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Original poster

NO Olympic Medals - why not?

95 replies

Polyanthus2 · 15/02/2022 12:05

It seems weird we are doing so badly in the winter olympics - is it because of Covid and athletes couldn't get to the best places to train?

Any other suggestions?

OP posts:
ramonaquimby · 15/02/2022 18:38

It’s criminal how many millions are spent on these marginal sports thst are out of reach for the average person growing up in the U.K.
coverage is awful on the BBC too. I’ve always loved watching both summer and winter, but especially the winter games, I think I just get more cynical as I get older

SoMuchToBits · 15/02/2022 18:43

@campion thank you for the compliment regarding my Playmobil version! Smile

CuteOrangeElephant · 15/02/2022 18:50

The Dutch do pretty well and they don't have much snow.

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General sports
muddyford · 15/02/2022 18:51

We aren't good enough.

Original poster
Polyanthus2 · 15/02/2022 18:56

Or we could set up The Moist Olympics full of sports designed for mild drizzle.

Well that explains our prowess at sailing, rowing and fishing (not an Olympic sport yet).

OP posts:
Original poster
Polyanthus2 · 15/02/2022 18:59

Curling is popular here in Scotland, rink is used for skating and ice hockey too.

OP posts:
Mb76 · 15/02/2022 19:10

Because there aren’t enough facilities to train here and it’s too expensive if you want to train professionally. Which means many kids with potential never stand a chance.

Alexandra2001 · 16/02/2022 08:38

@Mb76

Because there aren’t enough facilities to train here and it’s too expensive if you want to train professionally. Which means many kids with potential never stand a chance.
Thats true of almost all sports, which is why so many Olympians come from the private school sector. Even in so called cheap sports, once you get beyond regional competition, time and travel costs are massive.

Many winter sports facilities are in europe, spending long amounts of time training there is almost impossible now.

carbon60 · 16/02/2022 21:46

Disappointing that we haven't won medals , but I've enjoyed most of it.
My favourite commentator quote was in a snowboarding race, a girl raced ahead with the others close behind;
" She must feel like a teenage shoplifter running through a supermarket"
The two lads commentating tend to get a bit overexcited lol

Original poster
Polyanthus2 · 17/02/2022 07:08

Thats true of almost all sports, which is why so many Olympians come from the private school sector.
Even in so called cheap sports, once you get beyond regional competition, time and travel costs are massive.

I suppose that could also explain why we do better than other european countries- we have more private schools!

OP posts:
Original poster
Polyanthus2 · 20/02/2022 04:21

Whahayyy - were 19 th on the medal board - well done the women!

OP posts:
mathanxiety · 20/02/2022 04:25

I think I presumed that all the tv coverage meant we were actually in with a chance. I'm not that gripped to watch other country's sports people.

What an extraordinary comment.

What do you think most of the rest of the world sees in spectacles like the Olympics?

mathanxiety · 20/02/2022 04:27

I suppose that could also explain why we do better than other european countries- we have more private schools!

In what parallel universe does the UK do better than most European countries in sport?

mathanxiety · 20/02/2022 04:39

I think we should withdraw the funding for winter sports. The money would be spent better elsewhere. We've just wasted millions on plain average skiiers and snowboarders - we will never have another Torvill and Dean (don't think they were bestowed with taxpayers money)

The fact that Team GB four man bobsled had to crowdfund to get to the Olympics was mentioned on American coverage.

Nobody else had to do that. The UK should be cringing that you are officially the strange curiosities of winter sport as far as American audiences are concerned. The image of the plucky no-hopers competing on a shoestring budget isn't impressive.

Either fund winter sport sufficiently to get results or don't fund it at all. Or if your athletes need to crowdfund, don't advertise that. It makes the UK look broke and sort of pathetic.

daisychain01 · 20/02/2022 04:53

The UK should be cringing that you are officially the strange curiosities of winter sport as far as American audiences are concerned.

Why should we give a shit what "American audiences" think.

Anyway Team GB Womens team won Gold in the Curling.

Keep up Grin

nettie434 · 20/02/2022 05:07

I think the last Winter Olympics were an anomaly in terms of medals for GB. We never get many medals.

we will never have another Torvill and Dean (don't think they were bestowed with taxpayers money)

There was no lottery funding then but they did get funding from their local council (Nottingham) until they turned professional.

www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/torvill-dean-should-knighted-nottingham-485411

I think now most funding for Olympic sports comes from the lottery and sponsorship. I don't mind curling getting funding when billions have been wasted on track and trace and fraudulent furlough claims.

merrymouse · 20/02/2022 05:11

In what parallel universe does the UK do better than most European countries in sport?

The parallel universe of the Summer Olympics medal table ever since targeted lottery funding was introduced.

British sports funding follows success - previous medal winning record in that sport - and at a grass routes level, potential for participation.

Sports like sailing and rowing are expensive, but in the U.K. it’s easier to get a Steve Redgrave into a boat than skiing down a mountain.

ShippingNews · 20/02/2022 05:16

@TroysMammy

We don't have much snow in the UK? Grin
Australia won 4 this year .
mathanxiety · 20/02/2022 05:25

Australia has many ski resorts and a good deal of snow in the mountains of Victoria and NSW.

merrymouse · 20/02/2022 05:33

Beth Shriever won a BMX gold medal despite receiving no funding, but there will be more British children with access to a BMX bike and somewhere to ride it than there are British children with access to reliable snow.

BasiliskStare · 20/02/2022 05:34

I think we have just won a gold medal in curling - am I right ?

nettie434 · 20/02/2022 06:07

Beth Shriever won a BMX gold medal despite receiving no funding

Ssh, don't mention Beth. Apart from her part time job and help from her family, she crowdfunded her Tokyo bid after British Cycling said they would only fund men in BMX cycling Grin

I think women BMX cyclists now get lottery funding after her success.

BasiliskStare · 20/02/2022 06:31

@nettie434 - I do believe funding follows medals ( know someone who was a paralympian but in their sport they did not qualify )

Leftbutcameback · 20/02/2022 08:41

@BasiliskStare we have! Great work by the curling teams - one silver and one gold!!

Leftbutcameback · 20/02/2022 08:42

I would say that the curling saved the games for us, especially with the medals coming so close to the end of the games. Big thanks to Scotland! (Especially that chap Hammy who I’m now a big fan of!)

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