Going for gold at the Olympic Games is great – but sport for all is better

There is certainly much to agree with in Barney Ronay’s piece (Do not adjust your reality: how slick Team GB played its part in dividing Britain, 10 August). However, we should welcome the many successes of Team GB over the last quarter of a century (largely fuelled of course by the National Lottery) and not throw away the many positive aspects of what has been achieved.
The clear problem here is that this elite-level sporting success has not been followed up during the same period with the equivalent and necessary levels of investment in grassroots sport at every level.
On the contrary, schools, local authorities and sports clubs have been overlooked or deliberately starved of funding. Meanwhile, participation in sport has taken a back seat for the many families struggling to make ends meet. As sport becomes increasingly commodified, if you can’t afford to pay for it for yourself or your family, then you simply don’t do it.
For many, sport used to be a way out of a deprived background. Not any longer. What’s needed now is a major programme of investment and funding into grassroots and club level sport.
Maybe it’s time to revive the old “Sport for all” mantra, which many of us involved in sport will remember. Brian Cookson Chair, Active Lancashire
I completely agree with Barney Ronay’s piece on the elitism of Team GB. The lack of community benefit from Olympic success feels epitomised by Maindy velodrome in Cardiff. Maindy has produced a score of fantastic and successful cyclists. Elinor Barker, Geraint Thomas and Owain Doull all cut their teeth at the velodrome. This track, instead of enjoying funding in recognition of their success to encourage future medalists, is now facing demolition.
Lottery-funded Team GB very much feels for the few, paid for by the many – with barely recognisable benefits for anyone else.Anthony CusackCardiff
Barney Ronay sadly hit the nail on the head. It was particularly galling that tickets for Team GB House in Paris, where you could watch the Olympic Games and meet the athletes, were being sold for a minimum of £150. Most nations, including the host, had wonderful team houses with more modest entry fees. Sadly, this bears out the argument that Team GB’s main interest is in catering for the elite.Alex SalvoniLondon
Sure, Great Britain has its problems – as does every other country. But as I sat reading Barney Ronay’s article with one eye on the TV, I saw the French team winning Olympic gold in the men’s volleyball and the crowd going wild. France has also had problems of late, but I don’t doubt their pride and patriotism in that moment. Cliche it may be, but George Orwell was right when he wrote: “England is perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality.”Lewis MillsLangholm, Dumfries and Galloway