State of the Nation – Olympics: Funding plan to reflect new diversity

Plans were already afoot to make the 20s a decade of change in the Games, a time when more youth sports entered the programme.

Skateboarding and climbing make their debut at the now 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, while break-dancing has been added to the schedule for Paris in 2024.

Many would see the latter as not even a sport, but all those disciplines have the potential to attract new audiences through more modern media streams.

The way the UK funds its Olympians will reflect that change.

Just a week before Christmas, UK Sport announced that it would be upping the amount of money it gives to sports for the Olympic cycle (£345m), but that it would be spreading that more thinly through the sports (up from 32 to 43).

Thirty-six of those sports are traditional, like athletics, gymnastics, rowing and swimming – all of which have taken a reduction of around 10 per cent.

But seven sports are placed on ‘progression’ funding and are categorised by the governing body as “new and exciting sports”. As part of that, skateboarding receives funding for the first time, while basketball’s large urban participation numbers are also recognised, as is surfing.

Badminton has seen a significant increase, having had its funding cut post-Rio, while GB wheelchair rugby has had its funding restored.

Those last two sports underline another sea-change, the shift away from the medal-at-all-costs mentality that has led to investigations into bullying at major sports like gymnastics and cycling, towards an era of greater diversity and winning the right way.

Barring further delays due to the coronavirus pandemic, the delayed Tokyo Games are scheduled to run from July 23 to August 8.

The world, and the Olympic movement, will look very different when the torch is lit.

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