Picture used for illustrative purposes only.

It used to be 30 pieces of silver to sell out but now at the Olympics it is $50,000 if you win gold. The motto of “Faster, Higher, Stronger” does not include better paid and it shouldn’t. The Olympics have changed over time with some sports, Live Pigeon Shooting (1900), Rope Climbing several times in the early 1900s now gone and BMX riding, break dancing, skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing there in Paris 2024.

There seems to an almost desperate effort to renew interest in a competition that is still popular anyway. The prize money goes against the basic premise of the games even though many countries already pay the winners.

It used to be all about representing your country to your best ability and as Eddie the Eagle showed, you don’t have to come first to be a winner.

Dennis Fitzgerald,

Melbourne, Australia