350 million for 25 gold medals?

Money well spent zorro.

£350 million for 25 golds is an over simplicity of the facts.
The cash went into better facilities and coaching.
It has also helped open up sports to millions of kids.

marbles and conkers in 4 years time bikes rowing who rearly cares about micky mouse events

Russia out of it zorro? Only the cheats.

The funding is a national disgrace /thread

Send the bill to Roger, he's been caught hook line and sinker and seems happy to pay.
Meanwhile in the national debt and land of austerity.....

So, £350 million - which as akabula points out, is an investment in infrastructure for the long term as well as payments to athletes, coaches, administrators - divided by 25 gold medals (we're not counting silvers and bronzes then?).

Or if you want to play tricksy maths

£350 million divided by a nation of, what 70 million people = a fiver per man woman and child, maybe £10-12 per economically active individual?

That's not even a good night out, plus since a large percentage of that £350 million will come from the National Lottery, you get the fun / choice of playing the lottery and the chance to win money back, which has to be factored into things too.

It's probably about the amount government ministers spend on steaks and champagne on team building awaydays at Skibo Castle.

The lottery is financed by the very same people crushed by austerity in many respects.
The idea that those feckless enough and generally without can gamble to riches while inputting nowt isn't really the best principle to bestow on a nation.
If that financing then goes to pay for another select minority to achieve personal goals then it's more of the same isn't it?

The only time silver and bronze medals get mentioned is in the absence of golds, they have a net impact even less on the lives of the people of the nation.

The idea that now enterprise will look upon GB as a potential place to do business in response is laughable.
The medals were won in physical events, so the closest to that in the business world are the labour markets.
Companies don't incentivise, they pay as close to the least they can legally pay while racing to the bottom and creaming profits.
So why would they want to bring business here just for a lob our market that costs more to make their crap?

I'm ambivalent regarding the Olympics, I neither am a supporter nor a hater.
The only athletics and 'other' events I ever see are the Olympic highlights.
I also have no problem in people supporting their country in these competitions over a fortnight, it gives them an interest but it's just a fortnight of telly essentially and has no impact after that.
Sure there might be limited take up for a couple of weeks in the local gym for some, only to be forced into paying a years membership.......

What has little appeal to me is the manipulation that goes with this. This will be meat and drink for politicians using it to blind the public as to some false virtue or other while they further degrade the lives of others.

Agreeing to disagree?

Has this ever occurred in Chit-Chat before??!

It'll never catch on.

My issue was more with the coverage which was OTT. Pure hype of people I've never heard of in events I do not follow.

I'm pleased for those who won medals and those who didn't but made the GB Olympic Team. I could never do either.

But I won't be led into hysteria over the lass who won silver in the trampolining....

As for finance, it's pretty clear that money = medals so I guess we're obliged to give it a right go (to use a technical footballing term..) if we want to be successful.

Compared to how Iceland achieved their relatively huge football success the spending is backwards.

I've never followed it either and won't in the future but I did watch her routine.
If your comments about no mention of winner etc etc was in respect of todays interview then I'd suggest that's already been covered.
It's now only about our athletes and giving them and their sports some plugs.

That is something that needs looked at.
I wouldn't have equestrian events for instance.

thts right mafeking
I just did a search couldnt remember her name, she was a poster girl for something or other but not seen anything of her for a while.
In fairness to the lass that event is crazy and is the epitome of how anything seems to qualify as an event.
They all race to the first corner then crash

certainly is an event where you can't be putting down anyone as a banker for a medal. looks a total lottery

The last 4 or 5 years, injera, has been full of nationalistic pride, from so many TV shows (great British this and Britain's that), to newspapers full of Johnny Foreigner being a jolly bad egg (more than ever), to the Euros and the Olympics, we've been bombarded with this fixation.

Mind you the coverage on the red button was superb and contained no interviews or "back story". It was infinitely better than watching BBC1 2 or 4.

I think the proof is in all the reading and stories about how many immigrants/foreigners have been responsible (in certain media output) for bad things and the same tales making it look as if it's the nub of any story, it is generally alluded to rather than being stated. In fact, it's SO prevalent that even when there is no link, people assume it foreigners who are to blame for nearly everything on this and just about every newspaper forum. The bigger problems imo are caused by home-grown chavs and addicts.

Mostly though, akabula, I see absolutely no benefit in being patriotic other than to be cannon fodder for the "elite". Any deviation from the wonderment and joy attached to the term "British" or "Great British" is frowned upon. Why, exactly?
It's wrong because it is brainwashing. The US of A does the same, from an early age. Your saying "away and live somewhere you like" is exactly what I mean. So yes, I think it is wrong to overuse the British/Great British at every opportunity as it is now.
In fact no-one has ever been able to give me a good reason to be patriotic. This applies to any nationality, btw. and the response is always a bit like yours "if you don't like it go somewhere else" or words to that effect, This isn't a reason! Why is it so wrong to question the state or to say you don't see why it's so wonderful?

For all you know I do live somewhere I like.

Also I never complained at all about the good time I had watching the Olympics, except about the coverage (on the main channels) which was more about 'back-story' and interviews and not the actual sports themselves. As I said the Red button coverage was superb.

Quite.