Abstract

Iit is a great time to be involved in British sport following the remarkable performances of Team GB in the recent Beijing Olympic Games. You do not need to be reminded, although the rest of world must be, that in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, United Kingdom athletes, not yet Team GB, garnered just one medal. To progress in 12 years to the current situation in which your Olympic athletes won more than 40 medals is an achievement equalled perhaps only by Australia and East Germany in the recent past. Indeed the evidence I observe and the mood I have encountered suggests that the world has yet to see the peak of this British Olympic success; that Team GB has the capacity to improve yet further. In the years to come it will become apparent that however remarkable was your team’s performance in the Beijing Olympics, it was relatively pedestrian compared to what lies ahead at your London Olympic Games and beyond.