Golden weekend could represent change in British sporting psyche
What a sublime weekend we have just had the fortune to witness! Gold medals everywhere in Beijing, utter dominance of the velodrome and some top performances on the water in rowing and sailing.
The Great Britain team ascended to third in the medals table, behind China and USA – the Brits have batting high up the order, punching above their weight and any other sporting clichés you can think of.
Although the final standings are likely to change, the achievement for a small nation is remarkable and could signify a fundamental change of attitude right across British sport.
The desire to win was epitomised by the disappointment, frustration and anger shown on the faces of the women’s quadruple sculls team – they were heartbroken to leave the regatta with an Olympic silver medal, whereas not so long ago, the feat may have earned them an OBE.
For too long, the British mentality has focused on taking part, rather than winning – the opposite of teams like Australia and the USA.
Second place is no longer good enough for the Brits – it’s time to emerge from sporting mediocrity, to no longer be satisfied with doing your best if everyone else does better and to do whatever it takes to come out on top.
The hunger, dedication and determination shown by athletes such as Tiger Woods and Michael Phelps must start to be demonstrated by our homegrown sportsmen and women, so that by the time the Games arrive in London, we are challenging in more than just the ‘sitting down’ events and scooping medals across the board.
The National Lottery funding is clearly helping – the facilities, coaches and training environments are in place. Now it comes down to the individuals and their desperation to succeed – follow the example of Rebecca Adlington, Chris Hoy, Rebecca Romero et al and our British athletes may well go down in history come 2012.
