UK Sport has today announced a record investment of more than £33 million into the UK’s Olympic and Paralympic winter sport athletes, supporting their preparations for Alpes 2030.
The record investment, made possible thanks to sustained investment by The National Lottery and the UK Government, is accompanied by bold reform to the UK’s winter sport system to maximise performance success and protect public money. It is designed to support the UK’s next generation of winter Olympic and Paralympic athletes to achieve their potential at another Winter Games on European soil in 2030.
Today’s announcement reflects UK Sport’s belief that whilst Milan Cortina marked an historic moment for British winter sport, the current British winter sport cohort have even more potential for Alpes 2030, which they must be supported to achieve if the UK is to cement its position as an ever-greater force in winter sport.
Performance Opportunity
Team GB equalled its best ever Winter Olympic medal haul in Milan Cortina, winning five medals including three golds, the first time Britain has won more than one gold medal at a single Winter Games. Meanwhile, ParalympicsGB returned with a single silver medal and provided a talented group of athletes with their crucial first Paralympic experience.
However, the Games also represented the third time in four Winter Olympic Games that Team GB has won five medals, with British athletes returning a record number of top-10 finishes.
This indicates that there is greater potential amongst the UK’s winter athlete cohort, and that more needs to be done to make the most of that potential. It shows that the opportunity is now there for the UK’s winter sports to kick on, helping more athletes to deliver their best performances when it matters most at the Games.
Record Winter Sport Investment
That is why UK Sport is today confirming record investment into the UK’s winter sport performance programmes as a sign of its belief in the potential of the UK’s winter sport
athletes. The more than £33 million of funding being made available includes investment into the performance programmes of Curling, Wheelchair Curling, Skeleton, Snowsport, Bobsleigh and Ice Skating.
The investment is designed to help sports build on the success of Milan Cortina and create more opportunities for athletes to progress and perform on the world stage.
Bold Reform
UK Sport is investing more than ever in athletes and is prepared to reform how support is delivered where necessary to enable them to reach their potential. While investment is critical, the Milan Cortina Games showed that achieving truly historic success at future Winter Games will also require innovation and bold reform. This approach of challenging traditional ways of thinking about performance has been crucial to UK Sport’s approach over more than 25 years and today marks the next step on that journey.
With this in mind, UK Sport has supported the creation of Sport Org, a new, specialist, multi-sport performance delivery organisation established to operate performance programmes on behalf of National Governing Bodies. By bringing more of the UK's leading performance experts and resources together, Sport Org aims to provide greater stability for athletes, drive efficiencies in how money is spent, enable greater access to performance expertise and, ultimately, better support athletes to succeed on the world stage.
The Curling and Wheelchair Curling Programmes are already being delivered by Sport Org and this will continue into the Alpes 2030 Cycle. UK Sport has now agreed with the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association (BBSA) that, whilst their programmes will continue to be delivered through BBSA for the Alpes 2030 Cycle, they will transition into Sport Org for the Utah 2034 Cycle.
Meanwhile, the £445,000 in transition funding that Ice Hockey will receive is the first investment of its kind. It is designed to support plans to develop a more commercially sustainable performance model within the sport.
Snowsport
UK Sport has immense belief and confidence in the current cohort of British snowsport athletes, and their coaches, who achieved the historic performances seen at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games. The future potential of this group has led to the UK Sport Board allocating a £12.5m investment into their success for the Alpes 2030 cycle.
The UK Sport Board has decided not to route the investment for snowsport through GB Snowsport once funding for the Milan Cortina cycle ends.
UK Sport will be engaging constructively with GB Snowsport, to explore a number of options in determining an alternative delivery model for the £12.5 million investment ringfenced to support the UK’s snowsport athletes ahead of Alpes 2030. It is intended that the new delivery model will be confirmed later this year to allow funding to flow seamlessly into the Alpes 2030 cycle. This would allow snowsport athletes to be protected and to continue to benefit from public funding.
UK Sport has written today to all funded snowsport athletes to make them aware of this decision, to affirm our full commitment to them ahead of Alpes 2030 and to commit to continue paying athletes grants directly into the new cycle whilst we address these challenges. UK Sport is also committed to enabling snowsport athletes to continue to access the wider benefits available to funded athletes during this period.
Separately, UK Sport will be commissioning an independent review into the governance of GB Snowsport.
Kate Baker, Director of Performance and People at UK Sport said,
"Milan Cortina showed what British winter sport is capable of, with incredible performances across more sports than ever before, our best-ever Winter Olympic medal haul and a nation gripped by the amazing feats of our athletes.
"With another Winter Games on European soil and an incredibly talented crop of athletes, we're excited by what's possible over the next four years.
"But as a high performance organisation, we're always asking ‘how can we be better?’ We've now won five medals at three of the last four Winter Olympic Games, we also had a record number of top 10 finishes at the Milan Cortina Olympics and returned with a single Paralympic medal. It's important that we don't rest on our laurels and instead have a laser like focus on how we can support our athletes to deliver their potential on the biggest stage.
"Competition across Olympic and Paralympic winter sport is only getting stronger, which is why it's more important than ever that we invest where we can have the biggest impact. It is also why we are not afraid of driving the change needed to give our athletes the very best chance of success. The investments we are announcing today, alongside the reform we are driving in the system, will enable us to do exactly that."
Gareth Moore, Chair of BBSA said,
“We welcome today’s funding announcement from UK Sport and we look ahead to the new Olympic cycle with a renewed sense of optimism. The last quad featured phenomenal success on the ice and huge organisational progress off it and this funding will allow us to target even greater achievements on the road to the Alpes 2030.
“We have agreed with UK Sport that, after the Alpes 2030 Games, our funded Bobsleigh and Skeleton programmes will be operated by Sport Org. We will now work with UK Sport to shape and finalise the plans for that transition, which will result in a more sustainable and resilient future for British Bobsleigh and Skeleton.”
Dave Leith, Curling Performance Director said,
"British Curling is in a strong position after Milan Cortina, where we achieved the significant milestone of delivering back-to-back medals at successive Olympics for the first time, providing a platform to continue building a sustainable, world-class performance programme.
“This investment allows us to strengthen all areas that have been central to our success as we look to maximise opportunities that come with operating as part of Sport Org, inviting closer collaboration across performance programmes, fresh perspectives and shared commitment to performing when it matters to create an environment that will challenge us to keep improving.
“We know success is never guaranteed, but this investment gives us the confidence and capability to continue striving for world-leading performances as we move towards the Alpes 2030 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games."
Jon Eley, British Ice Skating Performance Director said,
"This investment provides British Ice Skating with an exciting opportunity to build on the momentum and progress we've made over the last Olympic cycle. It enables us to continue developing into a world-class performance programme, increase the support available to our athletes, coaches and staff, and pursue our ambitious goals for the Alpes 2030 Olympic Winter Games. We have a talented group of athletes and an exciting pathway emerging, and this investment gives us the platform to continue that growth and maximise our potential on the world stage."
Tim Bratton, Ice Hockey UK Interim CEO said,
"Following the recent merger of Ice Hockey UK, England Ice Hockey and Scottish Ice Hockey to form a single governing body for the sport, the transitional funding provided by UK Sport in this investment cycle will help us turn ambition into action. We plan to use this funding to enable our transition into a self-sustainable governing body for our fantastic sport."
The investments approved by the UK Sport Board into each sport are as follows:
- Bobsleigh and Skeleton - £10,010,000
- Curling - £6,540,000
- Wheelchair Curling - £1,930,000
- Ice Skating - £2,000,000
- Ice Hockey - £445,000
A £12.5 million investment has been ringfenced by UK Sport to support the UK’s snowsport coaches and athletes across the ski and snowboard and para ski and snowboard programmes for the Alpes 2030 cycle.