Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Donald MacLeod: Millions of pounds make prizes in the Olympic Games show

Team GB cyclists Laura Trott and Jason Kenny (Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)
Team GB cyclists Laura Trott and Jason Kenny (Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

TEAM GB’s 2016 Rio Olympians have more bling than a hip hop rap act.

“Didn’t they do well?” as Bruce Forsyth might say.

But that would be an understatement, given the team’s record-breaking achievements and blistering performances.

Do well? They were absolutely magnificent!

They are the most successful GB Team in decades and have proved that this generation of Olympians are on top of their game.

I must confess that I bemoaned the inclusion of some sports, such as golf and tennis, in a previous column. Not now, certainly not after seeing what winning or losing a medal means to most of the competitors.

It is their love, their life, their passion. Their reason for being.

Winning is worth all the years of sacrifice, training and every drop of blood, sweat and tears.

Still, with so much gold they could probably pay off our national debt, the only worry our returning athletes will have, is if they have paid for an extra weight allowance for the flight home.

Especially our loved-up Golden Couple, record-breaking cyclists Jason Kenny and Laura Trott, who have amassed an astonishing 10 gold medals between them.

Enough to make a solid gold tandem!

It’s a crying shame that the spectres of illegal pay-offs and state-sponsored doping have hung over these games.

Investigations into such crimes have to be transparent, rigorous and thorough. They haven’t been.

Punishments have to be hard and effective. They aren’t.

Most importantly, all competing nations’ governing sports bodies must sign up to one code of conduct and one set of rules – and abide by them.

The International Olympic Committee have to get tough – starting with themselves. If they show the world they mean business, then credibility will return to the Olympics.

What cannot be argued though is that the millions of pounds invested in the development of our sport, some £350 million, funds drawn from the National Lottery and our tax, was pledged by UK

Sport from 2013-17, up 11% from the previous four years.

That proves London 2012 was no fluke, but part of a carefully thought-out triumph.

Now sports such as athletics, cycling and gymnastics – which were previously underfunded – now have modern, well-equipped facilities, top coaches and sports science centres.

And the dividends are there for all to see and admire – medals by the bucketload.

It’s been a marathon journey but a winning mentality has now returned, thanks to that investment.

Our Olympians’ success has enthused, inspired and engaged the British public.

Billions are spent, a lot wasted, on improving the host cities’ infrastructure.

The once derelict Docklands area chosen for the London Games site is again a sight for sore eyes.

But the real legacy of any Games, the true measure of success, is gauged not by how many mega-expensive ‘white elephant ‘ facilities have been built to host them, but by how many medals your sportsmen and women actually manage to bring home.

Going for gold costs money and if we want our sporting success to continue, then we must keep the investment on track.

“Good Games! Good Games!” as Bruce Forsyth might say.


READ MORE

The internet sees the funny side of the Rio Olympics 2016

Feeling inspired by the Olympics? How to get yourself into running