FRIDAY night’s spectacular and impressive start to the Olympic Games raised a number of questions about the amount of money devoted to sport and the pursuit of gold medals.

It is easy to dismiss the games, and the appeals for more money to be devoted to sport that will invariably come in coming weeks, as a waste. After all, spending money on elite athletes does not contribute to curing disease, provide housing for a single family in need, or aid in cutting the road toll.

But the exploits of our elite athletes do play an important role in our society.

For every Olympic success the nation enjoys, more of our children are inspired to get off their computer games and away from the televisions, taking up sport while dreaming of Olympic success.

With childhood obesity reaching epidemic proportions, inspiring children to get involved in any form of vigorous physical activity should pay dividends through reduced medical costs into the future.

But as well as devoting so much money to fine-tuning elite athletes, and helping them gain the fractions of seconds that make the difference between championships or near placings, real change will only come when proper support is provided to sport’s grass roots.

Only when local competitions are properly funded will we see the level of childhood obesity start to drop.