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Originally Posted by Shadow Demon UK
I don't think it's that surprising considering the amount of funding Olympic sports get. I read that on average each medal cost £5.5 million in funding, I doubt any other country puts as much funding into Olympic sports as we do.
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Is that stat right? Seems higher than what I have heard.
It is the funding that's helped though. They increased funding at targeted it better at sports where we're more likely to win Gold. A good article here suggests we're reaping the results of decisions made by John Major:
https://www.ft.com/content/0ba195cc-...c-7b39cbb1138a
We can't quantify the economic benefit of the investment in sport but the feeling of the country this week and the feeling 4 years ago from London 2012 is worth it in my view. Who'll forget the Saturday 4 years ago when we won three golds with Mo Farah breaking away from the pack on the final lap? Or the woman's hockey team winning on penalties now? Even if there is no economic or social benefit, the feeling is enough by itself.
Also I love the BBC's coverage of us finishing 2nd. It seems written in a 'go UK!' way. First this is the picture they used to highlight it:
then paragraphs like this:
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China, with a population of 1.357bn to Britain's 64.1m, have amassed more medals (70) than Team GB in Brazil, achieving notable success in table tennis, diving and weightlifting.
However, GB are ahead on golds, which is what the rankings are based on.
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