Why does private education produce so many medal winners?

[Old Greg]

It's commonly said that it takes 10000 hours to be "great" at something.

Very few parents that time to devote to their offspring an still support them.

Interesting move into the Chinese approach is being made by a few of the forward looking sports (swimming, cycling, rowing) whereby young adults with the correct body shape (e.g. lanky folk for rowing) are picked an given the correct training.

And do we think that this is likely to be in the best interest of a child?

[original PM]

And do we think that this is likely to be in the best interest of a child?

No - and lets say Pistorius started to win things with his blades - how long before people were purposefully choping off their legs so they could use a blade attachment -- mainly thinking the chinese - who would 'enforce' it!

[Pondlife]

The reason GB excels at rowing is because our rivers and lakes don't have any crocodiles or hippos in, meaning more of our rowers survive to become champions.

There you go. Sorted.

[Mich the Tester]

And do we think that this is likely to be in the best interest of a child?

Yes, possibly, but what isn't in a child's best interests is what the Chinese sports coaches then go on to do to the kids.

And here we sit in luxury, pretending that drug use is the most serious problem in sports.

[darmstadt]

Germany are doing pretty crap in the Olympics this year which is quite interesting as although sports in schools here, I personally find, is pretty crap but a heck of a lot of German children do sports outside of schools and are encouraged by their parents. Every town has numerous sports clubs with the facilities, for example this one near me has facilities for 24 different sports yet they're still not doing very well, does this put paid to the arguments discussed (or just bandied about) here about parents support (or should Germany disunite and allow the East to get back to doping?)

[Mich the Tester]

Germany are doing pretty crap in the Olympics this year which is quite interesting as although sports in schools here, I personally find, is pretty crap but a heck of a lot of German children do sports outside of schools and are encouraged by their parents. Every town has numerous sports clubs with the facilities, for example this one near me has facilities for 24 different sports yet they're still not doing very well, does this put paid to the arguments discussed (or just bandied about) here about parents support (or should Germany disunite and allow the East to get back to doping?)

Germany's a rich country; the talent is spread quite wide across lots of sports and lots of choice as to what to do with free time. Anyway, this time they haven't got lots of medals but they have people who've come close so it could easily be different at the next olympics.

[Ignis Fatuus]

Why are medals, especially gold medals, won more often than relative population would imply, by people from Scotland and Yorkshire?

[Moscow Mule]

And do we think that this is likely to be in the best interest of a child?

Has done Tiger Woods, The Williams Sisters and a few others alright.

Sad to think of the others who didn't make it, but greatness doesn't come for free.

[OwlHoot]

e.g. all the weekends/evenings ferrying the kids to and from various places can put a huge strain on time and money for the average parent.

obviously the rich and those in boarding schools do not have the time/money issues. ..

OTOH, slum kids have the advantage that they can practice football all day, in their own streets. Hasn't that been how a lot of these South American players started?

Also, it's naive to assume that parents who send their kids to boarding school "do not have money issues". Maybe some don't, but many do.

[darmstadt]

OTOH, slum kids have the advantage that they can practice football all day, in their own streets. Hasn't that been how a lot of these South American players started?

Also, it's naive to assume that parents who send their kids to boarding school "do not have money issues". Maybe some don't, but many do.

Especially these boarding schools...