- UK Sport’s ambition for Britain’s summer Olympic and Paralympic teams is to be at least as competitive in Rio 2016 as at London 2012, but with a stronger, more sustainable high performance sport system
- The goal is to become the first nation in recent history to be more successful in both the Olympics and Paralympics post hosting, in terms of medals won
- Record investment of £347 million to support Britain’s summer Olympic and Paralympic athletes’ preparations for Rio 2016 and beyond, thanks to support from Government and The National Lottery
- 42 summer Olympic and Paralympic sports with credible medal potential in 2016 or 2020, will receive funding for the Rio cycle
- An overall increase in investment from the London cycle of 11% (5% increase to Olympic sports and 43% increase to Paralympic sports)
- ‘Mission 2016’ will continue to drive improvements and remove obstacles to sports achieving success
UK Sport has today unveiled a goal for the UK to be the first host nation to be more successful at both the next summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in terms of medals won, while creating a stronger more sustainable high performance system to support future generations of athletes.
UK Sport will strategically invest £347 million in Britain’s summer Olympic and Paralympic sports, for their preparations towards the next Games in Rio in 2016 and beyond, to support this vision.
Following the incredible achievements of Britain’s athletes at the home Games in London this summer, where Team GB won 65 medals and ParalympicsGB won 120, this investment builds on the £313 million investment in sports in the London cycle.
Baroness Sue Campbell, Chair of UK Sport, said: “Our announcement today is unprecedented, as we increase investment in British elite sport post our home Games and aim to achieve something no other host nation in recent history has before, in surpassing this year’s incredible performance at both the next summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.
”At UK Sport we take our responsibility for the strategic investment of public and National Lottery funds very seriously - the achievements in London simply would not have been possible without this unparalleled support and our ‘no compromise’ approach to investment.
“London 2012 was just the beginning, not the end, for Olympic and Paralympic sport in this country, and we plan to continue to make this funding work as hard as it can to help our best athletes achieve medal success at the highest level; to make this nation as proud as they did this summer and to inspire the next generation.”
Hugh Robertson, Minister for Sport, said: “We are investing more public money to support our elite athletes in the four years to Rio 2016 than for our home Games, which shows our desire to keep up the momentum from London 2012. The significant increase for Paralympic sports reflects on the extraordinary success and achievements of our Paralympic athletes this summer."
Liz Nicholl, Chief Executive of UK Sport, said: “To ensure a high performance legacy from London 2012, whereby we can aspire to replicate the inspirational performances in London in four years’ time in Rio, UK Sport’s priority for this investment was to get the right resources, to the right athletes, for the right reasons.
”While these decisions have not been easy to make, we are ensuring that every athlete with medal potential for Rio 2016 or 2020 is supported, whether through their sport’s World Class Performance Programme or through our new, more flexible, small squad investment option.”
While Team GB and ParalympicsGB will not have the benefit of the home crowd support with them in Rio, the nation is still supporting them on the journey and UK Sport is confident that further improvements can be made to the high performance system to drive future success.
Nicholl continued: “Importantly we have also worked closely with Sport England and the other Home Country Sports Councils to ensure improved connectivity and alignment of investment in talent to help sports develop more seamless pathways from grassroots through to talent and elite level.
“As a result every Olympic and Paralympic sport should have the opportunity to build on the success of London 2012, whether that be in growing their participation base, winning medals at the elite level or, in most cases, achieving both in parallel. For those sports with limited or no access to elite level funding, our annual review process provides a clear entry point back to UK Sport funding for those who meet the required performance standards.”
UK Sport will also be increasing its investment in areas such as coach development, talent identification and research and innovation, to underpin its investment in sports and athletes and ensure the high performance system continues to operate at the cutting edge of world sport. UK Sport’s ‘Mission 2016’ performance programme tracking tool will continue to help monitor progress in each sport and highlight any barriers to success or elements of excellence to be captured and shared across sports.
The investment allocations, approved by UK Sport’s Board last week follow an intensive planning process and dialogue with summer Olympic and Paralympic sports, which began over a year ago. Sports were invited and supported to produce business cases for investment in their programmes for the Rio cycle, which provided UK Sport with evidence of medal potential for Rio 2016 or the following summer Games in 2020.
This approach has been more detailed and robust than ever before, and the four year investment has been targeted to support an eight year athlete pathway where there is the greatest potential for medal success. UK Sport’s widely acclaimed ‘No Compromise’ philosophy sets out to reinforce the best, support those developing and challenge the under-performing, and led to the historic achievements of the home team in London.
A total of £276.4 million has been invested in Olympic sports for the Rio cycle, representing a 5% increase in investment from the London cycle. The funded sports are: Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Boxing*, Canoeing, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Fencing*, Gymnastics, Hockey (men and women), Judo*, Modern Pentathlon, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Swimming*, Synchronised Swimming, Taekwondo, Triathlon, Volleyball (women’s beach only)**, Water Polo (women only), Weightlifting.
On the Paralympic side, there is an overall increase in funding from the London cycle of 43% in reflection of the increasing competitive nature of, and opportunities for international competition available to, Paralympic sport. A total of £70.2 million has been confirmed today to support the following Paralympic sports over the Rio cycle: Archery, Athletics, Boccia, Canoeing*, Cycling, Equestrian, Football (5 a side only), Goalball (women only), Judo*, Powerlifting, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis, Triathlon*, Wheelchair Basketball, Wheelchair Rugby, Wheelchair Tennis.
David Tanner, GB Rowing Team Performance Director, said: "It is an important day to thank everyone who has bought lottery tickets over the past four year cycle. Without the Lottery Sports Fund we would have been unable to succeed in the way we did on the water in London. We welcome the headline figure announced by UK Sport today which is testament to our consistency of success. We will spend some time now looking at the detail.”
Jeff Davis, Performance Manager of Paralympic Football, said: “The Great Britain Disability Football Association is delighted with our award from UK Sport as it will enable blind football to make the leap from part time status to a full time element. The Paralympics in London inspired a new generation of blind footballers and the great news today will ensure the current players reach their potential and go to Rio as real contenders.”
Gary Hall, Performance Director of GB Taekwondo, said: “Today’s announcement by UK Sport is recognition for the achievements of our athletes and staff in creating what we believe is a world-leading performance system for our sport.
“Recent European, World and Olympic medal success has given GB Taekwondo a platform on which to strengthen our elite programme as we look to Rio 2016. We’re delighted that UK Sport are increasing their investment in Taekwondo and grateful for the continued and valued support of the National Lottery.”
Mike Reilly, CEO of Goalball UK, said: "We are delighted with the award which reflects UK Sport's appreciation of what we have achieved in Goalball in a relatively short time as a new National Governing Body. We saw our team rise in 2012 from being ranked 11th in Europe to just missing out on a medal at London, losing to a golden goal in extra time in the Quarter Final.
“The athletes, coaches, and support staff did a fantastic job getting to London and the team became crowd favourites in the Copper Box as they took on the world. The girls came so close but we are now working towards a medal in Rio and it is brilliant to have this backing."
View all the sports' funding for the Rio cycle >