Team GB solidifies position as ‘sporting superpower’ – but how do they convert silvers into more golds?

by Admin
August 12, 2024

Team GB have solidified their position as a “sporting superpower”.

Coming away from Paris with 65 medals, this is the fourth consecutive games they have hit the 60 threshold.

It shows that investment is “producing the goods”, with the UK spending more than £350m on Olympic and Paralympic sport, much from the National Lottery.

In athletics, 10 medals were won, GB was resurgent in rowing and getting new medals in things like trampolining.

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Team GB are still the only ever country to have won a gold at every single summer Olympics, dating back to 1896.

They also surpassed 1,000 medals across all summer and winter Olympics.

Questions will be asked about how to convert silvers into more golds, but there were fine margins in many competitions.

Paris has “reawakened the Olympics” itself, being the first since Tokyo was held with some COVID restrictions.

How you view Team GB’s performance in Paris depends where you look.

View the table used by Sky News’ US partner NBC and Britain is in third place.

But that is based on total medal count.

The Olympic organisers base their standings on golds and that slips GB down to seventh – the lowest placing in 20 years.

Not since Beijing 2008 has GB won so few golds – 14 from the total haul of 65. That is the same haul as London 2012 and a gain of one on Tokyo 2020 – but 22 golds were brought home from Japan.

Topping the podium can come down to the finest of margins. Just look at how Matthew Hudson-Smith missed out on becoming Britain’s first 400m men’s champion in 100 years by four hundredths of a second. It takes you longer to say the time.

When I caught up with Britain Olympic Association chairman Sir Hugh Robertson as he entered the stadium for the closing ceremony, he acknowledged frustration there were fewer golds.

He said: “I think in an ideal world, it’s really important to keep the emphasis on higher achievement, but I wouldn’t want to say that without acknowledging that 65 medals is a fantastic performance. Winning an Olympic gold medal is extraordinarily difficult and it reflects very well on the athletes.”

But this was still a games when Emma Finucane became the first British women with three medals. And one was gold.

Bryony Page became the first trampolining champion from Britain.

And by winning the men’s triathlon followed by a mixed relay bronze, Alex Yee expanded his career games medal collection to four to become the most successful Olympic triathlete ever.

So still much for GB to celebrate as the delegation prepares to leave Paris – and leaves the stage open for the Paralympics team to take over.