GB doing well at the Olympics.

[Tashyboy]

Yup another Olympic thread. But.

It seems the success of the GB team is causing quite a stir, with some countries questioning that we are punching above our weight. A French newspaper is suggesting that " our main competitors " the Russians being heavily banned has helped us. the Russians are suggesting that we have to much power in the Olympics and Paralympics etc committees. The Aussies are asking why there " lottery funding" which they copied off us does not have a similar result re medals.
So are team GB punching above there weight, what is the secret of our success. Does success breed jealousy?

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Tashy we have targeted certain sports, niche sports, and ploughed money and a great deal of thought and intelligence into doing them really well. Track cycling, rowing and sailing. We are pretty average at athletics, swimming and other more popular sports. We have just targeted well.

Read up and listen to Dave Brailsford, cycling man and now in charge of team sky, and decide whether we are cheating or just exceptionally smart and ahead of the game. Clue, it's the latter.

Incidentally one of the people questioning our cycling team was the German woman who beat a British in the Sprint final last night to win gold. If she was able to win how did she do it?

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Further rant, one of the questions they asked was how come we do nothing for four years but manage to peak for the Olympics. Factually untrue, we did okay at recent world championships, but frankly as professionals of course they should aim to peak for the Olympics. It is the peak of track cycling. The bigger question is why their cyclists are not peaking? What are they doing wrong? They need to get their own houses in order.

 

[Rlburnside]

One of the main reasons we have done so well is the money targeted at certain sports, think the figure is £350 million since 2012, funded by public money mostly through the national lottery. UK Sport has achieved its objective but some would argue at the expense of what UK sport deem lesser performing sports and perhaps more importantly grass roots sport.

 

[Papas1982]

Yup another Olympic thread. But.

It seems the success of the GB team is causing quite a stir, with some countries questioning that we are punching above our weight. A French newspaper is suggesting that " our main competitors " the Russians being heavily banned has helped us. the Russians are suggesting that we have to much power in the Olympics and Paralympics etc committees. The Aussies are asking why there " lottery funding" which they copied off us does not have a similar result re medals.
So are team GB punching above there weight, what is the secret of our success. Does success breed jealousy?

According to a report i saw, per capita we were 16th on the medal table. So decidely average.

For the amount we plough into the sports. I don't really think its right to consider us a little island..... Population is only half the battle, opportunity is key.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

One of the main reasons we have done so well is the money targeted at certain sports, think the figure is £350 million since 2012, funded by public money mostly through the national lottery. UK Sport has achieved its objective but some would argue at the expense of what UK sport deem lesser performing sports and perhaps more importantly grass roots sport.

What's a "grass roots" sport ?

Is Camelot a "public company" ? I'm a bit confused with this statement that lottery money is public money ?

 

[Deleted member 16999]

http://www.uksport.gov.uk/our-work/investing-in-sport/how-uk-sport-funding-works
Just shared this link on another thread as to how our Athletes are funded.

Personally think it's great, any success in any sport has to, imo, encourage others. If we want to compete with the best we have to provide the opportunity and facilities, still a lot more coukd be done, but it's way better than I've seen in my lifetime.

 

[Papas1982]

What's a "grass roots" sport ?

Is Camelot a "public company" ? I'm a bit confused with this statement that lottery money is public money ?

I thought that one of the rules for the lottery to be backed and allowed was that a certain amount was publicly invested? So whilst not raised through taxes, i'd say that the camelot money is public funds.

Re grassroots, I'd say that's simply mainstream sports, not minority sports.

I recall someone mentioned its cost approx £5m per gold? Some would argue tha'ts not great value for money. Since 2012 i've only really noticed a peak in cycling in the public domain, i cant imagine rowing, sailing, gymnastics or equestrian take a major bump in participation. So whilst its a feel good factor when we do well. I think the lasting effect is negligible.

 

[Hacker Khan]

http://www.uksport.gov.uk/our-work/investing-in-sport/how-uk-sport-funding-works
Just shared this link on another thread as to how our Athletes are funded.

Personally think it's great, any success in any sport has to, imo, encourage others. If we want to compete with the best we have to provide the opportunity and facilities, still a lot more coukd be done, but it's way better than I've seen in my lifetime.

What he said.

GB is executing their plan to win sporting golds better than most other countries. And it is a combination of many factors, some of it luck, some of it meticulous planning that has got us here. Frankly I don't overly care exactly how we did it as long as it does not involve illegal drugs, but am absolutely loving the fact we are where we are.

John Major, the saviour of GB sport?

 

[Rlburnside]

What's a "grass roots" sport ?

Is Camelot a "public company" ? I'm a bit confused with this statement that lottery money is public money ?

Only a very small percentage of profit is kept by Camalot, millions going to government and millions going as grants to UK Sport , and others , which was the idea by John Major to publicly fund these causes.

As to the grass roots question ,I'm not going to answer such a obtuse question as most on here will know what I mean.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

So shouldn't the "minority sports" been given more of a helping hand - as opposed to grass roots sports which already get massive helping hands with billions worth of sponsership

Should we really be looking to fund sports like football when the sport is awash with billions of pounds ?

 

[Rlburnside]

What he said.

GB is executing their plan to win sporting golds better than most other countries. And it is a combination of many factors, some of it luck, some of it meticulous planning that has got us here. Frankly I don't overly care exactly how we did it as long as it does not involve illegal drugs, but am absolutely loving the fact we are where we are.

John Major, the saviour of GB sport?

If you take our own sport as a example, do you think it's right that UK sport spend what is in essence public money on funding millionaire golfers to participate in the Olympics?

 

[Tashyboy]

So shouldn't the "minority sports" been given more of a helping hand - as opposed to grass roots sports which already get massive helping hands with billions worth of sponsership

Should we really be looking to fund sports like football when the sport is awash with billions of pounds ?

I cannot remember who it was, but In essence the FA has been told that if it does not sort itself out it will be getting no more money from the lottery.

just googled it and it is £30 million of public money that the culture secretary has said the FA will not get if it does not reform. Having already had £30 million in 2014.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

No Footballers or Golfers applied for or received funding from UK Sport, Golf because it was open to Professionals and once again the FA's both men and women couldn't agree a format to get a GB Team.
The money Golf and Football get is to encourage participation etc.
The idea of the funding is to allow those with the potential who were either unfunded or unable to dedicate the time etc to have access to the top facilities and coaches and receive an income to do that.
The link is well worth a read, not all the money goes to the Athletes,

 

[Hacker Khan]

If you take our own sport as a example, do you think it's right that UK sport spend what is in essence public money on funding millionaire golfers to participate in the Olympics?

Absolutely not, but I doubt that any of the GB golfers need or have used the lottery money.

 

[Rlburnside]

Absolutely not, but I doubt that any of the GB golfers need or have used the lottery money.

Team GB had four golfers plus caddies I'm sure they didn't pay their own way to Rio, plus all the other expenses that go along with it , so who do you think paid for all this?

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Team GB had four golfers plus caddies I'm sure they didn't pay their own way to Rio, plus all the other expenses that go along with it , so who do you think paid for all this?

They were giving uniforms and somewhere to stay in the Olympic village - the same as every single other GB athlete who represented GB. In the grand scheme of things a couple of tee shirts , a bed and a couple of meals isn't really something worth getting worried about

The funding is 99% in regards allowing talented sportsmen and women the ability to concentrate on their chosen sport to allow them compete at these Olympic Games or World Champs etc

 

[Rlburnside]

They were giving uniforms and somewhere to stay in the Olympic village - the same as every single other GB athlete who represented GB. In the grand scheme of things a couple of tee shirts , a bed and a couple of meals isn't really something worth getting worried about

The funding is 99% in regards allowing talented sportsmen and women the ability to concentrate on their chosen sport to allow them compete at these Olympic Games or World Champs etc

UK Sport have done a good job in targeting certain sports and this has helped greatly in having such success at the Olympics. But it should be noted that this has come at a cost to other sports and athletes who had their grants taken away or cut.

Uk Sport get a third of there money from the government , our money, at a time when the government are cutting grants to local councils for sports funding they have increased funding to UK sport by 29%

 

[Deleted member 15344]

UK Sport have done a good job in targeting certain sports and this has helped greatly in having such success at the Olympics. But it should be noted that this has come at a cost to other sports and athletes who had their grants taken away or cut.

Which sports have had their funding taken away ?

http://www.uksport.gov.uk/our-work/investing-in-sport/current-funding-figures

Uk Sport get a third of there money from the government , our money, at a time when the government are cutting grants to local councils for sports funding they have increased funding to UK sport by 29%

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-strategy-to-strengthen-sport-from-the-grassroots-to-the-elite

Can you explain the local councils relationship with sport ?

What exactly would you like to see happen as opposed to what is happening now ?

 

[Papas1982]

As the link showed, the majority of funding goes towards getting the elite athletes into the best opportunity to win medals. Not helping all youngsters have a chance to get out and be active.

id much rather we spend all the millions helping every child become relatively fit and healthy than just the small Pearce tags become the best.

Whilst the the olympics is great to watch, nowadays most governing departments have financial targets to hit. I'm not sure that athletics really gives us any benefits for the money out in.

re the fa and their apparent threat towards their 30m funding. In the grand scheme of things. 30m is peanuts to them.