"The United Kingdom is doing well." We hit a low point in 1996 obtaining only one gold and 15 in total and ended up in 36th place in the table. Since then we've been in the top ten every time. In 2000 we got 11 golds and 28 in totoal; in 2004 it was 9 golds and 30 in total; then 2008 it jumped to 19 goals with 47 in total and incredibly 4th in the table just behind Russia. This year so far we have 18 golds and 40 in total and currently sitting in 3rd position! The national lottery was launched 1994 and a fair proportion of its funds goes to UK sport so I think it has definitely had a big impact!

Big surprises for me this year is the poor performance of Russia - and the collapse of Australia who are having a shocker - certainly as far as gold medals go.