Toward the Games podcast: Sebastian Coe on how UK turned around Olympics program

British legend Sebastian Coe has shared how the UK turned around its Olympic fortunes to triumph at London 2012. LISTEN NOW

Olympian turned administrator Sebastian Coe

Olympian Sebastian Coe, who steered London to its 2012 Games, has urged Australia to consider a UK-style lottery to boost high-performance sport ahead of Brisbane 2032.

Two-time British gold medallist Coe, speaking on The Courier-Mail and Nova’s Toward the Games podcast, said creating a national lottery to divert millions into developing Olympic champions had revolutionised the UK’s sporting success.

Coe said the lottery was crucial in dragging Great Britain upwards after the 1996 Atlanta Olympics – which were described as a “horror show”.

Britain took home just a single gold medal and 15 medals overall, leaving Team GB languishing 36th on the medal table.

But a national lottery – backed by then prime minister John Major – soon began to pour millions into Olympic-targeted programs.

“It was an extraordinarily powerful vehicle in the UK, and people felt they were contributing to something,” Coe said.

“There was a motivation to go out on a Saturday night to buy a national lottery ticket, because they could see the end result, something they could hold on to.

“But these things don’t happen overnight. I’m long in the tooth enough to know you don’t get excellence on the cheap – you have to fund it, there’s no way around it, but frankly it’s a good investment.”

By the time of the London 2012 Olympics, Team GB soared to winning 29 gold medals and 65 medals overall – putting the locals third on the medal tally only behind the US and China.

Since 1996, over $A2bn of funding has poured in for UK Olympic sports programs, with the country winning its 100th gold medal since the lottery began in Tokyo 2021.

“It wasn’t an easy political ask, but (Major) just stuck to his guns,” Coe said.

“Maybe a national lottery is a good approach for Australia.”

A former member of the House of Lords, Coe was the chairman of the London 2012 organising committee, and was famously integral in securing the late Queen Elizabeth’s role in an unforgettable sketch with Daniel “James Bond” Craig during the opening ceremony.

He said it was crucial those running the show for Brisbane 2032 don’t lose sight of the most important element – the athletes.

“The core of the Games is clearly about the athletes,” Coe said.

“And you don’t just want to have athletes performing at your Games – you want them performing at the Games before.

“If you haven’t got great athletic performances in the Games before then you will have people focusing on all those things you hope they will stop focusing on.”

Recalling speaking with John Howard ahead of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Coe said the then prime minister told him he wanted to see Aussie athletes on the podium.

“He said, ‘I have to be blunt about it – I don’t want to have to stand in front of the electorate and say we got no medals but we got a lot of social outcomes’.

“Of course there is a balance. One of the questions you always get is ‘where does legacy, and how you deliver legacy, where does it sit?’

“And I always pointed out during the London years, it isn’t the responsibility of the local organising committee.

“The first responsibility, if there is a responsibility to legacy in an organising committee, is to deliver the best goddamn event you can put on.

“Because if it’s exciting, it engages, you get good hometown results, you get the world coming to you, then that in itself is the best precursor for legacy – because if it’s a damn squib, no one will be talking about legacy.”

A spokesperson for Sport Minister and Minister Assisting the Premier on Olympics and Paralympics Sport and Engagement said Australia had a different funding system for high-performance Olympic and Paralympic athletes to the UK.

“Lord Coe’s influence and the recognition that a host nation must excel in winning medals were instrumental to the success of the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games,” the spokesperson said.

“We’ve already hit the ground running to get as many Queensland athletes as possible podium ready for a home Games in 2032 with the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) YouFor2032 program.

“YouFor2032 is Australia’s largest ever Olympic and Paralympic talent search and is led by visionary, high-performance expert Chelsea Warr; a key architect of Team Great Britain’s success at the London 2012 and 2016 Rio Games.”

The spokesperson said QAS currently supported more than 530 athletes in addition to 600 young Queenslanders undergoing YouFor2032 assessment.

Sebastian Coe takes gold in the 1500m at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.