IT MAY only be just over 24 hours since the Olympic flame was extinguished in Salt Lake City, but UK Sport today announced that it is already making plans for Turin 2006.
In fact, the body that distributes Lottery funds to Olympic and Paralympic sports in the UK had made arrangements – together with the British Olympic Association (BOA) - to meet with all the sports that journeyed to Salt Lake City some six months before the Games got underway, as Richard Callicott, UK Sport’s Chief Executive, explained.
"What we’re doing is continuing a process we put in place before the Sydney Olympics in 2000," he said. "We want to ensure that whatever the results, we learn the lessons from the outcomes of major sporting events. The Olympic Games are the biggest stage on which our Lottery-funded athletes compete and it is vital that we learn where our support has helped our most talented athletes get on to the podium – and, just as importantly, where it has failed to make that happen.
"The wash-up meetings allow us to have a frank and open debrief with those who were at the sharp end, together the BOA and the sports’ governing bodies themselves, to learn as much about the Olympic experience as possible and the areas of support that can make a difference between a podium place and the also-rans."
CALLICOTT BELIEVES that a successful partnership between all the bodies involved in supporting the nation’s leading sportsmen and women is the key to improving the UK’s standing as a major sporting power. The connection between UK Sport and the BOA is particularly critical and the presence of the BOA’s Chairman, Craig Reedie, on UK Sport’s Council has ensured that the organisation has had a hand in every funding decision made by UK Sport.
"The good news is that the Salt Lake Games has again demonstrated that well-targeted use of Lottery funds can and does make a difference to our top sportsmen and women," adds Callicott.
"In a sense, Alex Coomber’s medal is a testament to how sport has moved on in this country, with her sport benefiting from Lottery funding – and the specialist coaching that her governing body can buy in as a result - technical support from the UK Sports Institute and now top facilities like the push-start track that has been put in place at Bath University as part of the English Institute of Sport network."
UK Sport begins a series of wash-up meetings with leading winter sports at the conclusion of their season in a few weeks time. The BOA will add their presence to UK Sport’s Lottery specialists and the UK Sports Institute team to examine what support can and should be provided over the next four years leading up to Turin 2006.