After the gold rush
So the Beijing Games are over (but roll on the Paralympics!) and no doubt many members of Team GB are taking a few weeks off to chill out and reflect proudly on their achievements. Some will still be smarting from big disappointments, but all will be starting to look ahead. Expect big queues in Manchester and Weymouth as people line up to learn from uber-sports Cycling and Sailing. I'm not sure how much will really be revealed, as the Performance Directors of both these sports are, rightly, very cagey about who they let close to their Programmes. At one recent conference, Steven Parkes asked if everyone in the room had a GB passport!
It will be a bit like the situation over the years when a procession of visitors have inspected Toyota's production facilities, seeking the secrets to that company's prodigious quality control and efficiency. The answer lies not in the various artifacts or individual processes, but in the integrated approach to the whole thing, supported by the attitudes and skills of many individuals. Attempts to copy 'bits' of the approach without an understanding of the whole will be doomed - and there will be key 'bits' kept secret anyway.
There will be some difficult conversations too. No team went to Beijing seeking to under-perform, but some have. And these under-performances (or even failures) appear all the more stark now that many British sports have shown they can win Gold. Already rumours are circulating about changes in the leadership of some sports, but comparisons between sports are invidious. The cultures vary so much that it's not so simple to just 'do what the successful people do'. There will be some important judgement calls to weigh up whether a sport is really on track and was just unlucky on the day, or whether Beijing performances were representative of weakenesses in the sport's performance system.
Too soon to tell, but the next few months will be revealing.
