Gold Rush

Posted by Luke on August 21, 2008 12:29 PM | Permalink

There was a time when an Olympic Gold Medal opened up a certain path to fame and fortune, but what are we going to do with 17 - at my last count on Thursday morning - of them?

Will they still be given the hero treatment, the lucrative commercial deals and a pass on to the talkshow circuit for a stomach-churning meeting with Jonathan Woss, sorry Ross?

Will they still be celebrities in 30 years time measured by their regular appearances on a Question of Sport, or will we have become so used to Olympic glory by that stage that it's the norm rather than the exception?

For the first time in my lifetime, the media are actually starting to become a little blase about our gold-laden sportsmen and women. There is even a hint of a suggestion that bronze and silver medals are now perceived as the runners-ups prizes they should be.

Unfairly so, if you ask me, when you consider these people are in the top three in the world in their particular discipline, but at least it shows we are developing the sort of winning mentality which was once the domain of the Americans and Australians. First is everything.

Blimey, I can remember watching Olympic Games where a bronze medal in the cycling was enough to make you back page news, while a gold medal would mean your features would dominate the front pages for days after.

Gold medals used to mean you were destined to became a millionaire when you returned home - the sparsity of our success made it lucrative - but I bet none of you can name all of our gold medal winners in Beijing. I wonder if this will have a knock-on effect on their earning potential? Just a thought, but it should not detract from what has been a truly memorable Games for Britain and its athletes.

Considering the frequency with which we have under-achieved as a sporting nation the Great before Britain has always looked rather out of place, but in 2008, as we proudly sit in third spot in the medal table behind the world's only two superpowers - China and the USA - it is a fitting tag.

Forget the failures of our football teams, ignore the letdowns of our cricketers, the Olympics is the biggest sporting event on the planet and we have - for arguably the first time in a century - got every right to be proud of our flag, our national anthem and the efforts of our athletes. We've even shut the Aussies up for once who are busy whinging into their watery lager and complaining about the fact surfing and cane toad killing aren't Olympic sports!

Once the masters of the valiant defeat or the head-throbbing anti-climax, Team GB have broken the mould. Our athletes have not buckled under pressure, they have not wilted in the heat and they have not fluffed up a penalty shoot-out. They have gone about their business ruthlessly and professionally - the medals and the rewards they bring are fully deserved for the hardwork they have invested.

Yet, while they may have done all the hardwork, we should also take the opportunity to give ourselves a little pat on the back. Why? Well because without our willingness to buy lottery tickets and scratch cards - also known as the poor man's tax - none of them would have got the funding for their training, coaching or, perhaps even their plane ticket to China!

So, there you go, sitting in an armchair and holding on to the dream that a 1-10,000,000 chance might just turn you into a millionaire overnight is helping to transform our elite athletes from no-hopers into gold medal winners. An achievement the whole country can rightly be proud of!