Olympics

[ForsolongaRover]

Our media will soon be focussing on the “Medal Table” where, in the collective opinion of the mass media, we have punched above our weight in recent Games.

I wonder if anyone else has wondered whether there is any downside to this. When the Iron Curtain was in place there used to be a lot of criticism of Communist bloc country athletes who were hoovering up the medals. The argument was firstly that they weren’t amateurs and second that their success was at the expense of their ordinary citizens whose working and living conditions were poor and the athletic success was a false illustration of the reality of life in their countries

My point is that you can relate this to the UK now. All those medals in recent years derived from what can only be classed as gambling by ordinary people have presented GB to the World as sporting superpower.

But alongside it, we have failing public services resulting in poor health and crumbling infrastructure, not to mention massive national debt, food banks etc., etc.

Is it right? Or would re-application of the funding be only a drop in the ocean?

[Ldr]

Am in the minority that doesn’t care a thing about the olympics?

[ncRover]

In the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index, the UK ranks 13th out of 193 nations.

The index calculates a score based on income, health, education and living standards.

[normal rules]

The Olympics are about as interesting as Eurovision.

[Nudga]

The Olympics are about as interesting as Eurovision.

Opening ceremony was like the eurovision.