Further investment to support Beijing 2022 success confirmed
Published 28 June 2019
2018 Getty Images
Ski and Snowboard, Para Ski and Snowboard and Wheelchair Curling will all receive an uplift in funding to support their preparations ahead of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Following a meeting of the UK Sport Board as part of the Winter Sport Annual Review process, it was agreed that the three sports will share an additional £2,978,000 of funding.
Para Ski and Snowboard will receive an additional £748,000 of funding to support their alpine, snowboard and Nordic skiing programmes. The award reflects the potential of the team ahead of Beijing following their success at the 2019 Para Alpine World Championships where they picked up nine medals across ski and snowboard events, including two golds for Menna Fitzpatrick.
Wheelchair Curling investment of £937,000 comes in the form of Medal Support Plan funding in recognition of their growing potential following recent successes, which included a silver medal at the World Championships in Stirling.
Additional funding of £1,293,000 for Ski and Snowboard will be directed to athletes in the new Olympic discipline of Ski Big Air along with the Half Pipe and Snowboard Cross.
Chelsea Warr, Director of Performance at UK Sport said, “Following some notable successes across several sports during the winter season, which demonstrates increasing potential as we move towards Beijing, there were some compelling cases for additional investment.
“We are delighted to be strengthening our support for Ski and Snowboard and Para Ski and Snowboard and are really excited about the potential of the team following some strong individual performances at their respective World Championships. James Woods became the first British man to win a World Championship gold medal on snow when he won gold in slopestyle. Menna Fitzpatrick and her guide Jen Kehoe also won two golds at the Para Alpine World Championships and became the first skiers to win both Paralympic and world titles.
“Wheelchair Curling have also had an impressive season, beating world champions Norway en route to a World Championship silver medal, demonstrating their potential for Beijing 2022.
“These awards are intended to support our efforts to build on our most successful Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang last year.”
Aside from winter sport funding, an additional £144,000 will be invested in Para Taekwondo to support two additional athletes, including Matt Bush who recently became the first British male World Champion, in the run up to Tokyo 2020.