Now let’s beat the Chinese at engineering!
There has been a considerable amount of celebration over the fact that this country beat the Chinese to second place in the medals table at the Rio Olympics. But might there not be greater cause to celebrate had we beaten them in a more ‘serious’ field, such as nuclear engineering?
Peter Davey, Moordown, Bournemouth You report that Britain was 36th in the medals tables at the Atlanta Olympics 20 years ago. Yet with £5billion of Lottery funding, the UK is now second in Rio. If only our politicians would invest heavily in UK infrastructure, research and development, maybe we might see a similar boost to the UK in international economic tables.
John A. Hartley, Ripley, Surrey Whether or not one was overly, or even particularly interested in the Olympics, the delicious feeling of togetherness engendered in we Brits in all corners of these islands by the success of our athletes was palpable and so welcome.
Inevitably though, it did not take our esteemed First Minister long to bring the dead hand of the SNP down on all this togetherness, with her bleating about the possible loss of countless billions from the Scottish economy due to Brexit. Needless to say, the probable loss of countless billions more should Scotland ever become separated from the rest of the UK, by far our biggest export market, was not mentioned.
We Scots need to wake up and see the dangers posed to us.
John W Stephen, Aberdeen Congratulations to those Olympians who won medals in Rio. But please let’s not get carried away with handing out ‘gongs’ like dolly mixtures. Our honours system has been degraded enough, with successive Prime Ministers nominating those who are wealthy enough to write fat cheques to their party’s coffers in return for knighthoods. There are thousands of people in the UK who spend their whole lives doing lots of things for others without any recognition – or even expecting any recognition – who are never rewarded. Ian Caldwell, Bournemouth I do not agree with Peter Hitchens and his negative comments over the Olympics in last week’s Mail on Sunday. Right from a young age, involvement in sport is important. This involvement teaches you how to be aware of your physical condition and, as a team member, to work together for a common cause that may bring a collective triumph. If a child shows an exceptional ability and they have an opportunity and a desire to maximise that ability, then participation in the Olympics is the ultimate goal.
M. Busby, Birchington, Kent I can’t believe I was alone in finding Peter Hitchens’s comparison of Team GB’s Olympic training system with that of the old East German ‘medals factory’ uncomfortably accurate. The UK’s state-funded, multi-million-pound training facilities, salaried competitors and elitist medical care is certainly a far cry from the original Olympic ideal.
Roy Daniels, Luton May I ask your letter-writer Philip Codd – who brands the young as mobile phone-obsessed ‘zombies’ – if he is aware of the thousands of young boys and girls who train daily in the swimming pools of Britain, who attend the running tracks to train for track and field, who attend the local gyms to train for netball, hockey, football, rugby, gymnastics, boxing and other martial arts. Not to mention all the other activities that will never enter into the competitive area of the Olympic Games, such as dance and theatre.
David Quinn, North Shields, Tyne and Wear