Great Britain Storms up the Olympics Medals Table Thanks to Lottery Funding

The extraordinary success of the past three days is the first dividend of investment in elite sport that began seriously eight years ago. Success in cycling, rowing and sailing – the “sitting-down sports” as sneeringly observed by an Australian writer – means that Britain is almost certain to meet the target of 35 medals set by UK Sport, the distributor of Lottery funds to elite athletes.

Before the Games, the agency’s target was eighth place in the medals table, which would equate to 12 gold medals. With the strong cycling hopes still to come, Britain was just one shy of that in last night’s standing.

As the Government prepares to pour another £400 million into Olympic sport in preparation for 2012, the target is fourth place. After this weekend’s performance, that ambition does not seem as lofty as it did before the 311-strong team flew to Beijing.

“We have never had a weekend like it,” Colin Moynihan, chairman of the British Olympic Association, said. “What you are seeing is Team GB raising their game on the highest stage and that must inspire the country to back the teams as we move forward. We must build on it – we must build on it immediately.”

Despite the success in Beijing, a battle looms between sports administrators and politicians for £100 million promised under a £600 million six-year funding package agreed by Gordon Brown when he was Chancellor.

A fifth of the money was supposed to come from the private sector, but consultants are struggling to raise it because of the credit crunch and competition from London 2012 marketing executives sucking up cash in a tight sponsorship market.

Given the public enthusiasm fired by British performances in Beijing, it would be a brave government that denied the resources needed for sporting success in its own backyard.

In the final assessment of Beijing over the coming months, some tough decisions will still have to be made. By Christmas, UK Sport will have a funding plan in place for 2012, where Britain is aiming for representation in all 26 sports.

Sports that have consistently failed to meet expectations, particularly athletics, where 47 gold medals are competed for, will be under scrutiny. It is widely considered that Kelly Holmes’s double gold in the 800 metres and the 1,500 metres and a shock victory for the men’s 4x100 metres relay team bailed out British athletics chiefs at the Athens Games.