Olympic graphs

PuttyKnees

I doubt very much that the equipment was the difference. There's only so much you can vary on a bike that makes a difference over 5 minutes racing at this level. One of the successes of BC was to convince everyone that they had the secrets of success whereas Meares showed, if you've got the talent and the belief, it doesn't matter.

I believe the difference between cycling and athletics is the coaching culture. In athletics you have pockets of independent coaching, whereas track cycling being smaller and pretty much focussed on Newport and Manchester is very easily controlled centrally. Can't imagine the Idowu thing happening in cycling.

inkyfingers

I agree, I've always thought that the equipment angle was a bit of a red herring. Sure, aero bikes and helmets will help, but in my opinion British Cycling's success has far more to do with investment in training and the fact that they are enjoying a golden age of talent coming through the system. You could put Hoy and Pendleton on any half decent track bike and they'd still win, the important part is that they are in peak form for the big events and that they believe that they can win.

It will be interesting to see whether they can continue their success with a new generation now that Pendleton has retired, Hoy is going to retire soon and the likes of Thomas and Kennaugh will be returning to the road, at least till the next Olympics. Watch this space...

term1te

iainf72 wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

derbygrimpeur wrote:

Innerring said the £26M was purely the lottery money for the track team olympic period 2009-2013

ORLY? Hmmm. In that case, each medal cost £1.147m

Ok. Based on performance thus far using same scale (3 for gold ,2 silver, 1 bronze)

Athletics : £2.09m per medal
Rowing : £ 1.4m per medal
Swimming : £ 6.27m per medal
Sailing : £ 3.27m per medal

Another way to look at this would be to ask whether the people who ultimately have paid for the medals think its value for money. £1.147 million sounds a lot, but I'd guess at least half the country felt at least a slight warm feeling when they heard about or watched each medal, thats if they were'nt jumping up and down in front of the TV. So if 30 million people had a slight benefit that equates to about 3p each. Thats a lot cheaper than the UKs normal pick-me-ups, Mars bar, bun, beer, fag, shiny new chainset, etc. I'd happily pay 3p per medal.