RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The path to the Olympic podium for British athletes begins with the selection of six numbers.
Every time a Briton fills in a lottery slip and hands over two pounds ($2.60), the country moves closer to another Olympic medal.
And medals of every hue are now in the possession of athletes sporting the union jack flag.
It wasn't always like this. The Olympics used to be just like the World Cup for Britain's soccer teams: Stories of near-misses, plucky losers and embarrassment.
But funding from the National Lottery has fueled the transformation of British sports from the nadir of the 1996 Olympics.