Andy Cap wrote
ARWadsworth wrote

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Su...cs_medal_table
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Su...cs_medal_table
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Su...cs_medal_table
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Su...cs_medal_table

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/...dals/countries

I think it's rather sad that approx 50 % of our medals are won by Public
school attendees.

Why ?

Pretty poor reflection on sport in State schools.

Nope, just that they have enough of a clue to not worry about that sort
of terminal stupidity, or that the parents who can afford to send their
kids to public schools have much more of the sort of money that's needed
to engage in that sort of terminal stupidity. Hardly news with either.

I'd also suggest that national league tables have become almost
meaningless,

Particularly when so many are drug cheats.

as competitors are now almost traded as a commodity with good runners from
Africa for example, now representing very disparate countries.

Yeah, completely and utterly barking mad.

With the world going the way it is, perhaps it's time to dump the
nationalistic fervour and concentrate on the individual achievement.

Fat chance.

Personally I think that's a sad, even unsafe development

I believe the who thing is completely stupid, even before it
was so completely riddled with performance enhancing drugs.

Can't see how its unsafe, you don't see too many wars starting that way.

but it seems an inevitable outcome.

Corse it is.