There is certainly much to agree with in Barney Ronay’s article (Do not adjust your reality: how slick Team GB played its part in dividing Britain, 10 August), but we should applaud Team GB’s many successes over the last quarter century (largely thanks to the National Lottery, of course) and not discount the many positive aspects of what they have achieved.

The problem here is obviously that these successes in elite sport were not followed by the corresponding and necessary investments in grassroots sport at all levels during the same period.

On the contrary, schools, municipalities and sports clubs have been overlooked or deliberately denied financial resources. At the same time, participation in sport has become a secondary concern for many families who are barely able to make ends meet. As sport becomes more and more of a commodity, people simply don’t do sport if they or their family can’t afford it.

For many people, sport used to be a way out of poor circumstances. That is no longer the case. What is needed now is a comprehensive investment and financing program for popular sport and club sport.

Maybe it is time to revive the old mantra “sport for all” that many of us remember in sport.
Brian Cookson
Chairman, Active Lancashire

I completely agree with Barney Ronay’s article on the elitism of the British team. The lack of societal benefit from Olympic success is epitomised by the Maindy velodrome in Cardiff. Maindy has produced a number of fantastic and successful cyclists. Elinor Barker, Geraint Thomas and Owain Doull all cut their teeth in the velodrome. Instead of receiving recognition for their successes through funds to encourage future medallists, this track is now facing demolition.

Lottery-funded Team GB has great compassion for the few who are paid by the many – with little discernible benefit to anyone else.
Anthony Cusack
Cardiff

Barney Ronay unfortunately hit the nail on the head. What was particularly annoying was that tickets to the Team GB House in Paris, where you could watch the Olympics and meet the athletes, were selling for £150 or more. Most nations, including the host, had wonderful team houses with more modest entrance prices. Unfortunately, this reinforces the argument that Team GB’s main interest is catering to the elite.
Alex Salvoni
London

Of course, Britain has its problems – like any other country. But as I kept one eye on the TV reading Barney Ronay’s article, I saw the French team win Olympic gold in men’s volleyball and the crowd go wild. France has had problems recently too, but I don’t doubt their pride and patriotism at this moment. It may be a cliché, but George Orwell was right when he wrote: “England is perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality.”
Lewis Mills
Langholm, Dumfries and Galloway