Winter Olympics: It's About the Future

Simon Clegg, Britain’s chef de mission at the Olympics, claimed here last night that the team had enjoyed a successful 17 days despite picking up only one medal. Winter sports received £2.3m to prepare for these Olympics, which closed last night. Some will say it is a lot of money just for the silver medal won in the bob skeleton by Shelley Rudman.

But it compares favorably with the Olympics two years ago when the summer sports received £70m to prepare for Athens. Britain won 30 medals there also at an average of £2.3m each. Clegg warned that was far too a simplistic formula, especially in the winter games, where Britain is always going to be at a disadvantage because of its lack of natural facilities.

"Overall, we are delighted," Clegg said. "But we need to scratch below the surface of the medals table." Clegg was referring to the likes of Kristan Bromley and Jon Eley, fifth in the skeleton and 500 meters short track speed skating respectively, and Chemmy Alcott, whose 11th place in the downhill was the best result by a British female skier since the 1968 Olympics. Also encouraging was the performance of John and Sinead Kerr in the ice dance. They finished 10th and can look forward confidently to Vancouver in 2010.

"Youth is on the side of our competitors and, with consistent levels of funding, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t see better performances at Vancouver," said Clegg. At a time when extra government funding for the 2012 Olympics in London is proving to be a controversial topic, it was refreshing to hear John Kerr dispute the theory more money would automatically equal more medals.

"It’s not just about putting a lot of money in," he said. "There are a lot of factors involved. It’s about how you train, where you train, who you train with. The biggest mistake would be suddenly putting a lot of money in. It’s up to us to improve."

Rudman is the perfect example of a competitor who has progressed on a limited budget. With her performance here, she has qualified for a £24,000 per year funding package from UK Sport and the Wiltshire athlete has begun acquiring the trappings of a celebrity. Fortunately, though, there appears little sign of Rudman having her head turned.

"I am not a big star and I have got to keep my feet on the ground," she said. "I expect there will be a little bit of hype when I get home because I am the only medal-winner. But I am not Kelly Holmes, I have not brought home two gold medals from the summer games so I think I have got to be a little bit realistic there."

As a former military man, Clegg must be envious of the kind of support the German army gives to its country’s athletes. Germany has dominated here with 29 medals - including 11 gold - and two thirds of their team are in the army, who spend an incredible £18m on funding elite athletes. The army has 22 training departments across Germany. Altogether, they support 744 athletes in 70 sports. This is a legacy of the German parliament’s decision in 1968 to promote sports in the country and primarily use the army for that purpose.

"We are mostly here for the people who can’t finance their training themselves," said Georg Remmert, in charge of the army’s athletics training department. In other words, the army is a kind of social net. It gives athletes the security to pursue their sport and in turn shows the army and Germany in a good light internationally.

Sweden finished their Winter Games campaign in style by taking gold in the men’s ice hockey with a 3-2 victory over Finland. It was the country’s first Olympic hockey gold medal in 12 years.