The Funding Behind Team GB's 2008 Olympic Medal Haul

[Mendoza]

Is it really worth all this money for 2 weeks of excitement??

Having woken up this morning to USA vs Brazil in the womens beach volley ball I was quite excited, but then they did a feature on the cost and funding gone into British Sport since 2006, which has lead to us being worshipped as sporting gods of the universe because we are THIRD in the medal table.

So far we have spent:

1 Athletics: £20,378,000 - NO Medals
2 Rowing: £20,049,000 - 2 Gold, 2 Silver, 2 Bronze
3 Cycling: £17,494,000 - 6 gold, 3 Silver, 2 Bronze
4 Sailing: £17,494,000 - 3 Gold, 1 Silver
5 Swimming: £16,699,000 - 2 Gold, 1 Bronze
6 Canoeing: £10,789,000 - 1 Silver

So far that’s worked out at £7.8million per Gold Medal or £3.6million per medal
(taken 19/8/08 13 Gold and 28 medals in total so far)

I'm not moaning, I love all this sport, but really is it worth that much investment, as it cant all be funded by the Lottery. Also I don’t know how our figures compare to the 2 nations above us in China and USA, or other nations with quite good success so far?

Could the money be put to better use?

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Possibly. But there are far greater wastes of money than this.

 

[User removed 4]

Possibly. But there are far greater wastes of money than this.

agreed

 

[matt]

It is a lot of money BUT, looking beyond the short-term feel good factor, hopefully the successes will encourage the younger generations to want to emulate the medal winners rather than hoping to become the next Big Brother "celebrity" or WAG.

 

[lost in london]

The government pissed away £2 billion on incorrect tax credits last year, I think spending £100million (or whatever the total is) on sports which have a high profile and might get a few kids out doing something athletic is well worth it.

 

[strings]

It is a lot of money BUT, looking beyond the short-term feel good factor, hopefully the successes will encourage the younger generations to want to emulate the medal winners rather than hoping to become the next Big Brother "celebrity" or WAG.

I agree - if it encourages kids to get out the house and play some sport, surely it must be a good thing.

 

[Mendoza]

I agree - if it encourages kids to get out the house and play some sport, surely it must be a good thing.

Thats what I think, as long as a good proportion of all this money is being used on grass roots, not just at the elite end of the spectrum, otherwise there is no real way of unearthing what talent we do have

 

[bhafc99]

It's not just Olympics – there are numerous other competitions, Worlds and so on.

Plus, are these figures only for the elite medal winners, or do they cover money that's gone into grassroots, youth and other development?

Yes £17.4m to win 6 or 7 sailing medals seems a lot, but if that money's also won, say, another 30 elite level competitions over the past few years, built up a developing squad for the next 10 years and encouraged and enabled 1000s of others, especially kids, to get into the sport, then it's money more than well spent.

 

[Exmouth Seagull]

Add all that lot together and it probably wont even buy a spare part for a nuclear sub, or for 10 minutes of what Iraq/Afghanistan is costing us, or Chelsea's wage bill for a month. You decide whats the best value for money, I know what I think.

 

[ack]

Must admit I had this conversation with the wife the other night, but I thought the athletics had a bigger share for a smaller haul of the total pot.
The rowers,swimmers,sailors and cyclists have given a big boost to the country and made watching enjoyable from my point of view, but feel it will be a big letdown with the athletics this week. And we have to remember these smaller sport stars aren't earning prem footballer paypackets, but we mostly subscribe to sky sports to pay them.

 

[Mendoza]

Add all that lot together and it probably wont even buy a spare part for a nuclear sub, or for 10 minutes of what Iraq/Afghanistan is costing us, or Chelsea's wage bill for a month. You decide whats the best value for money, I know what I think.

I guess if you look at our Cycling and Swimming investment that is on a par with Frank Lampards new contract - but Lampard has won f*** all on the INternational stage, but Swimming and Cycling has got us 9 golds, 4 silvers and 2 bronze so far.

Just looking on t'internet and it seems we have invested £46million in the same time period into Tennis - which is about as useful as Tottenham buying players thinking they will break the top 4

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Is it really worth all this money for 2 weeks of excitement??

Having woken up this morning to USA vs Brazil in the womens beach volley ball I was quite excited, but then they did a feature on the cost and funding gone into British Sport since 2006, which has lead to us being worshipped as sporting gods of the universe because we are THIRD in the medal table.

So far we have spent:

1 Athletics: £20,378,000 - NO Medals
2 Rowing: £20,049,000 - 2 Gold, 2 Silver, 2 Bronze
3 Cycling: £17,494,000 - 6 gold, 3 Silver, 2 Bronze
4 Sailing: £17,494,000 - 3 Gold, 1 Silver
5 Swimming: £16,699,000 - 2 Gold, 1 Bronze
6 Canoeing: £10,789,000 - 1 Silver

So far that’s worked out at £7.8million per Gold Medal or £3.6million per medal
(taken 19/8/08 13 Gold and 28 medals in total so far)

I'm not moaning, I love all this sport, but really is it worth that much investment, as it cant all be funded by the Lottery. Also I don’t know how our figures compare to the 2 nations above us in China and USA, or other nations with quite good success so far?

Could the money be put to better use?

If you compare that to £500m spent on 8 Chinooks that can't fly, I'd say it was a bargain.

 

[Wozza]

Frankie Boyle does a good routine on the 2012 Olympics.

Why spend billions on sport to improve the nation's morale when you could just send a rocket to the moon and write, in big letters, 'f*** off Germany!'.

 

[Fourteenth Eye]

To be fair a lot of the funding comes from private investment/sponsors etc. What you have to remember is that the majority of the competitors at the olympics are ametuers. What the funding means is that these athletes can take time out of their jobs in order to improve at their chosen event.

If it all came from taxpayers money then yes i think you would be right to be a bit miffed but it doesnt

 

[trueblue]

If you compare that to £500m spent on 8 Chinooks that can't fly, I'd say it was a bargain.

Spot on. It's a lot of money by every day standards, but in the context of running an entire country, it's minuscule. If we can continue the sporting successes and establish that as part of British culture and expectations, the health benefits alone would surely recoup the costs many times over.

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

Of course its not a waste, jesus, when was the last time that Britain were seen as winners?? I work with a French team who are all amazed to see GB up there after all these years of sod all and France somewhere down behind jamaica. It is all about prestige and kudos on thew world stage.

Frankly I was sick and tired of our plucky loser status, all that "it's the taking part" arse that charachterised our Olympic efforts and still dogs our National Football Bollox.

Better the money goes on us winning something rather than being top of the drugs death league or the teenage pregancy table for a change.

 

[Man of Harveys]

The point is, presumably, that some of Europe's fattest nation (myself included, I hasten to add) might be encouraged by all this coverage and success on the telly to try and have a go at some of these sports. That makes sense and think it works, assuming the facilities are there for "normal" people to be able to afford to use them.

I think the real shame is that most of these sports don't get as much coverage in between the Olympics, when it just all reverts to nothing but obsessing about preening pointless turds like Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard plus a tiny bit of cricket in the summer for those that can afford Sky.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

In 2006, the Government spent £135,000 of the taxpayers money investigating the origin of the pocket. I suspect that amount would employ a couple of top coaches and feed and clothe a few athletes. I know which I would prefer.

 

[Simster]

It's smashing value IMO. I'm surprised you could even consider it debatable.

Just one thing: Where the f*** is the funding for HANDBALL and BEACH VOLLEYBALL. I want a team in those events.

 

[maffew]

yes its well worth it 3rd is better than you could hope for, I dont think we'll stay that high, fair play though