Money worries

OK, OK, so taking part is what matters. But it is medals the viewers want out of the Olympics, lots of them, and for once there is the expectation there will be plenty, perhaps nearly 50, from our cyclists, swimmers, sailors, athletes and the rest. Since the Atlanta Games of 1996, when Britain returned, to the nation’s horror, with just one gold medal (courtesy of Redgrave and Pinsent) and finished 36th in the medals table behind such major sporting nations as Belgium, Algeria and Kazakhstan, expectations have been transformed. It has happened — thank you, John Major’s government — because the National Lottery has produced funding and UK Sport has directed the money, plus the top coaches and the back-up science, to our potential sporting elites.

Ten years ago the thought of an Englishman backed by a British-managed team triumphing in the Tour de France would have had tears of laughter running down French  cheeks.