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\t\tCORTINA D’AMPEZZO, ITALY – FEBRUARY 15: Tabitha Stoecker and Matt Weston of Team Great Britain celebrate winning the gold medals after competing in the Skeleton Mixed Team on day nine of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Cortina Sliding Centre on February 15, 2026 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. (Photo by Al Bello\/Getty Images)\t<\/p>\n
Britain\u2019s success in the Winter Olympics is a corrective to narratives about our decline \u2013 and hold lessons for funding our public services too, says John Oxley<\/p>\n
Narratives of Britain\u2019s decline abound. From our stalling economic growth to our inability to build sufficient housing to our overwhelmed public services, all point to the country\u2019s struggles. Yet a counter to this was demonstrated over the weekend \u2013 our rise as a powerhouse in elite sports.<\/p>\n
By the 1990s, Britain had become an Olympic backwater. At the Nagano Winter Olympics, we picked up just one bronze medal. On Sunday, we won two golds in one day. Similarly, our performance in the summer games has gone from also-rans, gaining just one gold in 1996, to dominance, winning 27 in 2016 and coming second in the medal table. The miraculous turnaround was no accident and perhaps harbours some hints about what else about our nation we can improve.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Part of that is just deciding there is a problem. Then Prime Minister, John Major, felt there was a case for making Britain a sporting nation again<\/a>. This feeling came alongside with an opportunity \u2013 The National Lottery \u2013 to allocate funding without the political cost of it coming directly from the state. It is this initial decision that we see paying off in gold medals today, with funding for elite sport more than ten times what it was in the early 90s.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yet as we have seen with other services, it is not just money, but what you do with it that matters. The UK Sport system has benefited from factors that are often absent in the other bits of our state. That may explain why our athletes are succeeding where others falter.\u00a0<\/p>\n The first is clarity of mission. The elite sports programme is about one thing: winning Olympic medals. Everything it does is weighed solely against that goal. It is not interested in broadening grassroots participation, social mobility, environmental impact or any other side missions that could dilute an organisation\u2019s purpose. Where public programmes often get bogged down trying to do everything for every stakeholder, Team GB keeps only one aim in mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n Put money where it will make a difference<\/p>\n It also does so by directing money at places where more cash will really make a difference. Our Olympic programme is carefully calibrated around sports in which our funding model and national characteristics align to provide an advantage. In summer games, we target sports like cycling and rowing, events where we have a pedigree and where technology can give us an edge. Likewise, in winter, we don\u2019t try to keep up with Norwegians who cross-country ski before they can walk, but instead target sliding sports in which you can train hard without cold weather.\u00a0<\/p>\n This is combined with a ruthless focus on what delivers returns. There is little sentimentality in the allocation of money. Deliver wins, and the money keeps flowing. Fail at the big occasions, and it is cut back. This ensures a focus on results, best practices and honest feedback. Sports that are faltering \u2013 like gymnastics in the 2000s \u2013 get forced to reconsider their approach. There is no room for complacency, and no tolerance for underperformance.\u00a0<\/p>\n Of course, delivering Olympic wins is very different from healthcare, benefits or education. The process is narrowly focused, tiny in scale, and ingeniously funded from outside of taxes. But the way the programme has developed has avoided many of the pitfalls that exist elsewhere in our system. It has a clear, singular purpose, allocates funds where it yields the greatest leverage and demands excellence. Our system is entrepreneurial in spirit and ruthless in execution. Most of all, it works.\u00a0<\/p>\n