I'm as patriotic as the next one in wanting to see our athletes do well, but maybe it's becasue we treat athlete more as people than commodity.
I mean China, for example, takes children as young as three and places them in a training program where their life is oriented to being an athlete and whos sole purpose is to win medlas for the glory of their country. Tell me a three year old is intellectually mature to decide on a lifetime of that rigourous training, and then when they want to leave the usually aren't allowed to.
I'd rather not win medals than have that kind of sport program. And yes I know they are at the opposite extreme but I still think if an athlete, or anyone else can do their best, set new personal records etc. then they're already won - and don't need a medal to prove their worth.