Olympic Success

[FoggyMorning]

I read yesterday that the French were questioning the reasons for the magnificent success of our fine athletes. So much for the Entente Cordiale!

[paulz6]

Unfortunately, money makes the world go round.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19144983
Perhaps cultural output contributes to our wealth as a nation?

[davejc64]

Unfortunately, money makes the world go round.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19144983
Perhaps cultural output contributes to our wealth as a nation?

At least it's money being spent in the UK rather than be used to bail out some other countries failed economy.

Anyway back onto the more positive story of Olympic success and well done Team GB.

[jbilton]

Unfortunately, money makes the world go round.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19144983
Perhaps cultural output contributes to our wealth as a nation?

At least it's money being spent in the UK rather than be used to bail out some other countries failed economy.

Anyway back onto the more positive story of Olympic success and well done Team GB.

Hi

I think Wimbledon is possible our best earner.
Costs the country little, and must bring in Millions.

An interesting article, just goes to show how 'sport' has changed in the last 20 years.

Cheers
Jon

[jp4712]

I was in Newcastle for the first weekend of the Games, where Japan, Brazil, Morocco and, er, someone else were playing. The town was FULL of Japanese, Brazilians, Moroccans etc. They all had to sleep overnight; they all went for a meal; I saw many wandering into shops; I don't think the city did badly at all. And that was 250 miles from London.

But working as I do abroad, in a very international environment, I can tell you that these games are worth every penny in terms of reputation. Suddenly, it's cool to be British. Suddenly, people WANT to identify with us. What good is that, I hear you say? Well, I am 100% sure that the opening ceremony paid for itself in terms of the enhanced reputation (and hence custom) of the UK's creative industries. Seriously, from your seat in front of the telly it's difficult to see the external benefit (especially in terms of the creation of wealth), but here in Holland surrounded by Dutch, French, Germans, Americans, Canadians (okay, one Canadian) etc I can see that it has made a very real difference to our reputation around the world. And reputation has value, real £££ value. As I said to a colleague this week, the Brits are no longer the most powerful country in the world, or the richest, or the cleverest, but just now we are the coolest. And any UK design agency, or musician, or sports kit manufacturer, or architect, can use that effect to gain business and create jobs.

Of course if you don't happen to get one of those jobs the benefit isn't coming directly to you, but having sat through ten days or so in Utrecht of suddenly being Cool Britannia I can - having been a sceptic before the Games began - say that internationally it's the best thing that's happened to us in years.

Paul

[jbilton]

Hi

Well it is certainly good for my nephew .... he's down there for eight weeks, earning £8.70 an hour (straight out of school).... plus board , all his food and transport.
He said the Fireworks were amazing at the opening... which on the TV didn't look too brilliant.
I did think the Flame was very clever, engineering and art combined.
I also hope the games are a 'long term' financial success ... full employment by Christmas...perhaps even the VAT rate will reduce in Oct.... I'm not holding my breath though.
Cheers
Jon

[Acorncomputer]

The Olympics are a wonderful idea giving (mainly) the youth of the World an opportunity to prove that they are the best in their chosen sports, at least until someone shows that they can do better.

As human beings we are naturally competitive, along with most other animals in the World, and being good at something is always an inspiration to others to do the best they can in everything that they do, whatever it is.

The cost of the Games is irrelevant as long as the money is spent in the UK. If we each have £100,000 in savings and do nothing with it, this is useless money producing nothing. If we spend our £100,000 on an extension to our house then dozens of people benefit in some way from the work involved who would not otherwise have benefited, yet no money is involved that was not already there. The Government have a bit more to play with and the billions spent on the Olympics has probably benefited millions of people in this way and yet it is only money that was already there which just needed moving around.

Top marks to everyone involved in this truly impressive event which has lifted the spirits of billions of people worldwide and commiserations to those that are unable to empathise with the joy of athletes who have worked very hard to achieve their successes, often against the odds.

-

[paulz6]

Whilst money is being pumped into elite sports, I wonder what is happening to grass root sports. Lots of money has been pumped into the top athletes, but what about expanding the pool of athletes we have to choose from?
Are there any mums and dads out there who have attended a schools sport day? Or should I say, are there any kids out there that have participated in one?

[FoggyMorning]

Whilst money is being pumped into elite sports, I wonder what is happening to grass root sports. Lots of money has been pumped into the top athletes, but what about expanding the pool of athletes we have to choose from?
Are there any mums and dads out there who have attended a schools sport day? Or should I say, are there any kids out there that have participated in one?

As an ex-child, I feel qualified to say that participating in school sports days was one thing that put me off pursuing any form of athletic career!

[paulz6]

And the 200m final was won by someone who could waste time by looking behind and by taking their foot of the gas. Personalities aside, I'd rather see someone run through the line. I'm sure that next year I might not have any legs to run on. What a waste to not run as fast as you can. Perhaps the winner should have entered the long bow archery event. My hero does what they can to the best of their ability. Not what is just needed. We all have our idols, and apparently the x-factor won.
The 100m and 200m world records are still up for grabs for anyone that can be bothered to run them as fast as they can. It should be out of anyone's reach in the near term.

[jbilton]

Whilst money is being pumped into elite sports, I wonder what is happening to grass root sports. Lots of money has been pumped into the top athletes, but what about expanding the pool of athletes we have to choose from?
Are there any mums and dads out there who have attended a schools sport day? Or should I say, are there any kids out there that have participated in one?

As an ex-child, I feel qualified to say that participating in school sports days was one thing that put me off pursuing any form of athletic career!

"Participation
But overall, the growth in sports participation continues to be driven by those aged 26 and over and there is still a long-term downward trend for the 16 to 25 age group.

So there is still a lot to play for. On 18 to 19 August, the weekend after the Olympics and before the Paralympics, thousands of sports clubs and local community groups around the UK will be holding events under the banner of a new charity ‘Join In Local Sport‘, to capture the once-in-a-lifetime enthusiasm for sport that the Games will generate."

http://www.local.gov.uk/web/guest/first ... S-TEMPLATE


Join In events should be a great way for local clubs to attract new members and supporters this summer, get more people involved in sport and make sure that we have a lasting legacy from the 2012 Games.

To find information, ideas and see some of the thousands of events already registered, visit the website:

https://www.joininuk.org/

[davejc64]

Well that's the main Olympics over with, watched the closing ceremony, the UK certainly knows how to throw a good party, but we shouldn't forget the Paralympics which starts on the 29th of August.

[jbilton]

A postbox in Doddington village was painted bronze over the weekend after Great Britain’s hockey team came third in the Olympics.
One member of the team, Georgie Twigg, hails from the village just west of Lincoln.

http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2012/08/dodd ... -team-win/



A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “We understand the sentiment, and congratulate the women’s hockey team on their achievement.
“However, we’d rather people left the painting of postboxes to us. We are liaising with our engineers to ensure that it is repainted red as soon as possible.”

[BobLatimer]

Here's the table of countries ranked by number of medals won divided by population as mentioned by Alec at the start of this thread.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/datablo ... edal-table

Click on the column headed "Pop Rank". I'm afraid the UK isn't very close to the top (but New Zealand is ).

Bob.

[AndyUK]

A postbox in Doddington village was painted bronze over the weekend after Great Britain’s hockey team came third in the Olympics.
One member of the team, Georgie Twigg, hails from the village just west of Lincoln.

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “We understand the sentiment, and congratulate the women’s hockey team on their achievement.
“However, we’d rather people left the painting of postboxes to us. We are liaising with our engineers to ensure that it is repainted red as soon as possible.”

Someone in Lymington got arrested for doing the same thing (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-19223242). That, coupled with the arrest of someone who posted something out of order on Tom Daley's twitter page or similar, makes me wonder whether the police have lost their sense of proportion when it comes to trivial matters like this.

Andy L