Can gold medals really inspire lasting change? It's time we tried to find out

The Guardian

a day ago

Sighs of relief accompanied the appointment of Prof Nick Webborn as chair of UK Sport after a lengthy delay and rumours of existential threats from Whitehall's latest quango bonfire. It is a tricky time to take over as sport hangs in limbo without a strong advocate at the cabinet table as impossible funding and policy decisions are being made.
At the same time, attitudes and expectations towards public bodies are changing as social needs and demands change. The need to justify the benefit to society of funding those who are world class at their sport is greater than ever. Arguably, there can be no organisation more suited to taking on difficult questions and reaching new heights than the agency that funds and masterminds Olympic and Paralympic high performance. So what's top of Webborn's in-tray?
There is always the need to check in with the vision, the purpose, the raison d'être. Set up in 1997 after Great Britain won one gold medal in the Atlanta Olympics, UK Sport's mission was to ensure Team GB produced performances commensurate with the nation's size and potential with consistent funding to create a world-leading system. In short, to become world class. It was unacceptable to finish 36th in the medal table and no longer a reasonable strategy to rely on outlier athletes to win largely through their own efforts. The best athletes from that point on would receive the best technical, physiological and medical support in return for medals.
The system worked beyond the wildest dreams of its architects, Sue Campbell and Peter Keen, who had never imagined reaching tallies of 29 gold medals would be possible at a single Olympics. Mind you, nor had they envisaged the cultural abuses that might accompany a newfound focus on medals above all else.
Over recent years, UK Sport adjusted its strategy to the aim of 'winning well', but leaders and coaches complain this remains poorly defined, while the clarity of medal expectations still dominates. A mantra of 'medals and more' was introduced though this seemed largely to emphasise that medals came first and the rest was rather vague and secondary.
Bringing teeth to what 'winning well' looks like – after checking whether the phrase still has credibility across theelite sports world, its athletes, coaches, leaders – feels essential for steering high-performance sport through its next phase. It is interesting to note the energy and passion the Australian system is putting into bringing this phrase to life.
There was a clear and striking vision in 1997 that fitted the wider social context – a different vision is needed for a very different era. The next issue in the in-tray may help. UK Sport has been talking more about increasing 'social impact'. Recent organisational changes at UK Sport led to the social impact team being reduced and merged into the communications team, but this area needs to have greater substance, and less rhetoric, to seriously explore what 'lasting positive social impact' could come beyond the Olympic and Paralympic medal table.
UK Sport's strategy refers to 'the powerful platform sporting success has to inspire and effect lasting positive change for individuals and society'. Those deeply invested in the current system or who have excelled through it fully buy into this. Yet serious evidence of this happening at scale is hard to come by. Recent research showed that any minor uplifts in the form of increased physical activity or subjective wellbeing during London 2012 fizzled out once the event had finished. The narrative that Olympians inspire the next generation is often fuelled by stories that are told energetically, while on a larger scale, evidence shows that young people are often more inspired by a teacher or local coach than an Olympic champion who is simply too distant to relate to.
In these tumultuous times, it is surely essential to explore how money spent on medals and 'inspirational moments' could produce something deeper and longer lasting. Webborn brings vital relevant experience as chair of the British Paralympic Association, which has set a social impact strategy through to 2032 with clear ambitions to improve access to sport and help break down societal barriers for those with disabilities.
Here's hoping Webborn and his team have insights into how to be more effective than in the past. Sport doesn't have a great record on changing the lives of disabled people for the better, a point Tanni Grey‑Thompson has been vocal about for years.
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Understanding the need to move on from Olympians showing medals in school assemblies, UK Sport launched a pioneering programme, 'Powered by Purpose', to support athletes to become agents of change for causes they care about, enabling them to use their platforms and role-model status for good effect beyond winning medals, while also bringing to life the theory that flourishing athletes perform better and more sustainably when there is a wider meaning in their sporting journey beyond the scoreboard.
It is a great move but this is social impact one stage removed, effectively outsourcing it to a few athletes without UK Sport holding itself accountable beyond medals. The question for Webborn is how could UK Sport use its innovative talents and peerless determination to explore what lasting social value could come from those medals.
There are no existing solutions as it hasn't really been tried. The past 28 years have proved that medals can be won without much lasting positive social change. The challenge is to prove that the same or greater levels of performance can be achieved in a way that brings greater positive outcomes for others. That will require a different mindset and belief that says winning matters but is not enough on its own; and it will require a whole different set of impact-focused skills within the organisation.
This will also require a different and much more integrated working relationship with its sister organisation that looks after grassroots sport, Sport England, to learn from their ongoing experiences (and failures) about how sport can be an effective tool for social change.
But what an opportunity for UK Sport, which exists to dare to make the impossible possible. UK Sport's stated purpose and mission is to create 'extraordinary moments' over the next decade. Webborn's challenge and opportunity is to use the funding and talents of the country to create something much longer lasting.
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