Lessons to be learnt from Rio

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Mo Farah celebrating after his 5,000m win (Getty)

While we should all celebrate the sheer brilliance of athletes at the Rio Olympics, reports about the upsurge in hate crimes in the aftermath of the EU referendum are dismal. If something needs to be learnt from the Olympics, it is that teamwork, common purpose, discipline and partnerships lead to victory. Sporting activities have always been used as low-cost, high-impact and effectual tools in promoting peace, development and humanitarian initiatives. Governments should build on the great successes of athletes at Rio, increase their investments in human performance, cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue, build more sporting facilities in less fortunate and underprivileged areas, drag children and youth from the morass of abject deprivation, unemployment, radicalism, hopelessness and give them true meaning and purpose in life.

Munjed Farid Al Qutob

London

Did the choice between watching one sport from one vantage point compared with “never missing a moment on TV” contribute to the number of empty seats in Rio?

Richard James

Harrogate

I wasn’t much looking forward to the Rio Olympics due to the bad publicity surrounding the event. However, once the Games started and Great Britain began cleaning up with the medals, all that changed and in the end it turned out to be one of the best Olympics ever. I even found myself feeling quite sad when it was all over.

However, there are some issues that did not put the organisers or the Brazilian sporting public in a good light. Firstly, the half-empty stadiums, principally, I believe, the result of inflated ticket prices (pricing out ordinary Brazilians) and possibly a degree of boycotting.

Second, the downgrading of the Paralympics, which has been relegated to the status of a poor relation, even an afterthought. Make no mistake this is a big step backwards for disabled sport and disabled athletes. Much of the progress that has been made after Bejing and particularly London may have been squandered.

The early signs are far from encouraging, with only 12 per cent of tickets sold. I hope I am proved wrong. I also hope that at the Tokyo Games in four years’ time the Paralympics are restored to their rightful place at the top table.

Liam McParland

Huddersfield

I must take issue with your editorial on the Olympics in the 22 August edition.

I would first question the allocation of such large resources to a tiny number of elite competitors with the sole aim of winning medals. We have the absurd situation of an increasingly unhealthy and obese nation slumped in front of the television screen watching these athletes perform. The money spent on them would surely be better spent on sport and leisure facilities for the general population, even if that does mean fewer British medals to shout about.

I would also query your idea that national prestige can be based on sporting success. I want Britain to be well-regarded in the world because of high-quality education, health services and care for the elderly, not because some cyclists from Britain went faster on a given day than those born somewhere else. As a country we should be striving for and funding excellence in much more important areas than sport, which should be seen for what it is – a fun distraction from the important things of life.

Alan Brown

Wirral

Corbyn must stop blaming the media

When will Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters stop blaming the media for all their ills? They constantly claim that all sections of the media are biased against them. Corbyn is consistently rude to journalists, and even refuses to speak to left leaning outlets, whom should be his natural supporters. Seamus Milne, with his experience at The Guardian, should know how to play the game. He and Corbyn forget that the press are their link to the wider electorate, the people whose support and votes he would need if he were ever to get the keys to Number 10.

James Shepherd

Lincolnshire