£22.1 million

cougie

Well apparently - there are only 100 Yngling crews in the world - so I'm not even sure how that is an Olympic sport. But if we're talking posh kit - then our track bikes werent exactly run of the mill were they ?

iainf72

flattythehurdler wrote:

Funding posh folk in boats is a different issue. They should ban hobbies like sailing from the olympics.

Aren't bicycles just toys? Why should they be at the Olympics?

Kléber

All sports start as hobbies. You can buy a sailing boat for less than a Pinarello.

You need to distinguish between funding elite sport and funding grass roots sports.

Paying Chris Hoy's mortgage and giving him the best coaching is very different from stopping Meadowbank from being sold off or extending cycling proficiency schemes to get kids on bikes.

robthehungrymonkey

When you consider how many millions the countless Government initiatives to get people active etc cost, then the Cycling medal haul is great value for money. I'm sure a hell of a lot more people will take an interest in cycling now than before, as well as all the other in-direct benefits (like national pride).

The only progression being made by Man these days is what's profitable. Everything has to be justified to such an extent that the intial budget for any project is mostly gone before it gets started. :x

ride_whenever

I think the idea that power output is all that matters is a bit ridiculous, there are lots of world class indoor rowers, who produce tonnes of power but can't row for s**t. The idea that you can't be scientific about training for track and field or even swimming is equally daft. The analytical techniques are there and empolyable, it is just the competition is stiffer due to being more popular. If you have a set kitty for funding an olympic effort then it is in your best interests to fund events where there is less competition.

LangerDan

cougie wrote:

Well apparently - there are only 100 Yngling crews in the world - so I'm not even sure how that is an Olympic sport.

They must be absolutely spoilt for kit. According to the Yngling Association, there are about 4000 Yngling boats worldwide.

cougie

Really ? Pah - I read that in the Times i think - what do they know ? OK - 4000 does sound a bit more like an Olympic sport.

Monty Dog

In one of the papers they estimated that the cost of each gold medal in cycling was £300k - or about 2 weeks money for a footy player to spend on clothes, cars, charlie and women....that's a pretty good rate of return IMO.

iainf72

Monty Dog wrote:

In one of the papers they estimated that the cost of each gold medal in cycling was £300k - or about 2 weeks money for a footy player to spend on clothes, cars, charlie and women....that's a pretty good rate of return IMO.

That number varies. If you look at what they spent it comes in at over £1m per medal.

andyp

iainf72 wrote:

That number varies. If you look at what they spent it comes in at over £1m per medal.

That's Olympic medals presumably? Given that the objective is to win World and Olympic medals then it'd be interesting to see what the cost is per medal in the past 4 years. Get to it Iain.

iainf72

andyp wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

That number varies. If you look at what they spent it comes in at over £1m per medal.

That's Olympic medals presumably? Given that the objective is to win World and Olympic medals then it'd be interesting to see what the cost is per medal in the past 4 years. Get to it Iain.

Yep, Olympic medals.

Thinking about the track events.

5 days per year for Worlds track events
5 days every 4 years for Olympics

25 days worth of medal options on the track over 4 years.

That's £880K per day. Which based on the (entire cycling) Olympic squad is about £35K per athlete per day.

So they're actually pretty good value for money when they win.