Never mind Adam Peaty, Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis-Hill, or even Andy Murray – Britain’s greatest – and least celebrated – living Olympian is undoubtedly Sir John Roy Major.
We may never have seen him whiz round a velodrome or plunge into a pool of mouthwash-green water. But the staggering improvement in the quality of British sport in recent years owes as much to him as it does to any one coach, federation or pushy parent.
Incredible #SuperSunday for Team GB. Currently sitting 2nd in the medal table, above China… CHINA!! Crazy. pic.twitter.com/IBatkBw9EZ
— Tom Read (@tom_read) August 15, 2016
Thanks to the establishment of the National Lottery by Sir John (pictured above enjoying the London games), the associated National Lottery Fund, and an insistence that a healthy chunk of the cash go to sport, British athleticism is booming.
In 1996, Team GB returned from Atlanta with a solitary gold medal and 15 medals overall – too few to even make the official medal table.
The thought that 20 years later we would rack up that total in a few days – and manage to snatch second place in the rankings from China – would have been laughed at.
And laughed at it was. The boldness and bravery required to introduce a scheme of public amenity expansion after 11 years of Margaret Thatcher should not be underestimated.
And it wasn’t just Tory “dries” who abhorred the National Lottery scheme – the Left weren’t great fans either – and New Labour did everything they could to dilute its purpose when in office.
People need to know how much the lottery funding has helped @TeamGB & the athletes focus on what they need to do. That decision was genius????????
— Audley Harrison MBE (@audleyharrison) August 15, 2016
In 1998 the office of Tony Blair said called the National Lottery scheme “a populist and selective initiative that will receive no publicity”. Tell that to this morning’s front pages.
The National Lottery has become one of the most successful innovations of any government since Attlee and Bevan built the NHS.
Every year, around £900 million is raised not just for sport, but for charities, art centres, museums, festivals, the restoration of churches, cycle ways, inner-city parks, and other facilities that continue to give Britain a new lease of life.
1996: 1 Gold Medal
2000: 11 Golds
2004: 9 Golds
2008:19 Golds
2012: 29 Golds
2016: 13 Golds (with a week to go).What lottery funding does.
— Ben Gartside (@BenGartside98) August 14, 2016
True to character, almost as remarkable as the direct correlation between Major’s pet project and British Olympic success is the former PM’s modesty.
As with most of his long-term projects – Northern Irish diplomacy is another example – Major was more than happy for someone else to take the credit once his work bore fruit.
The National Lottery wasn’t populist, nor was it driven by Sir John’s desire for a legacy that don’t include the words “Maastricht” or “Edwina Currie”. It was driven by a Brixton boy’s selfless passion for social mobility.
In his autobiography, he ponders “Why should not the child from a low-income family have the same chance to participate and enjoy sport as one from a more privileged background?”
It’s a question I’m sure the parents of Adam Peaty, Tom Daley and Katarina Johnson-Thompson have asked themselves many a time.
