Sponsored by
Boxing among winners after funding squeeze
UK SPORT yesterday polarised opinion among the leading Olympic sports with their announcement of funding distribution for the 2012 Games.
Click here to read about the budget cuts and the BOA's response.
The people who hold the purse strings that dictate the future of British success at the world's biggest sporting extravaganza have caused wide divisions with their policy of rewarding the dominant and neglecting the under-performing.
Sports like cycling, rowing and sailing which have been monopolised in recent Olympics by Team GB, have seen their funding increased in an effort to further improve the medal haul in London.
But flagship events like athletics – in which Great Britain have not enjoyed sustained success since the days of Coe and Ovett -– has lost out, along with minority sports like beach volleyball and table tennis, where the amount of medals won is expected to be minimal.
UK Sport, which allocates budgets for all sports through funding from the National Lottery and the Government, was forced into a position where they would upset some sports when it was announced earlier this week that the Government were slashing funding.
Therefore the money has been allocated under a 'no compromise' investment strategy, prioritising the sports most likely to deliver medals.
One of those disciplines is boxing, which has been a long-term benefactor of funding after producing Olympic champions like Audley Harrison and Athens silver medallist Amir Khan.
The sustained funding enabled the ABA to decamp to the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, a base from which they produced eight Olympians, including Beijing gold medallist James Degale. Boxing has now been rewarded with a 60 per cent increase which equates to 8m over four years.
Paul King, chief executive of the ABA, said: "The decision made three years ago to relocate from Crystal Palace to the EIS in Sheffield has been fully vindicated.
"Strategically we thought it was the right move at the right time and I have no doubts that the facilites provided in Sheffield, and the infrastrcuture available to us in terms of on-site physios and coaching staff, raised the standards for us.
"With the increase in money now awarded to us we would like to have more than the eight boxers in the London Games and I also think we would be looking for more medals. The money adds a certain amount of pressure on us to deliver, but we see that as a challenge."
One of the big losers yesterday was athletics, the flagship sport which is the face of the Olympics.
Christine Ohorougo's gold medal in the 400m in the Bird's Nest was one of only four medals won by the British athletics team, a paltry return which has resulted in funding cuts from 26.5m to 25.1m over the next four years.
Long distance runner Hatti Dean of Sheffield was all set to make her Olympic debut in the 3,000m steeplechase in Beijing, but a stress fracture robbed her of her dream.
The Hallamshire Harrier is back training again for the European Cross Country Championships next weekend, but her London ambition has been knocked back by the reduction of funding.
"I found out last month that I have lost my own personal funding for 2009," said the 26-year-old. "It made a difference over the last year because of the increased physical support you receive from the medical staff.But I was only ever on the middle tier of funding, and the amount of money I was receiving would not make the difference in being as competitive as I can be."
Dean fears that rewarding sports that already win a lot of medals means competitors in the sports that are neglected are in danger of never being able narrow the gap.
She said: "UK Sport are trying to improve our chances of continuing to do well in the sports we are already dominant in, but by doing that they risk the country being under-prepared for other events.
"We are never going to dominate in athletics, but it doesn't mean you should give up."
Email to a friend
Print this page- Celtic interested in Leeds United’s White
- Ball is in Leeds United’s court over contract - Snodgrass
- Sister ‘saw parents kill teenager Shafilea Ahmed for bringing dishonour on family’
- Worker killed and trains halted on North York Moors steam railway
- 20 degrees! At last, Yorkshire’s about to bask in sunshine
- Ball is in Leeds United’s court over contract - Snodgrass
- Celtic interested in Leeds United’s White
- Sister ‘saw parents kill teenager Shafilea Ahmed for bringing dishonour on family’
- Fears over faith split fuelled by free school proposals
- Luton Town 1 York City 2: York clear their heads after early blow to claim their place back in Football League
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Tuesday 22 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North east
