and 50 medals.
What is for sure China, Australia, US and Russia will be targeting our quick win area such as cycling, rowing, sailing, boxing. Countries will come back hard at the UK in these areas. UK needs to keep the standards in these core areas and move into areas the big 3 get medals in such as Judo, Shooting, Racket Sports, Fencing, Field Athletics, Gymnastics.
Athletics will have to take its chances. The management needs a shakedown and took at how it can pick up at least 10 medals in 2012. Swimming the same.
US scores highly for medals in the pool and sprints, shooting
Russia in the technical sports such as field athletics, wrestling, weighlifting
China has increased its medals across the board but especially shooting, martial arts, gynnastics, weighlifting.
These are events GB needs to target more as the top 3 have a free run on mass medal events currently.
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Congrats to Team "G"B for finishing distant fourth.
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erm. what a lot of rubbish! the medals tally, in the real events we basicly came no where again! all the lottery money spent on sailors? and track cyclists hmm wow im over the moon!
putting the whole thing into its rightfull perspective erm **** !
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"The task now will be to instil the virtues of our most successful sports across the spectrum. "
So, those virtues are, I assume, find the best competitor and dump the rest, get huge amounts of sponsorship, and keep it posh.
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"Why not send ALL GB Olympic teams to the Manchester velodrome, so that GB Cycling can teach them all how to succeed in elite sport?"
Yes, and give the same amount of sponsorship that the cyclists get.
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'Team GB' were great overall, but referring to them as 'heroes' is a trifle strong. It's like people labelling those who have illnesses or disabilities as 'heroes' when they're clearly not in any way (and, for the most part, they themselves completely oppose the label) - only it's even worse here, because the athletes have done this for their own personal wealth and fortune. There's nothing courageous about that.
Credit them with being fantastic athletes and giving it their best, but don't dilute the effectiveness of what should be the ultimate nobility.
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levdavidovich "25" unbeatablePinkFloyd "23"
You seem to be oblivious to the true facts as far as lottery grants are concerned. Cycling has NOT received the biggest lottery grant, Athlerics have.
To show how successfull the main groups have been please look at the figures below.
Cycling 1medal for every £1.48M grant
Sailing 1medal for every £3.25M grant
Rowing 1medal for every £3.85m grant
Athletics 1medal for every £6.62m grant
That kind of puts it into perspective and shows exactly how underachieving our athletes have been. Throwing more money at them is not the answer, we need drastic changes or nothing will improve for 2012.
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Hi,
Agree with most of what has been said especially about athletics - they strut and say 'I'm gutted' - but don't really produce.
It is not only about money - it needs coaches and above all a good system to succeed.
Clive Woodward did that for England at the Rugby World Cup in 2003 and cycling, sailing and rowing are matching that - the rest still still have a lot more to improve - even boxing which did well.
Does anyone know how many medals were won by each country: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?
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Totally agree about the heroes comment above.. They are not heroes, and should not be branded as such. They've done well, but this is ridiculous. They are sportsmen and women merely doing their job.. We can be proud of them for representing their country so well, but they're hardly saving the world in doing so..
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Phelps did great to get 8 gold medals and hopefully in 2012, team GB shall hopefully be challenging for the top spot like USA amd China.
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In response to comment 1, China did well because the judged events were fixed for them as demonstrated in the Tae Kwon Do, Gymanastics, etc etc...
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Comment #30
i think thats a bit too much to expect of 2012, given the size of the USA and China and thier populations compared to ours, challenging for #1 or #2 in the medal table is a long shot at best. Russia are not that far ahead and only took 3rd place in the last few days of the olympics, id be delighted if GB were 3rd in 2012, with a minimum (not going to say exact) of 20 golds, and 50 medals.
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At 5:29pm on 25 Aug 2008, frostyisagashead wrote:
In response to comment 1, China did well because the judged events were fixed for them as demonstrated in the Tae Kwon Do, Gymanastics, etc etc...
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You cannot be serious.. you honestly believe that in the Olympics, the most prestigious sporting event in the world, China managed to fix it? Do you think that as they're hosting the games, they provide the judges? Or that had it been fixed, not one of the enormous number of judges involved would have let it slip to the press? Fair enough, there were some judging slip ups such as that in the Tae Kwon Do, but anyone who watched the gymnastics and the diving could see that the Chinese were far and away superior to the rest of the field. Give them the credit they deserve. Just because we can't compete across the board, doesn't mean that China, a country with over 1.3 billion people and almost unlimited resources available to them couldn't produce successful athletes.
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#1, #33
I don't think it likely that the judges in sports where subjective decisions are required were "fixed".
However, it's a well know phenomenon in all sports that judges are swayed to unconsciously favour the home team and affected by crowd sentiment - ask any "away" footballer who's played at Anfield or Old Trafford.
So yes, while the Chinese competitors performed fantastically, they did at the margins get some favourable judging, especially in the diving - where ironically they probably didn't need it as they won most of the golds by significant margins.
I see no reason not to expect UK competitors to be similarly give the benefit of the doubt in 2012.
It's human nature. A relevant aphorism from another field: "The hardest thing on earth it is, to bribe a British journalist...but seeing what, unbribed, he'lll do, there's really no occasion to."
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I noticed that a freeloading royal and Lordy Coe managed to barge to the front of the queue to get off the plane.
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Agree with various comments that less football should be shown and more of the sports that made Team GB so successful, plus others. Team GB show us all what sport is about, even if they are individual sports, they were all one team. The BBC should take a lead here and start right now in doing this to further encourage our country to rise to the occaision and make 2012 one of remember.
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Ultimately there are a number of factors that will lead to a nation's Olympic medal success. Obviously a targeted funding and selection process will bring forward 'the best'.
'Peak performance' both physical and mental should be the theme for 2012. As the UK won't be trying to match the 'super powers', we should be concentrating on lifting the general level of sport participation across the nation through better access to facilities and a variety of sports for all. I'm not convinced yet that the UK has a broad and deep enough reach to truly field a comprehensive team for 2012.
Hopefully all the construction work being done in the east end of London will be completing at the same time as we emerge from the economic downturn we're in right now - and a successful games for 2012 will be 'the signature event' for the nation as a whole. Anything less should not be countenanced!
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Would the media types and others STOP calling the Athletes Hero's. The may now be celebrity (whatevber that is) but Hero's they are not. They have not saved life, been shot at by the Taliban; had their legs blown off etc., Please get real and whilst I am blogging... Scotland does not want a UK Football team drop the subject now as it's becoming boring.
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#11 J?rgen Hingsen: "It's not all about winning medals for crying out loud! It's about competing in the right spirit"
Completely disagree with you. It is absolutely about winning. It is only about winning.
Save your "didn't he do well" attitude for the village fete. This is elite, world-class sport, funded by hundreds of millions of pounds of tax payers money.
Sporting success doesn't just produce a feel-good factor. It boosts the economy, it generates billions of pounds of extra revenue, and it attracts investment, not just in sport, but in industry and commerce.
If GB athletes do not intend to win, they won't. And if they won't win, they shouldn't receive public funding.
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Can any of us fail to be moved and impressed by what we have witnessed in Beijing.
Our team has done us proud.
Yes, the powers that be should look at the sports who have failed to deliver. More than this they must link those who have succeeded with similar sports that have not in order to pass on the blueprints.
The Old East German guy in charge of rowing is fantastic - he has created a system that just rolls on and his knowledge and experience MUST be shared with all other sports.
As for athletics I despair, having attended a presentation some 15 years ago when the guy who put the basis of divings ability to compete at the highest level spoke about talent ID and development only to be talked down to by Brendan Foster saying that world class runners likie Cram would never have made the grade if they had been picked up early.
This is the kind of blinkered thinking that ties the hands of athletics and a good few others.
It's about time that Elite sport is taken out of the hands of the National Governing Bodies and entrusted to the BOA and UK Sport. Leave the NGB's to deal with developing the grass roots, it may serve to break up some of the old boys networks too.
Lastly we must look at our facilities across the UK, we are losing many of them faster than they are replaced and even the legacy of a few specialists super facilities will not replace them and thus the next generation stimulated by London will NOT be able to avail themselves of the opportunity to try their hand.
See the GBDF website to read about the plight of aquatics facilities in the UK it's frightening. If Tom Daley had been born in the midlands he wouldn't have taken up diving - there's no where to do it. How many others like him are out there in all sports.
Yes bring in a university level of competition but why not a high school level too - across ALL Olympic disciplines and give those kids with the sporting talent the same kudos given to those who succeed academically.
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There should be no state funding. These are "Games" not real life. It is not right to spend money just to win medals. If people don't want to run or swim as a hobby, then don't !!
Don't pretent you are winning in my name just to get your greasy hands on my cash. This whole sham beggars belief - everyone is starry eyed and swooning at the riches they can make. Snap out of it and do something constructive for once.
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We are looking at two different thing here. We did very well in some sports and not so well in others. But what sort of legacy do we actually want for 'sport' from 2012?
In the current direction we are going to get a few very high level facilities, especially in my sport, Diving, with almost nothing for the ret of the country to use.
One problem we have is that we now have so few facilities, that we simply can't deal with the people who have been enthused to do sport! Some parts of the country have no facility at all, others have a great facility, but use is restricted to the lucky few who are members of clubs.
The legacy for 2012 could well be making an enjoyable, fun sporting activity for the many, simply available to the elite few. It may get us medals but will do nothing for the thousands who would love tha chance to just 'have a go' or to do it for fun and exercise.
Whatever happened to 'Sport for All' ??
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A large percentage of our pre games medal chances became a reality.By 2012 it is probable that other countries will have closed the gap on us in cycling and therefore we cannot expect so many gold medals in this event.If therefore we are to achieve a fouth place in the medal table again , in addition to our premier sports , we will need to target those events which have fewer nations with high class competitors but provide a greater quantity of medals i.e.swimming,gymnastics,judo.
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In response to comments 3 - Great ides about the QE2 venue for a national games for schools every year, fantastic and not just at uni level why not high school too. If Jamaica can do it why can't we.
In response to comment 9 - We have got to get grass roots sport back in to Schools We have got to help the next generation learn how to be competitive and be winners and at the same time learn defeat and humility and that anything can be achieved with hard work. These are all great life lessons that should be taught from an early age. This nanny non competitive nature drives me mad...
We must use the cycling and rowing methods and infrastructure and apply them to our other sports. If it's worked for them it must work for the rest with the right people in place.
Well done Team GB have watched every day of this Beijing and loved it.
Comment 40 - I agree totally regarding the facilities available or rather lack of them available throughout the country more money needs to be ploughed in to this area for sure
Lets hope one of the big bosses at uk Sport reads these and takes note.
Well put comment 37 - 2012 has got to reach the whole nation. Your location in a county determins what facilities are available to you and I think that has to change so talent is not missed or overlooked.
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Congratulations to the BBC for showing the wrong map throughout the entire Olympics:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/olympics_map/default.stm
I thought they had taken place in Beijing not the USA.
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The Beijing Olympics have been tremendous both in terms of entertainment and in terms of our athlete’s achievements.
As a Scot I can't help but be in awe of Chris Hoy and guys like Ross Edgar and Kathy Grainger but this is the great thing about the Olympics - looking at what Ben Ainsle and Rebecca Adlington, amongst many others, have achieved also makes me incredibly proud of them and what they have achieved. The Olympics stands today as an event that we can all stand together as one nation and be proud to call ourselves British!
I think what these games deliver more than anything for the British audience is that the so called smaller sports can be a source of great interest and excitement. Perhaps the BBC should begin to look at covering these sports more often, with ground work being put in place to encourage kids to take part in rowing, cycling, sailing and other sports from a young age so that if and when they fail to progress in larger sports like football, they know that they have other options. The main aim being that every child can cite a sport which they are passionate about and play.
We need to grasp this opportunity and London 2012 will definitely help.
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All these people complaining about the term 'heroes' being used to describe our fantastic athletes - are you seriously unable to differentiate between the use of the word in a sporting context and the use of it in other ways?
The likes of Rebecca Adlington and Chris Hoy ARE heroes, whether you like it or not. Hopefully the children of this country will consider them and their fellow medallists heroes in the same sense they consider the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney in football, as it can only inspire these children.
Regarding how Team GB can build on the fantastic achievements of the past fortnight - we will do very well to match the hauls from the velodrome, from Qingdao and from Shunyi rowing lake in four years time. Other countries will see the large number of medals available and how Team GB have gone about dominating in those sports and they will come back strongly in London.
Consolidation would be the word I'd use. A similar medal haul and serious progress in some of the sports we've struggled in this time round would be a great achievement for me - home advantage can maybe push us on further. I just hope people don't get too carried away and develop unrealistic expectations on the back of what's happened in Beijing, as for a country of our size there is always going to be a limit to what we can achieve in comparison to the superpowers above us in the medal table.
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I would also firmly agree with the hopes and requests that the BBC devote more airtime to the Olympic sports over the next four years. With the interactive services now available (which were fantastic during the Olympics I have to say) and the Beeb lacking rights to live events in the most popular sports in this country (football, cricket etc), I for one would love to see money invested in acquiring the rights for live coverage of various Olympic sports, and more time devoted to those already in the BBC's portfolio.
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Let's get this straight.
Cycling is NOT a niche sport. Cycling is, by participation levels, the second most popular activity in the world. Go outside the UK and you will find that in terms of interest and audience, cycling is in the top 3 in practically every West European country.
It's huge in Asia, its huge in South America and its a massively competetive sport.
More people watch the Tour de France *every* *single* *year* than watch the Rugby World Cup once every four years.
Britain isn't dominating a niche or elitist sport. They are dominating one of the most popular and competitive sports on the planet.
Regards,
Eduin
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There will be some who will say money spent on sport could be better used for hospitals, old people, education etc. But taking the Olympics out of the equation, the benefit of sports funding is pivotal in the devlopment of an healthy nation.
Inspiring people to exercise and play sports, regardless of whether they ever make the Olympics or not, is a benefit we cannot under estimate. A healthier population that exercises and eats well cannot be measured in fiscal costs. It is good for society!
Most of the poor sports funding in the 1980's ie. the sell off of sports fields, closure of pools, has been a casual factor in the rise of obesity in the UK. I also think these short-term policies are to blame for urban decline, youth crime and anti-social behaviour. Sport, gets people motivated and playing sports with other people. It creates bridges across society. Whether sports win more or less medals, the benefits are in my opinion worthy of the cost.
I would like to see more athletics spending, it is still hard for kids to find a club to train with. I still do not think we get enough women in UK athletics, especially the field events-which we seem to totally neglect.. I think that is something that needs looking at.
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I have read all the above comments and as a Brit living in the USA I can only say that I was so proud of all the athletes, sailors, boxers and all those who represented the United Kingdom. I am 'getting on in years' but have always felt that it is the taking part and the honour of representing your country that is important. All the criticism is, in my opinion, a bit of a kick in the teeth for all those wonderful young people who gave their best efforts in their chosen sport.
If we become like the Americans it would be the worse thing for our great little country. There is nothing wrong with being competitive but America and some other countries take it to a ridiculous level. Their children are taught at a very young age that you have to win or you are a failure.
We could plow millions of pounds into building super pools or stadiums just so we could have a better chance of winning but we would lose something if we did.
Just remember all those who criticise, Britain is so small and has far fewer people living here than China, USA and Australia so to come 4th on the Medal Table is a great achievement.
Well done all of the partiticipants and thank you BBC Sport for the unbiased reporting of the Olympics. If it wasn't for you I would have thought that the USA were the only country competing.
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i would firstly like to congratulate all of the athletes who participated in the olympics,however i am very concerned by the way lord coe is dealing with the cycling team for our olympics in 4 years time.lord coe wants a velodrome built in london for 2012 but the velodrome that is in manchester is perfect for the games and is already proven successful,why then spend approx 24m pound on this new building when the money could be spent wisely elsewhere.all of the cycling team would have to uproot aswell which cannot be good for any team spirit.
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The anti-Scots brigade are at it again! Did anyone see the dispicable face of Myra Hindly on the official London 2012 Olympic presentation. Ian Brady would've been included too, but the organisers found out he was Scottish!
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Put it this way, The Commonwealth, headed under Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth has done exceedingly well!
Through this process we claim Usain Bolt! Woo! We rule!
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Re.: Kevin Rudd's distortion of the statistics - what do you expect? He's a politician and an Aussie!
The Aussies are also trying to make out that we can only win at sports where we are sitting down - cycling, rowing, sailing. Not very fair to Ms Addlington etc.
Anyway I reckon by 2012 we'll be able to beat them at the standing up sports while still sitting down!
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Re.: miraculousbaileys comment:
I agree that all sports are under-funded but he must bear in mind that the success of the cycling team happened in spite of lack of facilities, not because of it.
The concentration of the squad at Manchester came about through necessity and because British Cycling moved its offices there to consolidate and save money.
There is only ONE indoor velodrome in England and one in Wales. None at all yet in Scotland - Glasgow is due for the Commonwealth Games.
How would swimming or athletics have faired with only two pools or two tracks in the whole of Britain?
Cycling needs far more facilities, to catch up with swimming and athletics and to be able to bring the next generation of medal winners through. In the East and South of UK these are sadly lacking.
If money is to be taken from anywhere it should be from the over-paid, under-performing 'elite' footballers who cant be bothered to represent their country (GB).
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Hello all, thanks for your comments. I'm back in Blighty now and have some long-delayed DIY to do so I'll be brief and apologies for not directing my replies to each of you in person as I've just spent 15 mins doing just that only for my post to disappear.....it happens to us too!
Nope, I didn't see The Australian. So they had Great Haul too did they? I can't believe we're the only ones.
Is it all about winning? At this level it is. Elite sport (Olympics) is not for everybody, that's the point, it's for winners. Grass-roots/amateur/mass participation/whatever you want to call it sport is, however, all about the taking part. I'm for both!!! One shouldn't exist without the other and they work in unison.
How and where our athletes train? Different things work for different sports/athletes. The key thing is that they're all working to the same general plan and have all the support they need. Trust me, we've come leaps and bounds on this, so well done UK Sport, Camelot, the Gov, English Institute of Sport (and Scottish, Welsh, N Irish equivalents). That said, the vast majority of athletes train better with others and alone....I think centres of excellence are the key as opposed to just one place. Swimming is going down this path and cycling is already working out of Manchester and Newport.
University involvement? Yes, all for that, and it's happening more and more. We all know about Loughborough but Bath, Sheffield, Leeds Met, Durham and, in certain sports, Oxbridge, are getting there too. There's a great new scheme called TASS (talented athlete scholarship scheme) that is helping all of this.
Are we close to replicating the US college model? Not really, but that took a while to build up and is funded by the profits they make from their American football and basketball TV deals. We're never going to be able to do exactly what they do because our cash cow sports are set up completely differently to theirs....a decent footballer here doesn't go to university!
Why are we building a velodrome in London? Erm, because we're staging the Olympics there and promised we would when we bid for the Games. And because people in the SE deserve the chance to see and try track cycling too.
Not enough focus on Olympic sport between Games? Absolutely, you're preaching to the converted here. Football is my favourite sport to play and watch but it has far too prominent position in our sporting culture. That's bad for all the other sports and bad for football. The lives of our top players are now just part of a national daily soap opera and the expectations that go before them to big tournaments are clearly counter-productive. So yes please to more sports other than football on TV and in the press but it's not that simple is it? After all, don't we get the media we deserve? Aren't the red tops and Sky just giving us what we seem to want?
Heroes??? Please, it's all about context. Stop being so pedantic. Chris Hoy is a (sporting) hero, a decorated soldier is a hero.
Team sport v individual sport? Yep, it's easier to get quick results in the latter than the former, particularly in the more technical individual sports that favour wealthier nations. But it doesn't mean we shouldn't try, does it?!? And hosting the Games in London will be the best chance we get to raise standards in Olympic team sports in a generation...we can't waste it!
UK Athletics? OK, you're right, I might have been a bit gentle on them, but that's largely because I've been so critical in the past and I genuinely think there are signs of things getting better. We were saved in Athens by an unexpected late flurry of golds. That 4x100m win was fantastic but out of the blue, and for Kelly to win two golds was awesome. Underneath those results, though, there wasn't much going on. The Worlds in 2005 were awful (apart from Paula) and the Commonwealths weren't that great. We did better than expected at the Worlds in 2007 with 5 medals and were unlucky not to match that in Beijing. It's a fine line sometimes, we had a few fourths, some very unlucky injuries/illnesses and a couple of dropped batons. But we also had some youngsters making finals for the first time (women's 110m hurdles, women's 100m, men's 400m and so on). I'm no apologist for Dave Collins and co, but Beijing was no disaster for UKA. I totally agree, however, with Steve Cram, Brendan Foster et al about the collapse of our middle-distance/distance running...we seriously need to look at that.
Cheerio
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In reply to comment 41
Its not about getting hands on your money.
Success breeds success and perhaps we will be able to kids off street corners and into Boxing, running, cycling etc.
Also a winning attitude stays with you for life and you try harder at other areas such as academia.
Lets look what happened to Rugby Union. Clive Woodward wanted to take it forward, the top brass wanted to save money and the result was/is!!
The authorities are doing a good job and we need to focus on the task in hand success at 2012 and building grass root facilities.
Bring back contact sports in schools and get proper coaches in for elite training even on a local level (1 coach can do 10 sessions per week say)
The more success and facilities we have the better, there are many health, social and monetry benefits to having a fit, successful and healthy nation.
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Facilities - saying "why are we building a velodrome in London" is bonkers - the real question is why on earth is the Olympic velodrome going to be the only one in London? Why wasn't there one already?
For that matter, why isn't there one in, say, Birmingham, either? Why are there currently only two run-down open air velodromes in the whole of Scotland, one of which they're demolishing (OK, they're building an indoor one for 2014, but that's not ready yet).
Or take Nottingham. Why is there no velodrome in the city that housed Raleigh? Why no Olympic sized pool in Nottinghamshire, the county of Rebecca Adlington and Speedo? Why is the 2000m regatta lake at Holme Pierrepont under threat of closure or reduction in size?
Facilities, facilities, facilities. Build facilities that are good enough for the elite, but also open to the general public and schools.
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re. comment 51, "Britain is so small and has far fewer people living here than China, USA and Australia..."
Um, I think you'll find there's less people in Australia than here in Britain!
Nevertheless, was nice to stick it to them again! ;o)
M.
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A hugely enjoyable Olympics! Like a good holiday it leaves you feeling a bit flat and depressed afterwards.
Fine performance by Team GB, but let me put in a word for a non-competitor who gave me a bit of a life in that awful moment after the Closing Ceremony. That man is Boris Johnson. I used to think he's a brainless toff. Now I recognise him for what he is: a national treasure - funny, warm, eccentric, truly proud of Britain and excited about 2012. His speech to the British media after the handover was hilarious, passionate, but also refreshing free of political spin and sound bytes. "Ping-pong's coming home!!" Well done Boris! Seb Coe and Gordon Brown look awfully wooden and rehearsed and grim beside him.
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It's easy, just manipulate the medals table to place your country higher up. It what the US CNN news service basically did by using total medals won instead of the IOC standard of total golds won. Petty! But something not all that unexpected from the paranoid Americans. Always thinking someone is out to steal their honey. That's when they sting you, but as we all know honey bees only get one change at that.
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Yawn.
The Americans have always used total medals, even in 1964 when it meant that they "lost" to Russia when they would have "won" if they just used golds.
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YING GUO REN very arrogant....
London hopes disappointed not to let the world.
My English is not good
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Matt,
Just a couple of points about the sport NGB's, they are not always getting it right sadly.
Diivng has lost over 755 of it facilities in 30 years -not a problem say the NGB
It's lost 96% of public facilities in London - again, not a problem acording to the ASA. The problem is a lack of teachers....
Now, I would not argue we need more, but when there are few places for them to teach??
My old club learned in the middle of the Olympics that it would lose 1/2 hour of it's weekly training time because the borough is losing one of it's two swimming pools later this year. Not much of a loss? apart from the fact it only has 1 1/2 hours a week as it is!.
The concentration on elite delivery is killing public access, and the reducing number of facilities is damaging the ability to teach people let alone have some doing it for fun! Chris Snode's Crystal Palace Diving Institute has had a huge number of enquiries about lessons, but they have no facilities to teach them in. Birmingham doesn't even have a diving board and London will have lost at least 4 public facilities between the Olympics being awarded and Stratford Aquatic Centre coming on stream.
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Apologies for the typing error, that figure should have read "Diving has lost 75% of it's public facilities in 30 years"
It's gone from about 300 to about 80.
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Thanks for generally excellent coverage of the Olympics but just a couple of things.
1. I'm a bit confused by the BBC's apparent obsession with some of our sportsmen/women. Paula Radcliffe. for example She is a wonderful athlete, but the 'British' story of the marathon should have been Mara Yamauchi's 6th place (the best by a British woman). Paula showed determination in completing the marathon, but so did Liz Yelling who was also injured during the race. Similarly in the Athens marathon, the focus was again on Paula, not our other 2 athletes who actually finished the race.
On one of the final evening highlights programmes why was Tom Daley interviewed alongside 2 gold medallists James DeGale and Chris Hoy? The BBC made much of Tom's youth in his 'spat' with Blake Alridge, but then expose the young man to further(unmerited in this context) media attention?
2. The evening highlights programme. I wanted to see more of the actual race/competition than over-indulgent split screen technical wizadry/the nonsense of the 'phelpsometer' etc. The race/competition is entertainment enough.
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