The chairman of the British Olympic Association has said it is “wholly unacceptable” that half of Team GB’s gold medallists in Beijing four years ago were privately educated and called for an overhaul of school sport policy to redress the balance
The chairman of the British Olympic Association has said it is “wholly unacceptable” that half of Team GB’s gold medallists in Beijing four years ago were privately educated and called for an overhaul of school sport policy to redress the balance.
Lord Moynihan said the figure was “one of the worst statistics in British sport” and that it should be a priority to make it a more accurate reflection of society, where 7% of children are privately educated.
He said it was “wrong” that so much talent was being wasted and called for Olympic sport to be more like football, where the split of state and privately educated athletes is far closer to the national average.
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“It’s one of the worst statistics in British sport,” said Moynihan. “It is wholly unacceptable that over 50% of our medallists in Beijing came from the private sector. It tells you that 50% of the medals came from seven per cent of the population.
“There is so much talent out there in the 93% that should be identified and developed. That has got to be a priority for future sports policy. I have spoken about it many times and I will continue to speak about it until there is not breath left in me.”
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