Everybody loves a winner. Across the world, countries are greeting their Olympic gold medallists with joy and acclaim. In Singapore, Joseph Schooling, the city-state’s first ever gold medallist, has become a national hero and was greeted with a standing ovation in parliament. In the US, the extraordinary gymnast, Simone Biles, who has won four gold medals in Rio, has become the face of the Games. Meanwhile, the British were astonished and delighted to find Team GB, heading into the last weekend of the Olympics, in second place in the medal table.

Yet amid all this celebration of triumph and victory, it is important to remember the words of Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, who said: “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning, but taking part.”

Some might dismiss de Coubertin’s words as belonging to a bygone age, when Olympic athletes were amateurs. It is certainly the case that Britain’s run of success has come from lavish funding of Olympic sport, which has allowed potential champions to concentrate full-time on their disciplines, even in sports where little professional infrastructure exists. This week, Piers Morgan, a British journalist, embraced an ugly new ethos, when he commented that he was interested only in gold medal winners.