Stephen Park

Originally posted by ian.r.mcdonald Sky have surprised me by not responding well, and I suspect the rules on Tue will be tightened and revised. But I have not seen any suggestions of cheating, simp!y use of the existing regulations.

I can accept that the TUIs might not have crossed the line ... however Brailsford and Wiggins must have known what was in the Jiffy bag, and any medication, innocent or not, surely should have had traceability.  In the absence of any clear denial, I can only think the worse, sad because I bought into Sky being clean, and Wiggins being a hero, having closely followed the Grand Tours and read his book.  Sky, Brailsford, Wiggins and Cycling GB are inextricably linked.

Originally posted by Sam.Spoons +1 I don't understand how anybody can gain any satisfaction from winning if they do so by cheating.

Firstly. for some people, winning is a job requirement. Satisfaction is just a nice-to-have.
 

Originally posted by Dougaldog Happy New Year to you all..... But now to business. I find it very interesting that the central theme of this thread quickly became focused on the issues in the sport that SP is destined for, but with little in the way of comment on the sport he leaves behind. It has been known for a long time that success in sport is cyclic (yes, even cycling!) - which suggests that not only is the Team GBR grasp on the top spot tenuous, but that there are a number of other nations that are fast improving. Given the time of year, if you were writing a 'state of the nation' report on the racing aspect of the sport (as against the wider, non-competitive participation) it would make for interesting reading. Cue the usual clamour of "we've got great youth activity at our club" but looking ahead - to 2020, then 2024, the situation facing Team GBR might well suggest that not only will success be harder to achieve, but it will come at a higher price. Unless of course we can learn to do 'more with less', as some other nations are doing, but as yet I don't see much evidence of this!

2008 & 2012 obviously inspired and motivated a very large number of youngsters and coaches/helpers to get involved, this plays out at 2016 with an even better result for team GB.  Funding cut-backs will hurt some sports and likely will have some impact in sailing.  Momentum is momentum and many 2016 medalists will return or at least remain involved until 2020.  As far as I know, there hasn't been any mass changes in the running of BOA or team GB/GBR other than leadership at Sailing and Cycling.  So coming off the most successful games ever, IMO team GBR will have a good 2020 as well, there is sufficient strength in depth.

That said, overall, 2020 is likely to garner a lower medal haul than 2016; surely we can't go better than China again - I think their deeper pockets and sheer numbers will be telling given the level of hysteria our press whipped up about that this summer.  Russia may also dig itself out of the hole it has so diligently dug itself into and provide more medalists at the next games.

So for me, the key becomes the reaction to 2020.

If funding is cut again after that games, then lasting damage is likely and that will hurt sports like cycling and sailing (and rowing and....) where expensive equipment is a key to successful campaigning.  2024 will also be a significant amount of time since 2008 when the ramp began in team GB fortunes so you could also predict that serious focus needs to go into passing on coaching and campaigning knowledge in the next cycle otherwise retirements will strip many sports of key resources.  A nasty double whammy of lost experience and lower funding that will surely have only one outcome in terms of team confidence and results.


Edited by getafix - 03 Jan 17 at 10:56am