That medal table's looking good

[JTG]

The sheer proportion of golds is extraordinary - almost half our medals are gold

 

[ScallyWag II]

Looking very good for another one in the sailing (where i seem to be on my own in the thread )

 

[1927]

Absolutely, similar to how the West Indies failed to invest in their future at the top assuming the cricket conveyor belt of talent would keep moving.

The rowing team have a similar programme of selecting club athletes etc who may have an aptitude for rowing

I would show that interview with the lightweight pair to evry kid who showed any aptitude for sport as a motivation, to show them just what it can mean to win Olympic gold. They were out on their feet, totally physically exhausted they had given everything, and for what.........just to see their countries bit of colored cloth atop a flag pole!

I would also show it to a few others like Kelly Sotherton to show them what I expect of my Olympians, and what theys hould be prepared to go thru for their elite sports funding.

Athletics in this country is currently a disgrace imho, swimminmg is turning a corner, and we just own the lake and the velodrome!! If all this is costing me a tenner a week in taxes or something personally I dont care, its worth every penny.

 

[JTG]

we're all watching the rowing

 

[ScallyWag II]

we're all watching the rowing

Yer barstards 10 minutes or so i'll be joining you!

 

[JTG]

I would show that interview with the lightweight pair to evry kid who showed any aptitude for sport as a motivation, to show them just what it can mean to win Olympic gold. They were out on their feet, totally physically exhausted they had given everything, and for what.........just to see their countries bit of colored cloth atop a flag pole!

I would also show it to a few others like Kelly Sotherton to show them what I expect of my Olympians, and what theys hould be prepared to go thru for their elite sports funding.

Athletics in this country is currently a disgrace imho, swimminmg is turning a corner, and we just own the lake and the velodrome!! If all this is costing me a tenner a week in taxes or something personally I dont care, its worth every penny.

I think there's a change in attitude. It's about winning, results, not about losing well and saying 'well done' or 'poor you'

That can be harsh on people who are performing at their limit but not quite good enough or who suffer genuine bad luck (like Paula Radcliffe for example) but in general it's a good thing. Hard questions are going to be asked of Judo for example after no medals at all.

Anyway, 10 Golds at a games for the second time since about 1924 or something

 

[ScallyWag II]

One more gold, courtesy of Ben Ainsley. He bossed the final race when it eventually started!

 

[ScallyWag II]

Did i just hear that right? On the beeb showing the rowing gold for lightweight sculls, they said GB is up to third place in the overall*? Bloody hell, that's got to exceed all expectations!

eta: * i'm presuming they mean the overall medal table

 

[JTG]

We can stop the Games now, we're above Australia and Germany

1 China 28 13 8 49
2 USA 17 19 22 58
3 Great Britain 10 3 7 20
4 Germany 9 5 5 19
5 Australia 8 10 11 29
6 South Korea 7 9 4 20
7 Japan 7 5 6 18
8 Italy 6 5 5 16
9 Russia 5 8 8 21
10 Ukraine 5 3 5 13

 

[TrippyLondoner]

This is amazing stuff, and what a great platform to build from in 2012.

 

[CharlieAddict]

The sheer proportion of golds is extraordinary - almost half our medals are gold

if we were doing shit, i'd have said taking part is what really matters

 

[JTG]

if we were doing shit, i'd have said taking part is what really matters

of course

Mind you I remember Atlanta, three weeks of watching GB fail to get higher than about 30th. It was misery.

 

[Utopia]

Amazing acheivement considering the size/population of our wonderful country!

Go GB!!!!

 

[JTG]

tbf, we've poured a shitload of money most other nations can't afford to

 

[trashpony]

tbf, we've poured a shitload of money most other nations can't afford to

It's a bit sad that it's taken us getting the olympics for them to make the investment. I'm amazed that the money makes so much difference - really underlines the advantage wealthy nations have

 

[ScallyWag II]

It's a bit sad that it's taken us getting the olympics for them to make the investment. I'm amazed that the money makes so much difference - really underlines the advantage wealthy nations have

Investment into the sports we are doing well in, like cycling and rowing, has been going on for a lot longer than the time we got the olympics.

 

[JTG]

I don't think it's getting the Olympics that has started it, though that has provided the turbo boost. The almost unmitigated disaster that was Atlanta 96 was what ensured lottery funds were made available and British sport started to get a grip on itself - the Sydney games were a remarkable success for us, Athens continued it and look at us now.

We haven't nailed it all yet - rowing, cycling, sailing etc are delivering big time; swimming has turned round; boxing looks OK. otoh Judo continues to disappoint, athletics is flatlining etc

btw just remembered another sport we may win a medal in - taekwondo

 

[trashpony]

Investment into the sports we are doing well in, like cycling and rowing, has been going on for a lot longer than the time we got the olympics.

I don't think it's getting the Olympics that has started it, though that has provided the turbo boost. The almost unmitigated disaster that was Atlanta 96 was what ensured lottery funds were made available and British sport started to get a grip on itself - the Sydney games were a remarkable success for us, Athens continued it and look at us now.

Ah okay, didn't realise that.

 

[JTG]

I think the table shows how producing one off dominant athletes (Phelps, Ian Thorpe etc) or dominating a sport to a ridiculous extent (GB in cycling atm) can make a massive difference to your standing. We're excelling in three sports and look where it's got us.

So - Olympic medals tables - not a real reflection of a nation's sporting worth tbh.

But it's fun anyway

 

[JTG]

And just because I can:

1 China 29 13 9 51
2 USA 18 19 22 59
3 Great Britain 11 5 7 23
4 Germany 9 5 6 20
5 Australia 8 10 11 29
6 South Korea 7 9 4 20
7 Japan 7 5 6 18
8 Russia 6 9 9 24
9 Italy 6 5 5 16
10 Ukraine 5 3 6 14

 

[TrippyLondoner]

China/USA have just over 640 athletes each in their team while we have around half that, some achievement this is!

 

[JTG]

We have 312 athletes out there. In 2012 we're aiming to have a home team of 650 athletes...

 

[skyscraper101]

Quality performance from the British so far

Just think. If the USA didn't have Michael Phelps, we could be beating the USA right now in the medals!!

 

[TrippyLondoner]

Ha, didn't notice that!

 

[JTG]

OK, for comparison - the medals tables over the past 20 years (so no boycotts to distort things)

1988 in Seoul:

1 Soviet Union (URS) 55 31 46 132
2 East Germany (GDR) 37 35 30 102
3 United States (USA) 36 31 27 94
4 South Korea (KOR) 12 10 11 33
5 West Germany (FRG) 11 14 15 40
6 Hungary (HUN) 11 6 6 23
7 Bulgaria (BUL) 10 12 13 35
8 Romania (ROU) 7 11 6 24
9 France (FRA) 6 4 6 16
10 Italy (ITA) 6 4 4 14
11 China (CHN) 5 11 12 28
12 Great Britain (GBR) 5 10 9 24

1992 in Barcelona:

1 Unified Team (EUN) 45 38 29 112
2 United States (USA) 37 34 37 108
3 Germany (GER) 33 21 28 82
4 China (CHN) 16 22 16 54
5 Cuba (CUB) 14 6 11 31
6 Spain (ESP) 13 7 2 22
7 South Korea (KOR) 12 5 12 29
8 Hungary (HUN) 11 12 7 30
9 France (FRA) 8 5 16 29
10 Australia (AUS) 7 9 11 27
11 Canada (CAN) 7 4 7 18
12 Italy (ITA) 6 5 8 19
13 Great Britain (GBR) 5 3 12 20

1996 in Atlanta:

1 United States (USA) 44 32 25 101
2 Russia (RUS) 26 21 16 63
3 Germany (GER) 20 18 27 65
4 China (CHN) 16 22 12 50
5 France (FRA) 15 7 15 37
6 Ialy (ITA) 13 10 12 35
7 Australia (AUS) 9 9 23 41
8 Cuba (CUB) 9 8 8 25
9 Ukraine (UKR) 9 2 12 23
10 South Korea (KOR) 7 15 5 27
11 Poland (POL) 7 5 5 17
12 Hungary (HUN) 7 4 10 21
13 Spain (ESP) 5 6 6 17
14 Romania (ROU) 4 7 9 20
15 Netherlands (NED) 4 5 10 19
16 Greece (GRE) 4 4 0 8
17 Czech Republic (CZE) 4 3 4 11
18 Switzerland (SUI) 4 3 0 7
19 Denmark (DEN) 4 1 1 6
19 Turkey (TUR) 4 1 1 6
21 Canada (CAN) 3 11 8 22
22 Bulgaria (BUL) 3 7 5 15
23 Japan (JPN) 3 6 5 14
24 Kazakhstan (KAZ) 3 4 4 11
25 Brazil (BRA) 3 3 9 15
26 New Zealand (NZL) 3 2 1 6
27 South Africa (RSA) 3 1 1 5
28 Ireland (IRL) 3 0 1 4
29 Sweden (SWE) 2 4 2 8
30 Norway (NOR) 2 2 3 7
31 Belgium (BEL) 2 2 2 6
32 Nigeria (NGR) 2 1 3 6
33 North Korea (PRK) 2 1 2 5
34 Algeria (ALG) 2 0 1 3
34 Ethiopia (ETH) 2 0 1 3
36 Great Britain (GBR) 1 8 6 15



2000 in Sydney:

1 United States (USA) 36 24 31 91
2 Russia (RUS) 32 28 28 88
3 China (CHN) 28 16 15 59
4 Australia (AUS) 16 25 17 58
5 Germany (GER) 13 17 26 56
6 France (FRA) 13 14 11 38
7 Italy (ITA) 13 8 13 34
8 Netherlands (NED) 12 9 4 25
9 Cuba (CUB) 11 11 7 29
10 Great Britain (GBR) 11 10 7 28

2004 in Athens:

1 United States (USA) 36 39 27 102
2 China (CHN) 32 17 14 63
3 Russia (RUS) 27 27 38 92
4 Australia (AUS) 17 16 16 49
5 Japan (JPN) 16 9 12 37
6 Germany (GER) 13 16 20 49
7 France (FRA) 11 9 13 33
8 Italy (ITA) 10 11 11 32
9 South Korea (KOR) 9 12 9 30
10 Great Britain (GBR) 9 9 12 30

 

[ScallyWag II]

Wow! We're going to surpass the previous best* for a long time of Sydney? We could do that today

eta: * in golds not in total

 

[JTG]

Loads of analysis to be done on those tables - the fall of the Eastern Bloc/Cuba, rise of China and Australia, what the hell has happened to Russia over the past four years etc etc

Finishing below NZ, Ireland & Belgium in 1996 though. Bloody hell.

 

[strung out]

blimey, east germany winning 37 golds in '88. pretty good considering they were shit at football

 

[JTG]

blimey, east germany winning 37 golds in '88. pretty good considering they were shit at football

world champions at steroid abuse though

the only time the GDR played the FRG at football was in the 1974 World Cup in the West and East Germany won

 

[strung out]

heh, true