BBC Radio 5 Live

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Twenty years ago the UK came 36th in the medal table at the Atlanta Olympics - with rowers Matthew Pinsent and Steve Redgrave winning the solitary gold. To avoid a repeat, rules around National Lottery funding were changed in 1997 to unlock more money for Olympic athletes. 

Reportedly, the UK government spent just £5m per year funding Olympic sport before the 1996 Atlanta games. By the time of London 2012 it was spending £264m, when Team GB came third in the medal table. They went one better in Rio, coming second with 67 medals in total.

Sir Rodney Walker, who was chairman of UK Sport when the extra lottery cash started to percolate through, says the extra funds for elite athletes made a difference. He's also delighted that the same strategy is still in place. Namely, that if a sport doesn't deliver, "that money should be used to help someone else", he says.   

Much has been written about the impact of better funding on the UK's Olympic performance. People everywhere are taking to Twitter share their views:

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A Swiss electronics company has dropped out of the race for a slice of a UK manufacturer of the Raspberry Pi mini computer. 

Switzerland's Daetwyler bid about £615m for Premier Farnell, one of the two UK companies licensed to make the Raspberry Pi, but was gazumped weeks later by US rival Avnet. Daetwyler declined to raise its offer and confirmed this morning that the bid has now lapsed, external.

The board of Leeds-based Premier Farnell swung its backing behind Avnet's £690m offer at the end of July. 

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As the Rio Summer Olympics come to a close, the attention has turned to preparation for Tokyo 2020. Organisers in Rio have had to contend with a range of problems including, safety, plumbing and the budget. 

The BBC takes a look at what Tokyo could learn from Rio.

Leisha Chi
Business reporter in Singapore

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South Korea's government is looking to sell a 30% stake in one of the country's biggest banks.  

But if history is any indication, it may be tough getting investors to bite.

Korea has tried and failed to offload its majority stake in Woori Bank's parent company four times since 2010. 

Woori Finance, the nation's biggest financial group, was created in 2011 after the government combined five banks crippled by the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Seoul is now hoping that a piecemeal sale - starting with Woori Bank - can help recoup some of the $11bn in taxpayer money spent on the bailout.

The FTSE 100 is down slightly at the start of the week - dropping 0.2% to 6,846 points. Mining stocks are leading London's blue chip index lower. Glencore and BHP Billiton are two of the biggest losers, dropping 4% and 2% respectively.

The FTSE 250 of mid-cap UK firms is flat at 17,878 points.

On the currency markets, the pound is at $1.3049 and €1.1569.

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Coming up later today German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will hold informal talks to discuss the future of Europe in the wake of the Brexit vote. 

The three European leaders will meet on the tiny island of Ventotene off the coast of Naples and then hold a news conference this afternoon on an Italian military aircraft carrier at sea. We'll bring you the latest when we have it. 

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The sight of Team GB above China in the Olympic medal table has led some to heap praise on John Major, whose government took the decision to launch the National Lottery. The lottery has poured money into sport in the UK, but can it claim credit for medal success?  

The BBC News website attempted to answer that question with an article a few days ago. You can read it all here. We liked the piece a lot, but don't take our word for it...

BBC Radio 5 Live

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Within five years, a UK space travel company will be sending a manned rocket up into space. That's according to Steve Bennett, founder of the company, Manchester-based Star Chase Industries.

"Space tourism is going to be the big business of the 21st century," he tells Wake Up to Money. "It's going to be the dot.com boom all over again."

The flight will only take an hour, getting up to about 330,000ft - ten times the average cruising altitude for a flight -  to allow people to see the "curvature of the earth and the blackness of space". 

First, Star Chase needs to trial the flights with pilots, and then it can start taking up tourists.

"It's like a big hop," Mr Bennett says. "We're pretty close to doing it." 

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

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Football finance guru Kieran Maguire from Liverpool University says Chinese interest in buying Liverpool Football Club is understandable given the club's standing.

"Liverpool as a brand is held in very high regard," he says.

Mr Maguire says the investment would be good for the club in terms of pre-season tours and merchandising.

Chinese investors' interest in European football generally has its roots in the country's desire to host the football World Cup says Mr Maguire.

In recent years investments have been made into Aston Villa, Wolves, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

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After the Fed's vice chairman Stanley Fischer said over the weekend that the US is close to meeting its economic targets, chatter will begin again about an imminent US interest rate hike.

Jane Foley, senor FX strategist at Rabobank, says we shouldn't expect action in September.

"The market remains very sceptical because of the inflation outlook in the US in particular," Ms Foley says.

There is a "risk" there will not be enough momentum in inflation rates to allow the Fed to raise interest rates this year.

If the US central bank were to take the leap, Ms Foley says the US dollar would inevitably rise, sending the sterling lower still. "It would have a significant impact for currencies across the board," she says.

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Kobe Bryant, one of America's most successful basketball players, is setting up a venture capital fund, with the tech entrepreneur Jeff Stibel, reports the Wall Street Journal., external

Initially it will have $100m to invest in technology, media and data companies.

Mr Bryant explains what the team is looking for in their entrepreneurs:

“Sometimes you can spot it right away, other times not so much,” he says. “It’s the inner belief that a person has that he will endure no matter what the obstacle may be. It’s that persistence, the entrepreneur doing what he or she truly believes in and truly loves to do.” 

He could have been talking about all those Olympians right?

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Global central bankers are convening in Jackson Hole, Wyoming this week.

Markets will be focused on reading between the lines of US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen's speech on Friday - namely to figure out whether an interest rate hike is still on the table this year.  

The Fed was widely expected to resume its gradual appreciation of short-term borrowing costs in January but that was shelved following tremors in the global market. 

After all, there are risks from leaving rates too low, for too long.

"Traders are on high alert after a befuddling policy divide amongst Fed Members and will keenly view this year’s symposium for any tidbits or clues in future directions of monetary policy," Stephen Innes from OANDA Asia Pacific said.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

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Fionnuala Earley, Countrywide's chief economist, says the estate agent expects UK house prices to fall 1% in 2017 before recovering in 2018.

That's because the Brexit vote will have an impact on the economy generally, which will feed into household incomes and possibly delay decisions to move house.

People are also trying their luck more when it comes to negotiating the price of their new homes, as higher stamp duty payments and Brexit mean people feel able to ask for a lower price.

Although availability of finance is good, Ms Earley says we shouldn't "push" to buy a home while prices are slightly lower. "Buying a home is a long term affordability decision," she says.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gave Nintendo a boost by dressing up as its plumbing superhero Super Mario at the closing ceremony of the Rio Olympics. Japan has announced $30bn of funding for when it hosts the next Olympics in Tokyo in 2020, including a raft of new technologies.

BBC Radio 5 Live

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Jane Allen, the head of British Gymnastics, says the millions in funding has been crucial to Team GB's success at the Olympics, but also the "enormous focus on outcomes".

"The money is really important, but it's also important how you invest that money," she tells Radio 5 Live's Wake Up to Money.

The UK finished with seven medals in gymnastics, including gold for Max Whitlock in the pommel horse (above). Ahead of each Olympics, sports are given clear targets with the money from funding body UK Sport. 

"Their approach has been correct and we've been on both sides of the stick," Ms Allen says. "We have had funding reduced when we've not achieved, and now we're in a good place."

BBC Radio 5 Live

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Great Britain and Northern Ireland finished the Rio Olympics second in the medal table with 27 golds and 67 medals in total. It's prompted Liz Nicholl, the head of funding body UK Sport, to label Team GB a "superpower of Olympic sport". 

UK Sport has distributed funding "using a very clear, but also brutal" approach, Borja Garcia, a sport management lecturer at Loughborough University, tells Radio 5 Live. 

"Basically what they have done is only to invest money on the sports that are likely to produce a return of medals," he tells Wake Up to Money. So that meant sports like rowing, cycling, athletics and swimming - where a strong squad can pick up several medals, he says.

Image source, AFP

Asian stocks have opened mixed on Monday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 leading the region with a 0.3% gain buoyed by a weaker yen. 

Elsewhere in Asia, investor mood was more muted, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.3%, the mainland Shanghai Composite shed 0.6% and South Korea’s Kospi was lower by 0.7%.

In Australia, the ASX 200 remained flat in morning trade.

Image source, All Sport

Welcome to a new week and another day of Business Live. For anyone suffering post-Olympic blues, we've got plenty of business news to bring you to cheer you up. We'll have all the latest from the markets - it's been a muted start in Asia - as well as all the latest news and views from the world of business.