Sports clubs are ‘brought to the brink’ by funding cuts while top athletes are ‘prioritised’ – Daily Mail

Not everyone is happy with Team GB’s record-breaking performances in Brazil, with critics saying an ‘obsession’ with winning medals is killing grassroots sports.

They say officials have done little to improve opportunities for ordinary people to play sports following the 2012 London Olympics.

Despite promises of a ‘legacy’ and more than a million people being inspired to take up sport after 2012, there was evidence of a decrease in participation, they added.

Labour politician Lee Waters said sports clubs had been ‘brought to the brink’ by funding cuts while top athletes were ‘prioritised’.

Mr Waters, a member of the Welsh Assembly, said that policy on sports funding was prioritising elite athletes such as Olympic medallists at the risk of amateur sports.

He said: ‘The medal tally at the Rio Olympics was brilliant and intoxicating. But it masks a growing crisis in sports at a grassroots level, and does nothing to address the wider public health emergency from rising obesity. 

‘An obsession with winning medals risks the future of grassroots sports. 

‘It’s great being near top of the league for medals but we are also top of the league for childhood obesity in Europe and that should come first.’

Officials hoped that the London Games, which cost £9.3billion, would lead to a huge surge in sporting participation and even used the slogan ‘inspire a generation’ on posters.

But Sport England research revealed the number of people playing sport in England had actually fallen in the past four years. The biggest decline was among people from ethnic minorities and economically-deprived groups.

Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust, added: ‘It’s been fantastic to see a growing number of our national heroes coming from comprehensive and other state schools. 

‘But alumni of private schools are still over-represented among our medallists.’

Analysis by the Sutton Trust – which is dedicated to improving social mobility through education – found that the proportion of privately educated Olympic stars has fallen since 2012, with more medals won this year by those who went to state schools.

The analysis showed that 60 per cent of this year’s medallists, including Max Whitlock, Mo Farah, Laura Trott and Nicola Adams, were educated at comprehensive schools. 

Some 32 per cent of Britain’s 130 Rio medallists attended fee-paying schools – a four percentage-point reduction from 2012 – and 8 per cent, including diver Jack Laugher, went to grammar schools, the same as four years ago.

But Sir Peter said some Olympic sports remained dominated by privately educated athletes. 

The trust’s analysis shows that more than half of Team GB’s medal-winning rowers attended fee-paying schools, as did 50 per cent of the women’s hockey team.