Even before Great Britain has hoovered up its full quota of expected gold medals from the Beijing cycle track, the Times is warning of an impending financial crisis for the next Olympics back home.
The credit crunch (what else?) is partly to blame but what money is available from the private sector is going towards the games themselves because the returns are better
The concerns are reported too in the Guardian where news of the funding gap may at least cause a little metaphorical drizzle to fall on the victory parade promised for the GB Olympics team in London next month.
Sports officials now doubt whether the Gordon Brown £600m promised Olympic sports between 2006 and 2012, £100m from private sources, will be delivered in full.
This is, of course, separate from the multibillion investment in the Games infrastructure. Should the government should step in and guarantee the cash? Or are taxpayers already facing enough huge bills for potential "black holes" in financing the London event?
Sir John Major, political midwife of National Lottery funding for sports in the mid-1990s, meanwhile complained today that his Labour successors had quietly filched cash raised from the nation's Lotto gamblers for other purposes. That could mean fewer Olympians are developed from the grassroots.
This is an extended excerpt from The Wrap
