公知又被打脸了:英国人说:我们也是举国体制

   The Return of the British Empire 龙腾网版权所有 http://www.ltaaa.com
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Jessica Ennis celebrates at the British trials in June. London 龙腾网版权所有 http://www.ltaaa.com
Great Britain came home from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics with just one gold medal—two fewer than Kazakhstan—and a wounded national psyche. Sixteen years later, Team GB has been overhauled and rebuilt thanks to a machine-like agencyflush with cash from the U.K. lottery that grooms British athletes. The result could be a record-setting performance herefor the home squad.
      Britain's quiet rise in Olympic competition over the past decade and a half—from winning a paltry 15 medals in 1996 to scoring 47 in 2008—is a textbook turnaround story. TheU.K. has turbocharged its Olympic apparatus in anticipation of the London games, filling the coffers of the publicly chartered agency that grooms athletes; recruiting foreign-born competitors known as "Plastic Brits"; importing top coaches; and ruthlessly focusingthe country's efforts
   
The outcome is that Britain could step out of the shadows from longtime Olympic powerhouses such as the U.S., China and Russia and make some headlines of its own. Goldman Sachs & Co. forecastsBritain will win more gold medalsthan Russia this summer, a potential upset that would mark a major milestone in Olympic history. The bank's analysts estimate Britain will win 65 medals overall, 38% more than it did in 2008.
   
"This is not about taking part. It'sabout winning," said Liz Nicholl, chief executive of U.K. Sport, the agency tasked with winning Olympic medals for Britain.
Nicholl predicts the U.K. will seeits best performance in modern times this summer. "I have no doubt about it, actually," she said. Since persuading the government to hand over extra money in 2006, the U.K. team has enjoyed "optimal funding," she said.
It wasn't always this way for British athletes. The disastrous performance in Atlanta was devoured by the British press, which pointed to tales of hard-upathletes, including that of two U.K. divers, Bob Morgan and Tony Ally, who hawked their official Olympic gear on the streets of Atlanta for cash.
The loss to Kazakhstan merited special scorn. "A nation of goat-keepers and shepherds lastnight humiliated the might of Great Britain's Olympic team," the Daily Mirror tabloid wrote at the time, decrying the indignity of losing to a country "where locals use eagles to catch food."
The crisis prompted British politicians to divert money from the newly created U.K. lottery into a sports apparatus that would churn out medal-winning athletes and restore national pride.
That agency, U.K. Sport, was launched in 1997. It initially prioritized the few sports where Britain excelled—rowing, sailing,cycling and track and field—and focused on athletes within thosesports who had a shot at medals.
It was a hard-nosed approach. U.K. Sport even rooted out"system blockers," or athletes who were competing internationally but had passed their prime and appeared unlikely to win Olympic medals. From then on, U.K. Sport would provide ample funding to athletes—if they had a metallic future.
"We are investing in the outcome of medal success," Nicholl says. "We are absolutely,unapologetically focused on that.So we will make the tough calls."
So intent was Britain on winningmedals that it encouraged some high-performing athletes to switch into sports where they would have a better shot at making it to the Olympic podium. Rebecca Romero, for instance, won a silver medal in rowing at the 2004 Athens Olympics but was later encouraged to switch to track cycling, where she won gold in the 2008 Games.
The U.K. Olympic team started rising. It won 28 medals at the 2000 Sydney Games, 10th in the medal standings. Four yearslater it notched 30 medals. By 2008 in Beijing, its 47 medals ranked behind only the U.S., China and Russia.
This year, Britain has even loftier hopes. The London Games will host the country's biggest and best-funded team ever, with 542 members. The athletes aim to fend off Germany and Australia to retain Britain's No. 4 spot in the overallmedal haul. If they're lucky, they'll win more golds than Russia. "I believe it's our strongest team since 1908," said Martin Polley, a sports historian and author of the book"The British Olympics."
Britain enjoys a meaningful home-field advantage. Nations win 54% more medals when they are host countries rather than ordinary participants, according to Goldman Sachs calculations that measured Summer Olympics from 1972 to2008.
Perhaps the U.K.'s biggest hopeis in cycling, where Chris Hoy became the first Briton in a century to win three gold medalsat a single Olympics in 2008. Other British competitors with multiple past medals include Ben Ainslie, one of the best competitive sailors in history, and swimmer Rebecca Adlington, who won two golds in 2008.
Team GB is also relying on a raft of first-time medal aspirants.This is particularly so in track and field, where it recruited Charles Van Commenee, a Dutch coach controversial for his take-no-prisoners approach, to improve the team.
Jessica Ennis, the track and field star plastered on billboards across Britain, could take gold inthe heptathlon, while brothers Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee could snatch Britain's first-ever medals in the triathlon.
Mo Farah, the current men's 5,000-meter world champion, has a realistic chance of ending Ethiopia's 16-year reign in the men's Olympic 10,000-meter event at the London Games. Farah, who was born in Somaliabut moved to Britain at age 8, has been training in the Rift Valley in Kenya, which has started hosting an annual high-altitude training camp for British athletes thanks to newly robust funding.
To avoid the pain of underperforming in London, Britain agreed in 2006 to provideU.K. Sport with extra funding. U.K. Sport is almost done dolingout £312 million (about$488 million) to teams and individuals for the London cycle (2009-2013), up from about£265 million spent for Beijing (2005-2009). U.S. teamsdon't enjoy a similar pot of publicfunding for Olympic sports and instead raise money largely fromprivate donors.
U.K. Sport has used the extra money to support athletes as faras eight years in advance of Olympic qualification. Keri-Anne Payne, the 24-year-old British gold medal favorite in long-distance swimming, was first spotted by British coaches in South Africa at age 8.
U.K. Sport operates via a shrewd method that includes strict performance targets for the athletes, the teams and the agency itself.
The agency ranks British athletes across all sports on the basis of their chance of winning an Olympic medal, slating athletes with multiple-medal winning potential at the top. The ranking, reviewed annually, determines how much individualfunding each athlete gets. The higher the ranking, the more money.
"Our no-compromise approach says we're not going to compromise and give everyone a bit," Nicholl says. "We are going to invest absolutely the right amount of money from the top down on our meritocratic list." The agency also shifts money to sports that show morepromise.
Though the 2012 team may be the finest in Britain's modern Olympic history, it isn't likely to beat the country's medal tally from the 1908 London Games, when British officials drew up the program of events and included oddball sports such as motorboat racing, the tug of war and rackets, allowing Britain to scoop 146 medals. "Nobody else[besides the British] really knew the rules," Polley said.
Still, for today's British team, thebiggest challenge may come after London. Almost all teams see a dip in performance after their country hosts the Olympics, but Nicholl says she aims to replicate or beat the U.K.'s 2012 medal haul four years from now in Rio de Janeiro. "That," she said, "wouldbe a real statement to the world that this system really is working."
作者：Paul Sonne & Jonathan Clegg 翻译：Melchior
                   英国的金牌梦
英国奥运军团能否重振帝国雄风？ 1996年亚特兰大奥运会，大不列颠只带回了一枚金牌和一颗受伤的民族心，比哈萨克斯坦还少两枚。16年后，通过从国家彩票基金筹措充裕资金和、如机器般精密运作的培训部门，英国奥运代表团(Team GB)已经彻底改头换面。结果就是英国队有望在自家主场实现创纪录的表现。(注 现在已至金牌榜第三)
从1996年微不足道的15枚奖牌到2008年的47枚，英国过去15年在奥运会赛场的悄然崛起，这是官办体育取得成就的典型案例。为备战伦敦奥运会，英国全面加强奥运战略，为政府指定的运动员训练部门投入财政资金，招募“塑料英国人”(Plastic Brits)(即并非在英国出生，通过入籍变成英国人)运动员，引进顶级教练，并重点投入有机会赢得奖牌的项目。
如此一搏，英国可能会走出美国、中国和俄罗斯等传统奥运强国的阴影，并且还有望制造出一些头条新闻。高盛(Goldman Sachs & Co.)预测英国今年夏天赢的金牌将超过俄罗斯(现在这个预测已经落实)，这个冷门或许会成为奥运史上的一个重要里程碑。高盛的分析师预测英国将赢得65枚奖牌，比2008年多出38%。
“不仅仅是参与，关键是要赢。” ——利兹·尼克尔(“英国体育”(U.K. Sport)的首席官员)
尼克尔预计，英国在本届奥运会上将获得有史以来以来最优秀的成绩，她对此信心满满。据尼克尔透露，从2006年说服政府划拨更多资金开始，英国队就享受到了“最优厚的资助”。
英国运动员并非向来就享受着这种待遇。他们在亚特兰大奥运会的糟糕表现遭到英国媒体穷追猛打，媒体指责英国运动员为钱不择手段，其中包括两名跳水运动员摩根(Bob Morgan)和艾利(Tony Ally)，他们在亚特兰大沿街兜售自己的奥运队服换取现金。而金牌数低于哈萨克斯坦的事实更是频招的白眼。英国小报《每日镜报》(Daily Mirror)刻薄地写道，“昨晚一个牧羊之国羞辱了大不列颠奥运队的威力”，谴责输给一个“国民用老鹰捕捉食物”的国家是对英国的侮辱。
这场危机促使英国政府成立的国家彩票基金以筹措体育经费，再把经费划拨给能够培养让运动员夺得奖牌的体育部门，借此重振民族威望——这就是于1997年成立“英国体育”(U.K. Sport)的背景。该部门承担起了为英国夺取奥运奖牌的任务，起初的重点是英国擅长项目，包括赛艇、帆船、自行车和田径，并着重培养在这些项目中有望拿到奖牌的运动员。
这是一条务实的路子。“英国体育”甚至根除了“体制障碍”，也就是剔除那些正在国际上参加大赛，但到下届奥运会时可能太老的运动员。自那时起，“英国体育”为运动员提供了充足的资金支持前提是他们未来有赢奖牌的希望。
尼克尔解释说：“我们是在为奖牌而投资，我们完全是以此为中心，而且对此毫无愧疚。所以我们要做出艰难的选择。” 英国想赢奖牌的希望是如此迫切，甚至鼓励有些高水平运动员转向其更有希望进军奥运会的项目。罗梅罗(RebeccaRomero)就是一个例子。她在2004年雅典奥运会夺得赛艇项目银牌，但后来被鼓励转向场地自行车项目，她在2008年奥运会上夺得该项目的金牌。
渐渐地，英国奥运代表团的成绩开始上升。2000年悉尼奥运会英国队夺得28枚奖牌，在奖牌榜名列第10位，四年后夺得30枚奖牌，到2008年的北京奥运会，其47枚奖牌的成绩仅次于美国、中国和俄罗斯。
伦敦就是决战场
2012，世界目光聚焦奥运东道主，而英国也有了更高的目标。伦敦奥运会将迎来该国历史上规模最大、资金支持最雄厚的代表团，共542名队员。运动员们的目标是挡住德国和澳大利亚的攻势，保住英国奖牌榜第四名的位置。如果他们够幸运，说不定金牌数还能超过俄罗斯。体育历史学家、《英国奥运史》(The British Olympics)的作者波利(Martin Polley)说，我认为这是1908年以来我们实力最强的团队。
今年英国有着很强的主场优势。高盛对1972年至2008年期间夏季奥运会数据的研究显示，主办国赢得的奖牌数会比不担任主办国时多54%。
也许英国最大的希望是在自行车项目。2008年，自行车运动员霍伊(Chris Hoy)成为100年来第一个在一届奥运会赢得三枚金牌的英国选手。获得过多枚奥运奖牌的其他英国运动员还包括历史上最优秀的帆船运动员之一艾恩斯利(Ben Ainslie)，以及在2008年赢得两枚金牌的游泳运动员阿德灵顿(Rebecca Adlington)。
英国队也在指望大量有志夺取奖牌的新秀，在田径项目上尤其如此。英国田径队已经聘任荷兰教练查尔斯.范.康蒙尼(Charles Van Commenee)来提高团队水平，他的强硬手段颇惹争议。
海报遍布英国的田径明星恩尼斯(Jessica Ennis)有望夺得女子七项全能金牌，而阿里斯泰尔?布朗利(Alistair Brownlee)和乔纳森?布朗利(Jonathan Brownlee)兄弟有望摘得英国第一枚三项全能比赛奖牌。
男子5,000米长跑世界冠军法拉(Mo Farah)很有希望在伦敦奥运会上结束埃塞俄比亚对奥林匹克男子一万米项目的统治。法拉出生于索马里，在八岁时移居英国。他一直在肯尼亚的东非大裂谷(Rift Valley)训练。由于英国政府的强大资金支持，东非已经开始每年为英国运动员设立高海拔训练营。
我们只为奖牌付钱
为避免在伦敦奥运上表现不佳，英国于2006年同意为“英国体育”提供额外的一份资助。“英国体育”仅在伦敦奥运周期(2009-2013)发放的资金已接近3.12亿英镑(约合4.88亿美元)，高于北京奥运周期(2005-2009)的约2.65亿英镑。相比之下，美国奥运代表团没有类似的政府资金，其资金主要通过私人捐赠筹集。
早在伦敦获得奥运会主办权前八年，“英国体育”就开始用这笔额外资金支持运动员。当时，英国教练在南非发掘了时年八岁、现年24岁的长距离游泳运动员佩恩(Keri-Anne Payne)。英国官方认为他是最有望夺得金牌的英国人。
“英国体育”通过一种精明务实的方式运营，包括对运动员、团队及自身部门设置严格的成绩目标。
该部门根据赢得奖牌的几率将所有项目的英国运动员进行排名，将有潜力夺得多枚奖牌的运动员排在最前面。这份每年复查一次的排名会决定每位运动员能获得多少个人资助。排名越高，资金越多。
尼克尔说，“我们遵循‘零妥协方式’，我们不会让步，不会每个人都分一点，我们会按照人排名表顺序，投入与成绩相当的资金数额。”
官办体育将继续
尽管2012代表团可能是英国现代奥运会历史上最优秀的团队，但打破英国在1908年伦敦奥运会上的奖牌纪录也很难。当时英国政府拟定项目计划，将摩托艇比赛、拔河和网球等古怪的项目列入赛程，令英国斩获146枚奖牌。体育历史学家波利说，“(除了英国人)没有人真正懂得比赛规则。”
不过，对如今的英国队来说，最大的挑战或许是在伦敦奥运会后。一个国家主办奥运会后，该国代表团的表现几乎都会下滑(或许这次中国除外)，但尼克尔说，她希望四年后英国队在里约热内卢能保持或打破其在2012年的奖牌成绩。她说，这将会向世界真正证明，这个(官方)体制真的在起作用。
本文原文链接：http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304388004577533113248950468.html#articleTabs%3Darticle   The Return of the British Empire 龙腾网版权所有 http://www.ltaaa.com
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Jessica Ennis celebrates at the British trials in June. London 龙腾网版权所有 http://www.ltaaa.com
Great Britain came home from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics with just one gold medal—two fewer than Kazakhstan—and a wounded national psyche. Sixteen years later, Team GB has been overhauled and rebuilt thanks to a machine-like agencyflush with cash from the U.K. lottery that grooms British athletes. The result could be a record-setting performance herefor the home squad.
      Britain's quiet rise in Olympic competition over the past decade and a half—from winning a paltry 15 medals in 1996 to scoring 47 in 2008—is a textbook turnaround story. TheU.K. has turbocharged its Olympic apparatus in anticipation of the London games, filling the coffers of the publicly chartered agency that grooms athletes; recruiting foreign-born competitors known as "Plastic Brits"; importing top coaches; and ruthlessly focusingthe country's efforts
   
The outcome is that Britain could step out of the shadows from longtime Olympic powerhouses such as the U.S., China and Russia and make some headlines of its own. Goldman Sachs & Co. forecastsBritain will win more gold medalsthan Russia this summer, a potential upset that would mark a major milestone in Olympic history. The bank's analysts estimate Britain will win 65 medals overall, 38% more than it did in 2008.
   
"This is not about taking part. It'sabout winning," said Liz Nicholl, chief executive of U.K. Sport, the agency tasked with winning Olympic medals for Britain.
Nicholl predicts the U.K. will seeits best performance in modern times this summer. "I have no doubt about it, actually," she said. Since persuading the government to hand over extra money in 2006, the U.K. team has enjoyed "optimal funding," she said.
It wasn't always this way for British athletes. The disastrous performance in Atlanta was devoured by the British press, which pointed to tales of hard-upathletes, including that of two U.K. divers, Bob Morgan and Tony Ally, who hawked their official Olympic gear on the streets of Atlanta for cash.
The loss to Kazakhstan merited special scorn. "A nation of goat-keepers and shepherds lastnight humiliated the might of Great Britain's Olympic team," the Daily Mirror tabloid wrote at the time, decrying the indignity of losing to a country "where locals use eagles to catch food."
The crisis prompted British politicians to divert money from the newly created U.K. lottery into a sports apparatus that would churn out medal-winning athletes and restore national pride.
That agency, U.K. Sport, was launched in 1997. It initially prioritized the few sports where Britain excelled—rowing, sailing,cycling and track and field—and focused on athletes within thosesports who had a shot at medals.
It was a hard-nosed approach. U.K. Sport even rooted out"system blockers," or athletes who were competing internationally but had passed their prime and appeared unlikely to win Olympic medals. From then on, U.K. Sport would provide ample funding to athletes—if they had a metallic future.
"We are investing in the outcome of medal success," Nicholl says. "We are absolutely,unapologetically focused on that.So we will make the tough calls."
So intent was Britain on winningmedals that it encouraged some high-performing athletes to switch into sports where they would have a better shot at making it to the Olympic podium. Rebecca Romero, for instance, won a silver medal in rowing at the 2004 Athens Olympics but was later encouraged to switch to track cycling, where she won gold in the 2008 Games.
The U.K. Olympic team started rising. It won 28 medals at the 2000 Sydney Games, 10th in the medal standings. Four yearslater it notched 30 medals. By 2008 in Beijing, its 47 medals ranked behind only the U.S., China and Russia.
This year, Britain has even loftier hopes. The London Games will host the country's biggest and best-funded team ever, with 542 members. The athletes aim to fend off Germany and Australia to retain Britain's No. 4 spot in the overallmedal haul. If they're lucky, they'll win more golds than Russia. "I believe it's our strongest team since 1908," said Martin Polley, a sports historian and author of the book"The British Olympics."
Britain enjoys a meaningful home-field advantage. Nations win 54% more medals when they are host countries rather than ordinary participants, according to Goldman Sachs calculations that measured Summer Olympics from 1972 to2008.
Perhaps the U.K.'s biggest hopeis in cycling, where Chris Hoy became the first Briton in a century to win three gold medalsat a single Olympics in 2008. Other British competitors with multiple past medals include Ben Ainslie, one of the best competitive sailors in history, and swimmer Rebecca Adlington, who won two golds in 2008.
Team GB is also relying on a raft of first-time medal aspirants.This is particularly so in track and field, where it recruited Charles Van Commenee, a Dutch coach controversial for his take-no-prisoners approach, to improve the team.
Jessica Ennis, the track and field star plastered on billboards across Britain, could take gold inthe heptathlon, while brothers Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee could snatch Britain's first-ever medals in the triathlon.
Mo Farah, the current men's 5,000-meter world champion, has a realistic chance of ending Ethiopia's 16-year reign in the men's Olympic 10,000-meter event at the London Games. Farah, who was born in Somaliabut moved to Britain at age 8, has been training in the Rift Valley in Kenya, which has started hosting an annual high-altitude training camp for British athletes thanks to newly robust funding.
To avoid the pain of underperforming in London, Britain agreed in 2006 to provideU.K. Sport with extra funding. U.K. Sport is almost done dolingout £312 million (about$488 million) to teams and individuals for the London cycle (2009-2013), up from about£265 million spent for Beijing (2005-2009). U.S. teamsdon't enjoy a similar pot of publicfunding for Olympic sports and instead raise money largely fromprivate donors.
U.K. Sport has used the extra money to support athletes as faras eight years in advance of Olympic qualification. Keri-Anne Payne, the 24-year-old British gold medal favorite in long-distance swimming, was first spotted by British coaches in South Africa at age 8.
U.K. Sport operates via a shrewd method that includes strict performance targets for the athletes, the teams and the agency itself.
The agency ranks British athletes across all sports on the basis of their chance of winning an Olympic medal, slating athletes with multiple-medal winning potential at the top. The ranking, reviewed annually, determines how much individualfunding each athlete gets. The higher the ranking, the more money.
"Our no-compromise approach says we're not going to compromise and give everyone a bit," Nicholl says. "We are going to invest absolutely the right amount of money from the top down on our meritocratic list." The agency also shifts money to sports that show morepromise.
Though the 2012 team may be the finest in Britain's modern Olympic history, it isn't likely to beat the country's medal tally from the 1908 London Games, when British officials drew up the program of events and included oddball sports such as motorboat racing, the tug of war and rackets, allowing Britain to scoop 146 medals. "Nobody else[besides the British] really knew the rules," Polley said.
Still, for today's British team, thebiggest challenge may come after London. Almost all teams see a dip in performance after their country hosts the Olympics, but Nicholl says she aims to replicate or beat the U.K.'s 2012 medal haul four years from now in Rio de Janeiro. "That," she said, "wouldbe a real statement to the world that this system really is working."
作者：Paul Sonne & Jonathan Clegg 翻译：Melchior
                   英国的金牌梦
英国奥运军团能否重振帝国雄风？ 1996年亚特兰大奥运会，大不列颠只带回了一枚金牌和一颗受伤的民族心，比哈萨克斯坦还少两枚。16年后，通过从国家彩票基金筹措充裕资金和、如机器般精密运作的培训部门，英国奥运代表团(Team GB)已经彻底改头换面。结果就是英国队有望在自家主场实现创纪录的表现。(注 现在已至金牌榜第三)
从1996年微不足道的15枚奖牌到2008年的47枚，英国过去15年在奥运会赛场的悄然崛起，这是官办体育取得成就的典型案例。为备战伦敦奥运会，英国全面加强奥运战略，为政府指定的运动员训练部门投入财政资金，招募“塑料英国人”(Plastic Brits)(即并非在英国出生，通过入籍变成英国人)运动员，引进顶级教练，并重点投入有机会赢得奖牌的项目。
如此一搏，英国可能会走出美国、中国和俄罗斯等传统奥运强国的阴影，并且还有望制造出一些头条新闻。高盛(Goldman Sachs & Co.)预测英国今年夏天赢的金牌将超过俄罗斯(现在这个预测已经落实)，这个冷门或许会成为奥运史上的一个重要里程碑。高盛的分析师预测英国将赢得65枚奖牌，比2008年多出38%。
“不仅仅是参与，关键是要赢。” ——利兹·尼克尔(“英国体育”(U.K. Sport)的首席官员)
尼克尔预计，英国在本届奥运会上将获得有史以来以来最优秀的成绩，她对此信心满满。据尼克尔透露，从2006年说服政府划拨更多资金开始，英国队就享受到了“最优厚的资助”。
英国运动员并非向来就享受着这种待遇。他们在亚特兰大奥运会的糟糕表现遭到英国媒体穷追猛打，媒体指责英国运动员为钱不择手段，其中包括两名跳水运动员摩根(Bob Morgan)和艾利(Tony Ally)，他们在亚特兰大沿街兜售自己的奥运队服换取现金。而金牌数低于哈萨克斯坦的事实更是频招的白眼。英国小报《每日镜报》(Daily Mirror)刻薄地写道，“昨晚一个牧羊之国羞辱了大不列颠奥运队的威力”，谴责输给一个“国民用老鹰捕捉食物”的国家是对英国的侮辱。
这场危机促使英国政府成立的国家彩票基金以筹措体育经费，再把经费划拨给能够培养让运动员夺得奖牌的体育部门，借此重振民族威望——这就是于1997年成立“英国体育”(U.K. Sport)的背景。该部门承担起了为英国夺取奥运奖牌的任务，起初的重点是英国擅长项目，包括赛艇、帆船、自行车和田径，并着重培养在这些项目中有望拿到奖牌的运动员。
这是一条务实的路子。“英国体育”甚至根除了“体制障碍”，也就是剔除那些正在国际上参加大赛，但到下届奥运会时可能太老的运动员。自那时起，“英国体育”为运动员提供了充足的资金支持前提是他们未来有赢奖牌的希望。
尼克尔解释说：“我们是在为奖牌而投资，我们完全是以此为中心，而且对此毫无愧疚。所以我们要做出艰难的选择。” 英国想赢奖牌的希望是如此迫切，甚至鼓励有些高水平运动员转向其更有希望进军奥运会的项目。罗梅罗(RebeccaRomero)就是一个例子。她在2004年雅典奥运会夺得赛艇项目银牌，但后来被鼓励转向场地自行车项目，她在2008年奥运会上夺得该项目的金牌。
渐渐地，英国奥运代表团的成绩开始上升。2000年悉尼奥运会英国队夺得28枚奖牌，在奖牌榜名列第10位，四年后夺得30枚奖牌，到2008年的北京奥运会，其47枚奖牌的成绩仅次于美国、中国和俄罗斯。
伦敦就是决战场
2012，世界目光聚焦奥运东道主，而英国也有了更高的目标。伦敦奥运会将迎来该国历史上规模最大、资金支持最雄厚的代表团，共542名队员。运动员们的目标是挡住德国和澳大利亚的攻势，保住英国奖牌榜第四名的位置。如果他们够幸运，说不定金牌数还能超过俄罗斯。体育历史学家、《英国奥运史》(The British Olympics)的作者波利(Martin Polley)说，我认为这是1908年以来我们实力最强的团队。
今年英国有着很强的主场优势。高盛对1972年至2008年期间夏季奥运会数据的研究显示，主办国赢得的奖牌数会比不担任主办国时多54%。
也许英国最大的希望是在自行车项目。2008年，自行车运动员霍伊(Chris Hoy)成为100年来第一个在一届奥运会赢得三枚金牌的英国选手。获得过多枚奥运奖牌的其他英国运动员还包括历史上最优秀的帆船运动员之一艾恩斯利(Ben Ainslie)，以及在2008年赢得两枚金牌的游泳运动员阿德灵顿(Rebecca Adlington)。
英国队也在指望大量有志夺取奖牌的新秀，在田径项目上尤其如此。英国田径队已经聘任荷兰教练查尔斯.范.康蒙尼(Charles Van Commenee)来提高团队水平，他的强硬手段颇惹争议。
海报遍布英国的田径明星恩尼斯(Jessica Ennis)有望夺得女子七项全能金牌，而阿里斯泰尔?布朗利(Alistair Brownlee)和乔纳森?布朗利(Jonathan Brownlee)兄弟有望摘得英国第一枚三项全能比赛奖牌。
男子5,000米长跑世界冠军法拉(Mo Farah)很有希望在伦敦奥运会上结束埃塞俄比亚对奥林匹克男子一万米项目的统治。法拉出生于索马里，在八岁时移居英国。他一直在肯尼亚的东非大裂谷(Rift Valley)训练。由于英国政府的强大资金支持，东非已经开始每年为英国运动员设立高海拔训练营。
我们只为奖牌付钱
为避免在伦敦奥运上表现不佳，英国于2006年同意为“英国体育”提供额外的一份资助。“英国体育”仅在伦敦奥运周期(2009-2013)发放的资金已接近3.12亿英镑(约合4.88亿美元)，高于北京奥运周期(2005-2009)的约2.65亿英镑。相比之下，美国奥运代表团没有类似的政府资金，其资金主要通过私人捐赠筹集。
早在伦敦获得奥运会主办权前八年，“英国体育”就开始用这笔额外资金支持运动员。当时，英国教练在南非发掘了时年八岁、现年24岁的长距离游泳运动员佩恩(Keri-Anne Payne)。英国官方认为他是最有望夺得金牌的英国人。
“英国体育”通过一种精明务实的方式运营，包括对运动员、团队及自身部门设置严格的成绩目标。
该部门根据赢得奖牌的几率将所有项目的英国运动员进行排名，将有潜力夺得多枚奖牌的运动员排在最前面。这份每年复查一次的排名会决定每位运动员能获得多少个人资助。排名越高，资金越多。
尼克尔说，“我们遵循‘零妥协方式’，我们不会让步，不会每个人都分一点，我们会按照人排名表顺序，投入与成绩相当的资金数额。”
官办体育将继续
尽管2012代表团可能是英国现代奥运会历史上最优秀的团队，但打破英国在1908年伦敦奥运会上的奖牌纪录也很难。当时英国政府拟定项目计划，将摩托艇比赛、拔河和网球等古怪的项目列入赛程，令英国斩获146枚奖牌。体育历史学家波利说，“(除了英国人)没有人真正懂得比赛规则。”
不过，对如今的英国队来说，最大的挑战或许是在伦敦奥运会后。一个国家主办奥运会后，该国代表团的表现几乎都会下滑(或许这次中国除外)，但尼克尔说，她希望四年后英国队在里约热内卢能保持或打破其在2012年的奖牌成绩。她说，这将会向世界真正证明，这个(官方)体制真的在起作用。
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