The Guardian (Final medal table, Sport, 22 August), BBC News and various other British media all triumphantly misreport Great Britain as ranking second in the Rio Olympics medal table by virtue of its total 67 medals. But China got 70 medals, while GB only came third on this criterion. However, British hubris may be restored to second rank if we judiciously assign 3, 2 and 1 points to gold, silver and bronze medals respectively. Then Britain’s 67 medals score a total 144 points, compared with China’s 70 medals scoring only 140 points and USA’s 121 medals scoring 250 points.
Alex Bellamy
London
• Compared with 40 or 50 years ago, when we won next to nothing, GB’s medal haul is supposed to give us a great feeling of national achievement and pride. But in the 1960s and 70s we saw the creation and expansion, under the aegis of the Sports Council, of local leisure centres where ordinary people could enjoy sport for its own sake. Now many these are threatened with closure or have been converted into private facilities with expensive fees. Gold medals for elite athletes, or sport for all? Which do we prefer?
Jeff Hill
Church Stretton, Shropshire
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
