- UK Sport Investment 2010-14 (Sochi): £1,509,950
- UK Sport Investment 2006-10 (Vancouver): £372,000 (Ski) £248,000 (Snowboard)
- Number of Podium Funded Athletes: 5 - James Woods*, Katie Summerhayes* (Ski), Jenny Jones*, Billy Morgan*, Zoe Gillings* (Snowboard)
- Number of Podium Potential Funded Athletes: 5 -Murray Buchan* (Ski), Aimee Fuller*, Katie Omerod, Ben Kilner*, Jamie Nicholls* (Snowboard)
- Sochi Performance Target: 1-2 Medals
*selected for Sochi 2014
The Sochi Journey
British Ski and Snowboard have made rapid progress following a turbulent start to the Sochi cycle. When the previous national governing body for ski and snowboard collapsed just before the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, the BOA and UK Sport supported the establishment of British Ski and Snowboard to drive a fresh start for the sport.
With this in place, and following the introduction of the new slopestyle disciplines, which presented an exciting new opportunity for British medal success at the Winter Games, UK Sport were able to begin investing in the sport and their most promising athletes from early 2012.
This also signalled a return to funding for two-time Olympian Zoe Gillings, the most experienced member of the squad, who has since benefitted from the production of a portable start gate that she has been able to use in her back garden in Leeds.
While several of the athletes, such as three-time Winter X Games champion Jenny Jones, were already successful on the world stage, the introduction of UK Sport’s funding has allowed the establishment of an integrated Freestyle Ski and Snowboard programme.
Athletes across the disciplines train together at home and abroad, where they can access both fantastic indoor facilities for dry land training, to safely practice new skills and tricks, as well as the world’s finest outdoor facilities, all the while accessing expert coaching, strength and conditioning support, and, of course, crucial physiotherapy and rehabilitation input – key to a fast paced, acrobatic sport where pushing the boundaries and taking risks are key to success and where injuries are commonplace.
Billy Morgan, Jenny Jones and Katie Summerhayes have benefited from this support following injury setbacks on the Road to Sochi, notably Billy, who in December 2011 became the first snowboarder to land a triple backside rodeo, has delayed knee surgery for snapped anterior and medial cruciate ligaments in order to make it to the Games.
"UK Sport funding has definitely made life easier. My physio and trainer see our sport as similar to rugby, with lots of impact injuries, which you've got to keep on top of" Jenny Jones
To support this programme, known as the “GB Park and Pipe Team”, a key addition has been the recruitment of Programme Manager, Lesley McKenna, who takes care of every detail of support and logistics surrounding the athletes and their coaches, Pat Sharples and Hamish McKnight, so they can focus on training and competing.
In an initiative designed to prevent injury, while continuing to push the boundaries of human performance, UK Sport has supported the team with what has been the development of the world’s first bespoke reduced risk air bag for use within the indoor snow domes in the UK.
Should one of the GB ‘Park and Pipe’ gang bring home Team GB’s first ever Olympic medal on snow, this would bode incredibly well for the future of the sport here in the UK; all of the GB freestyle skiers and snowboarders going to Sochi started on either dry slopes or indoor domes on home soil, so should our athletes’ performances in Sochi capture the imagination of the next generation, there’s plenty of opportunity to follow in their footsteps at Games to come.