Journal Nacional – UK invests in sports and becomes a factory of champions

The British delegation shined at Rio 2016: second in the medal table. It was an impressive feat 20 years after the fiasco of the Olympic Games in Atlanta.

It wasn’t easy for the UK to see another country with an Olympics that they used to call their own. Four years after the London Olympics, the former host city faced a newer, prettier, and more fascinating tide.

British elbow pain was treated on the basis of the medal. Of the 366 athletes who took part, 130 climbed to the podium, one in three, making the country a new superpower in the sport.

Speaking this way, the UK sounds gigantic, but Brazil is 35 times bigger. The British population is less than a third of our population. But this little island has everything to set an example for us in Hell.

Twenty years ago, in Atlanta, the British took only one gold, a total of 15 medals. They finished 36th, 11 places behind Brazil. Now, of the 67 medals, 27 were gold.

Several factors explain the amazing second place: hiring the best foreign coaches like cycling, attention to detail – even experts control the athletes’ sleep quality. There was also a decline in the performance of old competitors such as Australia and Russia.

The most specific is luck. A national lottery was created to fund the sport two decades ago. The investment jumped from R$ 20 million in Atlanta to over R$ 1 billion.

An independent organization, without political appointments, administers these funds. UK Sport chief explains that the expenses are for training centers and elite athletes, such as Adam Petty, who earns R$60,000 per month to devote himself each month. The way the results do not appear loses appeal. It has already happened with volleyball.

Critics argue that each medal cost R$20 million. But encouraging them in exercise and health and in the formation of examples is great. It is worth more than gold.