So nothing to do with the fact that we entered every event, even those we had never qualified in before.. why, because it was our own home Olympics. I bet the figures for the chinese at beijing were similar..

Its just typical Guardianista reporting, like the story they ran about the Coalition selling off playing fields, they actually included the data from 2008 under the title "Coalition...." and failed to mention that many of the "sell offs" were school closures and amalgamations of more than one school. The Daily Heil is on one side of the outrage bus and the Guardian is on the other!

Are their facts wrong?

Yes, it's a pretty strong opinion which goes against the Olympic euphoria that we are all guilty of at the moment but has he actually got a point if we look at it objectively?

You could certainly argue that spending most of your life trying to become an Olympic champion is a selfish objective that achieves nothing but a degree of self satisfaction if you succeed and a lot of wasted time and heartache if you don't.

It's not like most of them have a huge ongoing audience enjoying the fruits of their efforts apart from a few major international competitions leading up the the Olympics (excluding the pros like tennis etc).

As he says, it's great for the three medalists but what about the losers (we aren't supposed to call them that now are we). What have they achieved apart from having to look forward to another hellish four years of training every day and hoping that someone else is going to support them.

Much as I loathe football and the overpaid idiots that play it, you have to admit that their entertainment value is far higher over a long period of time. It wouldn't be a lot of fun for us (or them) if they only got together every four years and only three of them got a prize. Bentley would go bust overnight!

Anyway, I have just loved these Olympics and great credit to all who have taken part but it does make for an interesting discussion.

I'm off back to the TV to watch some more!

Achieving something in life, be it a medal, sporting success or even a promotion at work could be considered the same by that reasoning. Yeah many sportsmen and women are funded by a greater power but not all, as I have already said the shooting gold we won was self funded, as were some of the gymnasts, the dressage girl? She is a groom at a yard, not everyone is funded. Everyone strives towards something, whatever that is they strive towards it and its the mentality of the Guardianistas that say no one should win, a simple google will result in dozens of similar articles by the paper about "fairness" and "equality" in everything from sports to political positions to the playing fields of our schools. Personally I think the journo is a toss pot, but then I think that almost bar none, they all are, they enter the industry with chips on their shoulders and bitterness in them and they look for the nastiest, bitchiest things in life. Like the Mail reporting the opening ceremony was leftist, like the crap they make up on a daily basis. Its cynical Britain at its worse and for that reason I say, the Guardian, wrong about everything, all of the time.

Just as another point, I have watched quite a few team sports in these Olympics and I have to say, while I am not much of a football fan I have watched a few games in the past and I can honestly say that the hockey I have watched during the games, both mens and womens, has been far more impressive, far more exciting and far more engaging than ANY of the games during the Euros, any of them! The problem is that the money is in football and because of that we see no hockey on TV..... they don't just play it every 4 years I'm guessing.... Football is the new Opium for the people.

Well of course those sort of negative articles do seem to sell newspapers, possibly because a large part of their readers are bitter nasty cynical tosspots with even bigger chips on their shoulders!

I can find no fault with that statement at all!

Hope we all feel better getting that of our chests.

Maybe a strongly worded letter to the Ed of these rags would be in order Matt or better still put them on ignore.

I like to think I can see both sides of the argument and have so tried to restrain some of my opinions of late and enjoy all the good things coming from these Olympics and indeed there are many.

However it would be interesting to discuss the ethics of the whole business at a later date.

Oh dear, I've just seen on the news that the Spice Girls are going to perform at the closing ceremony on Sunday evening. I reckon the sourfaced Mrs Beckham wasn't prepared to let her husband play a starring role if she didn't get in on the act as well. No show without Punch, as they say.

Please God no, anything but that.
I'd much rather have Grimethorpe colliery brass band myself.

2008: 639 for China
2012: 564 for UK (Guardian)

And of course we know full well why we entered teams and individuals in every single event, it amazes me when people question why complete no hopers enter these events and their inability to understand the reason is even more of a surprise.

Don't forget that the athletes in normal circumstances race very regularly in international competitions in the Grand Prix events. other sports do the same BUT, it isn't considered good commercial sense to show them, and there are world and european championships in all the sports.

Happy to say I am off to the Olympics in a few hours, got tickets to the Olympic Stadium so hopefully will see a 5000 meter gold medal win tonight :-) Unfortunately there wont be a Brit relay team in contention though, after yesterdays cock up

I'll wave, honest

IF Mo does it I'd love to be there to hear it!