ROSM
Well-known member
I saw a figure earlier in the week that half of our gold medalists were privately educated, this is dis-proportinate to the split between pupils in private and free education in schools. Facilities matter.
More should be done to engage local sports clubs into schools to identify talent. A P.E teacher may not spot a good tennis player for example as they just want to run a lesson and finish. If a local coach spots talent they can engage the pupil, encourage the talent and they have a familiar face at the club.
I think at beijing it was over half - now in London it's over 66% state school educated winners. For that we can thank the 1997 launch of the lottery sports funding (well done John Major)