Following the huge success of Britain’s athletes at London 2012, UK Sport is focused on directing support to the right athletes for the right reasons in the next Olympic and Paralympic cycle, to ensure continued success.
Planning for these decisions began more than 12 months ago, and the process has been more detailed and robust than ever before. Analysis of each Olympic and Paralympic sport’s performance potential for Rio 2016 will be presented to UK Sport’s Board this week, ahead of the announcement of the funding decisions on Tuesday 18 December.
Liz Nicholl, Chief Executive of UK Sport, said: “UK Sport will invest National Lottery and Exchequer funds in Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic sports and athletes to maximise their chances of continuing success on the world stage as we move forward to Rio 2016.
“Investment will be targeted where it has the greatest chance of succeeding using our ‘No Compromise’ philosophy, which sets out to reinforce the best, support those developing and challenge the under-performing.
“UK Sport aims to support all sports and athletes deemed to have medal potential in Rio 2016 or 2020, regardless of whether they are individual or team disciplines. We focus on the performance potential of the sport and its nominated athletes and it is this approach which has driven the development of a high performance system that is admired around the world for delivering outstanding results at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“The process for deciding funding for Rio 2016 is based on an assessment of relative merit and has been the most exhaustive UK Sport has ever undertaken. The work with sports to help build their business cases began over 12 months ago. Over recent months our internal investment panel has considered each business case and the performance potential of the cohort of athletes each sport has within its programme to inform investment recommendations. We are confident that our decisions are being taken on a meritocratic basis.
“I can also confirm that over the last year there has been greater dialogue between UK Sport, Sport England and the Home Country Sports Councils to ensure improved connectivity and alignment of investments. This should help sports develop more seamless pathways from grassroots through to elite level. The current approach allows every Olympic and Paralympic sport to have the opportunity to build a case for public and National Lottery investment based on a range of criteria from participation, through to talent development and performance.
“The outcome of UK Sport’s decisions, which focus on Olympic and Paralympic medal success, will be shared with sports next week.”