Pro-EU fanatics are trying to hijack Team GB’s Olympic glory by running an online medal tally claiming all British success in the name of Brussels.
The EU Medal Tracker site proudly boasts “EU: Winning Team” on top of a modified medals chart which amalgamates all member state teams under “European Union”:
The largest single contribution comes from British Olympians, who are currently second in the world rankings all by themselves, with 19 gold, 20 silver and 12 bronze medals at the time of writing.
The site is the product of German PR outfit Euro Informationen, which lists the European Commission and European Parliament as their most prominent clients, and boasts that it can get customers into high-powered meetings in Brussels.
As the true medal table shows, British athletes have significantly outperformed continental rivals at the Rio Olympics.
The next-closest EU rival is Germany (13 gold, 8 silver, 9 bronze), then France (8, 11, 12) then Italy (8, 9, 6).
The lackluster performance of other nations has provoked anger in the lower-performing countries.
Gripes about the runaway success of Britain’s cycling team even made the front page of today’s edition of The Sun:
Thursday's Sun: "They don't bike it up em" #tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/VihWFZ3Ps6
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) August 17, 2016
However, much like its outsize contributions to the EU budget, Britain’s flow of medals to the EU is set for an abrupt end with the advent of Brexit.
Most estimates of the Brexit timeline pegging the moment of departure in 2019 – which means that Rio will likely be the last time Britain’s substantial medal haul can be subsumed into an EU total.
