Regarded as one of the country’s most experienced and able administrators, England says a rethink is needed because of the coronavirus pandemic and the worrying number of scandals over the well-being of athletes.

Although Britain finished second in the medal table at Rio 2016 with 67 medals, two more than in London for years earlier, he ponders whether it is time for the narrative to change "given what’s happened in the world."

England says: "Some 45,000 people have died in this country and hundreds of thousands have died across the world. A pandemic is still ravaging through parts of the world.

"Is it time for that narrative to change, with Team GB athletes being role models for the British public and not just medal focused? I'm hesitant to say, 'More than medals', but this is a real opportunity to see what is important.

"Tokyo 2020 next year will be another great celebration of sport when it does go ahead, but I do think it's time also to reflect on what the past 12 months and a postponement have meant."

UK Sport is the cash dispenser for Britain's Olympic sports and this is largely still measured by medal success at the Games. There has been consistent criticism of the uncompromising line taken over medal success by UK Sport, heightened by recent disclosures about the alleged ill-treatment of athletes in certain sports, notably gymnastics, where an independent review has been commissioned. 

Plus revelations about UK Sport’s role in the experimental use of a secret "wonder substance" based on ketones by selected British athletes during London 2012 has raised further questions. Some feel UK Sport, as an umbrella governmental body, should have steered well clear of endorsing the use of supplements which may or may not have been dodgy but rather have been in closer touch with the well-being of young gymnasts and the alleged verbal and physical abuse by coaches now exposed by the media.

"Abuse and bullying have no place in the Olympics," says England. "Many of us are involved in the Olympic Games because it stands for something which is greater than the pursuit of medals. Currently we are measured in that way. That is part of the measurement and part of the high-performance system we have in the UK.

"But the medal table outcome is irrelevant to us [Team GB]. Our mission is to support athletes."

Quite. No doubt dear old Baron de Coubertin will be looking down from up there, assuming there is such a place, and applauding England, who adds: "The BOA are speaking to their athletes over how they can support the Black Lives Matter movement in Tokyo."

Had these Games been taking place now it is likely that the International Olympic Committee would have attempted to forbid competitors from taking the knee, as political demos are banned.

UK Sport, whose current chair is the former British Olympic rowing star Dame Katherine Grainger, is under fire following Mail on Sunday revelations over the "questionable" substance called DeltaG given to some British athletes in the run-up to London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The substance was still being researched and UK sport admitted it could not guarantee it would comply with anti-doping rules.

Jo Pavey, the 2014 European 10,000 metres champion who has represented Britain at five Olympic Games, said she felt deep concern that National Lottery money assigned to Olympic and Paralympic sport should be pursuing marginal gains by using a substance developed for US Special Forces - especially as that substance was still being researched.

"It's upsetting the way the sport is going with athletes trying to find gains they can get away with," Pavey told the newspaper.

"It's almost like nowadays athletes can't compete on the world stage unless they are doing all this rubbish. It's depressing, as you feel there is so much going on with people doing all sorts of things to the absolute limit.

"Obviously there are people outright doping, but also it feels like some athletes are moving away from just training hard. It's alarming that they're trying to keep it all top secret and getting athletes to sign waiver forms."

Anther British athlete, Emma Jackson, has also revealed that she believes the injuries which ended her career were caused by the high levels of a thyroid drug she was prescribed by a UK Athletics doctor. 

 represented GB over 800m at the world championships in 2011 and believes that the injuries which ended her career were caused by the high levels of a thyroid drug she was prescribed by a UK Athletics doctor. Claims of "over-medicating" have been refuted by UKA.

The condemnation of the use of such an unproven elixir for athletes is widespread. One of the most renowned figures in global anti-doping, Travis Tygart, chief executive of the US Anti-Doping Agency, said that UK Sport needed independent oversight to restrain it from pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable and lambasted the use of athletes as "performance guinea pigs".

In its defence, UK Sport says it "will never seek to win medals at any cost" and said some allegations were "both misleading and offensive".

Whether they have exceeded their remit and abrogated he spirit of sport may remain open to question. What doesn't is the timely sentiments of Mark England.