The last Olympic Games were accompanied by a stream of complaints in the British press about the poor performance of our athletes. This reached such a pitch that it was even suggested, half seriously, that the only thing to be done (if we were to be able to look forward to the next Games without shame) was to promote the formation of a European Olympic team. The EU as a whole ought to field a single team, for that would mean (so it was argued) that the reserves of talent available to it might well be enough to win more gold medals than the USA. We would at last be able to relax in front of our television sets and take pride in the performance of "our" boys and girls.