News

British Paralympians will be among hundreds of athletes from more than 40 countries competing at the first Paralympic World Cup, which takes place in Manchester this summer.

Following the articles that have appeared in the press over recent days, UK Sport has issued a statement to clarify the current situation with regards to the funding of Olympic sportsmen and women.

London 2012 bid organisers have released detailed plans for the next generation of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

A new framework to help guide sports and community organisations towards achieving equality was launched last week at a conference in London.

London's bid document for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012 is being submitted to the International Olympic Committee today.

Sport in the UK is at a new level thanks to the National Lottery says UK Sport

Nick Bitel, Chair of UK Sport's Major Events Steering Group, spelled out the importance of hosting major events on home soil as he opened the 2004 Major Events Conference in London.

The British Olympic Association yesterday announced that Craig Reedie had been re-elected as the organisation's Chairman

Over 100 delegates attended this week's UK Sport's Major Events Conference where the recurring theme of 'legacy' was prominent among all the key note speakers.

Nine of the nation's most promising coaches came together last week at the start of a journey aimed at placing them on a fast track to coaching excellence.

The British team returned home last week having secured second place in the final medal tables at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens. A total of 94 medals were won, including 35 gold.

Great Britain managed to add one more medal to the tally on the last day of sport at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games. The men's basketball team, under coach Dave Titmuss, beat the Netherlands 82-66 in a solid win to take the bronze medal.

The Greek public flocked to the Athens Olympic Stadium once again last night as a capacity 72,000 crowd watched the International Paralympic President, the UK's Phil Craven, open the XII Paralympic Games.

Phil Lane, Chef de Mission of the British team for the 2004 Paralympic Games, is confident that there will be more GB success once the event opens in Athens on September 17.

London's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games has been boosted by the fantastic support displayed by British sports fans in Athens, according to bid leader Sebastian Coe.

Two gold medals on Saturday evening on the athletics track plus a silver for teenage boxing sensation Amir Khan on Sunday in the ring lifted Team GB's final medal tally at the Athens Olympics to 30, two more than in Sydney.

Britain has won its first gold medal of the Games with a convincing victory in the sailing as Shirley Robertson and her Yngling crew proved themselves to be untouchable with a race to spare.

New research has revealed that 66% of the British public believe that without National Lottery funding through UK Sport, the British team would not be able to achieve tenth place or higher in the Olympic Games medals table.

With preparations for the Athens Olympics now about to enter their final phase, the British Olympic Association and UK Sport today announced an £800,000 investment by UK Sport in Team GB's pre-Games preparation camps.

With some 36 days to go until the 2004 Olympics get underway, UK Sport today looked beyond Athens and announced the funding package available to support leading athletes up to the next summer Games in Beijing 2008.

Sports in the UK are being invited to nominate their rising stars of coaching to take part in a ground-breaking new <i>Elite Coach</i> acceleration programme, co-ordinated by UK Sport.

London 2012 has announced a refocus of the bid leadership following its success in being short-listed as a Candidate City for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

The International Olympic Committee announced today that London - along with Madrid, Moscow, New York and Paris - has made it on to the short-list of cities bidding to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

With just 100 days to go until the start of the 2004 Olympic Games, Britain's leading sportsmen and women have said that UK Sport's World Class Performance Programme has made a vital difference to their training and competition.

Former British Cycling Performance Director Peter Keen will be joining UK Sport as Performance Adviser from the beginning of April 2004.

Two announcements in recent weeks - by UK Sport and Sport England - are set to have a significant effect on the way that Olympic sports are supported by the Sports Councils.

The <i>UK Strategy Framework for Women and Sport</i> was launched last week at Bisham Abbey at a meeting of the International Working Group on Women's Sport (IWG), hosted by UK Sport.

"An organisation suited to the needs of elite sport in a devolved Britain," is how Sue Campbell describes the UK Sport she would like to see at the conclusion of her 18-month term at the helm of the UK's elite sport agency.

Sue Campbell CBE - Chief Executive of the Youth Sport Trust and former Chief Executive of the National Coaching Foundation - has been appointed as the new interim Chair of UK Sport, taking over from Sir Rodney Walker.

As announced on Monday, UK Sport's Chairman, Sir Rodney Walker, will stand down when his term of office expires in September. This will bring to an end nine years of work at the highest level of British sport.

A major shake-up of the National Lottery has been announced by the Government which could raise more money for sport and involve Olympic athletes sharing their skills on National Lottery Day.

A decision by the Government on whether to back a London bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games has been delayed for at least two weeks, Downing Street said today.

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell joined key figures including three-time Olympic gold medallist Matthew Pinsent and London Mayor Ken Livingstone at a debate to discuss whether Britain should bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee today published its report on a potential bid for the 2012 Olympics. "It is clearly desirable in principle that London should host an Olympic and Paralympic Games," it concludes.

UK Sport today said that a slight redistribution of Lottery funds among the good causes could result in an additional £1 billion for sport over ten years that could be used to help fund the costs of London staging the 2012 Olympics.

All governing bodies will this week receive a questionnaire from UK Sport designed to provide a toolkit that will enable them to review operations to identify how they might be repositioned or refocused in the future.

An ICM opinion poll regarding a potential London bid for the 2012 Olympic Games has revealed that 81% of the nation is in favour of a bid - an increase of 12% since the question was last asked six months ago.

Speaking on the eve of the Select Committee hearings into a London bid for the 2012 Olympics, Sports Minister Richard Caborn said that the issue of transport was crucial to whether the Government would give its support.

UK Sport has welcomed today's publication of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport/Strategy Unit report, which looks at delivering the Government's sport and physical activity objectives.

The announcement of £9.4m of new money to support the nation's top athletes and their coaches in their efforts to build on the success of the Sydney Olympics and Paralympics was today welcomed by UK Sport.

Sports Minister Richard Caborn today called for a full debate on the structure of elite sport in the UK to continue the work done so far in creating a system capable of delivering sustained British success of the world stage.

Sports Minister Richard Caborn today appointed four new Members to UK Sport's Council, with Nick Bitel, Louise Martin, Laura McAllister and Constance St Louis joining the organisation.

UK Sport, the agency charged by the Government with co-ordinating the staging of world-class events in the UK, today gave its backing to London's proposed bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.

"The Olympic Games would be the perfect way for the UK to signal its intent as a sporting power, showcasing London to the rest of the world as a city of the 21st Century," says John Scott, UK Sport's Director of Major Events.

The UK is on course to become one of the world's top five sporting nations by 2012 according to Sir Rodney Walker, Chairman of UK Sport, speaking at the organisation's annual open meeting.

As Manchester continues to wind down after a successful Commonwealth Games, the home nations can look back on the ten days of sporting action with pride.

The Commonwealth Games drew to a close last night in Manchester, and the final weekend of action saw a host of medals for the home countries.

The principles of a national framework for women's sport in the UK were agreed last week at a two-day workshop at Bisham Abbey hosted by the UK Co-ordinating Group on Women and Sport.

Taekwondo has been given a massive boost in its bid for success on the world stage and increased popularity at home, becoming the latest sport to benefit from UK Sport's World Class Performance Programme.

UK Athletics has welcomed a £40 million funding package following the abandoned attempt to stage the 2005 IAAF World Athletics Championships at Picketts Lock in North London.

UK Sport will shortly unveil its new Lottery Strategy, coinciding with the announcement that the organisation's awards to sport have passed through the £100 million barrier.

The UK Sports Institute, which delivers tailored services to individual sports and athletes, is currently working with a number of technology partners to help bring innovative solutions to those working within British sport.

UK Sport has released details of a massive £1.7 million investment programme in Paralympic sport to support the British team for the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens.

It may only be just over 24 hours since the Olympic flame was extinguished in Salt Lake City, but UK Sport today announced that it is already making plans for Turin 2006.

The women's curling team, led by skip Rhona Martin, won Great Britain's first Gold medal at a Winter Olympics since 1984 with victory over Switzerland in a dramatic final on Thursday.

Rhona Martin, the newly-crowned women's Olympic Curling champion, today explained how cutting edge technology had a major part to play in the British team's dramatic gold rush.

Alex Coomber won Britain's first medal in Salt Lake after finishing third in the Bob Skeleton on day thirteen of the Games. The women's curling team are assured of at least a Silver after making the final.

A new DCMS report examining the enormous impact that the National Lottery has had on sport at all levels since tickets first went on sale seven years ago has been released.

Sports science support available to Britain's leading athletes and coaches will be improved following an agreement between the UK Sports Institute and the British Association of Sport and Exercise Science.

UK Sport Chairman Sir Rodney Walker today welcomed Dr Jack Cunningham's report into the funding of elite sport and promised that his organisation would approach the report's recommendations with an open mind.

The British Olympic Association has welcomed the IOC's decision to award Beijing the 2008 Olympics, and has said it will continue to investigate the possibility of bidding for the 2012 Games.

Sport England have announced an award of up to £23,540,000 for the English Institute of Sport Sheffield project. This multi-sport facility forms part of the UK Sports Institute network.

A one million pound four-year plan was unveiled this week by UK Athletics to give the UK's leading athletes unprecedented scientific support through to the 2004 Olympic Games and beyond.

British sliders have been given a performance boost in their ambition to dominate the sport of Bob Skeleton, following UK Sports Institute training in the use of video and coaching analysis software.

New UK Sport research, published recently, highlights the impact of the Sydney Olympics and Paralympics on the UK public's sporting preferences.

British sport's Performance Directors were given the cutting edge business tools to help them win Gold at future major championships at a seminar organised by the UK Sports Institute.

World Class athletes in the East Midlands region are boosted by the announcement that £2.7 million will be made available for elite training facilities that will form part of the UK Sports Institute.

Sport England awards world class 50 metre training pool to Loughborough University, boosting swimming facilities available through the UK Sports Institute.

As the last sporting year drew to a close, news came that the UK can lay claim to being among the top five most successful nations in world sport.

The key figures who will shape the development of the UK Sports Institute's services were unveiled today by UK Sport.