The GB Women's Olympic Volleyball squad had their funding withdrawn for their 'home' Olympics next year because they were not considered a strong enough medal prospect. Funding is currently concentrated on those teams most likely to perform well.
At first sight this seems logical - why waste money on teams unlikely to win?
But that is falling for the trap of solving a problem before really thinking through what the objectives are. That leads to 'solutions' very unlikely to result in what you really want to achieve.
What are the Olympic Games all about? Should it be 'win at all cost'? Is it worth spending £1million per Gold? Is a Silver worth half that, and Bronze a quarter?
Should they be dominated by sponsorship of powerful global brands, many of which have unhealthy products and are using the OG to achieve apparent support of and endorsement by top athletes who wouldn't win if they actually used the products.
What messages are we giving to our children? Unless you are the best in the world, you are a failure, and don't expect encouragement or support?
By giving all the money to the most successful teams, are we stifling new sports or development of sports currently unpopular in our country? Volleyball may be a minority sport in GB but it is in the top 5 worldwide - the men's volleyball final at the Beijing Olympics having bigger global TV viewing than the football World Cup final!
Is it a self-fulfilling approach? Give money to likely winners and not to less likely ones, then justify it by saying 'see, they won'
Fundamentally, what is the purpose of sport in the modern world?
The team have responded to having their funds withdrawn by becoming even more determined to live their Olympic dream. They have been using various univeristy's facilities for traing and carrying out a range of fund raising activites. Watching them train one can see their dedication and determination, ironically reinforced by their poor treatment. Let's hope they are successful and achieve the objective the Olympic movement should have at it heart.
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