Radcliffe the biggest loser after funding is slashed

Paula Radcliffe has paid the price for yet another summer of Olympic heartache by having her funding withdrawn.

And Athens gold medallist Mark Lewis-Francis has been overlooked after UK Athletics narrowed the focus from athletes with top-eight potential to those who are medal contenders at global championships in the next Olympic cycle.

Sheffield’s Ennis, 26, is a definite medal contender if she decides to go for a second heptathlon title at next year’s world championships in Moscow.

There are some notable inclusions among Yorkshire’s athletes, with Middlesbrough long jumper Chris Tomlinson, York 400m relay runner Richard Buck, Leeds Met student and 1,500m specialist Laura Weightman, plus Halifax’s double Paralympic champion Hannah Cockroft and bronze medallist shot putter Robin Womack of Wakefield all set to benefit.

The funding amounts to between £10,000 and £26,000 and is in addition to non-financial help like access to coaches, facilities, medical staff and training camps.

For 26-year-old Buck, the return to podium level funding represents a pat on the back from UK Athletics for fighting his way back into the picture after losing the financial backing two years ago.

Buck had to take shifts stacking shelves in Tesco to supplement his training, but after a strong 2012 he achieved his goal of qualifying for the Olympics, even if he was an unused member of Britain’s 4x400m relay team.

“Getting that funding back will help me progress in 2013 and hopefully I can build on the year I’ve had,” said Buck, who won relay silvers in the world indoor and European outdoor championships this year.

“The funding is a big help, but more than that it is a recognition that you’re doing well and have potential, and that’s something I really appreciate.

“Moscow is my target for next year, and in the short term the indoor season and the European championships in Gothenburg (March 1-3) is big for me because I medalled in that in Paris two years ago.”

For the second time in his career this summer Buck was an unused member of Britain’s Olympic relay team. In Beijing it was because of illness, but in London he was made to sit on the sidelines as Dai Greene, Jack Green, Martyn Rooney and Conrad Williams finished fourth in the final.

Despite the disappointment and frustration that the good form he had shown in forcing his way into the initial squad was not rewarded with a run, he was nevertheless proud to have at least made it that far.

“I was disappointed but it was still a fantastic achievement to make the Olympics after the year I’d had and after being so determined to make that team,” he said. “That was a personal victory, seeing my name in the Olympic team. Everyone was striving for it, everyone was running their hardest, and to make the team for a home Olympics was a big deal.”

Elsewhere, Olympic hammer finalist Alex Smith of Hull has made the grade for the podium potential programme, which is the second rung of support.

Joining him is Sheffield middle-distance runner Mukhtar Mohammed and Jazmin Sawyers, who trains with Ennis’s coach Toni Minichiello in Sheffield.

Wakefield high jumper Martyn Bernard and sprinter Emily Freeman, Leeds 400m runner Richard Strachan, Sheffield’s steeplechase specialist Hatti Archer and Rotherham sprinter Louise Bloor have all missed out on funding after failing to qualify for London 2012. Radcliffe headlines the list of senior athletes who have missed out on the world class programme. The mother of two, who saw her Olympic hopes ruined by illness and injury in 2004 and 2008, pulled out of the 2012 marathon with a foot injury after failing a fitness test the week before. She has not run a marathon since last September.

Several other senior names have also seen their funding taken away, including marathon runner Mara Yamauchi, veteran sprinters Devonish and Lewis-Francis, European 400m hurdles champion Rhys Williams, former European 800m silver medallist Michael Rimmer, Commonwealth 1,500m bronze medallist Steph Twell, former world 400m silver medallist Nicola Sanders and 800m runner Marilyn Okoro.

UK Athletics said a significant number of athletes had exited the programme as they are not deemed medal contenders in 2016 or because they had not met agreed performance targets for the previous year.

Performance director Neil Black said: “Being part of the World Class Performance Plan is a privilege and not a right and athletes selected will be expected to fulfil tough performance criteria.

“We have identified a very talented group of athletes for support over the coming year and I am confident that we can build on the success of the last Olympic and Paralympic cycle starting with the European Indoors in Gothenburg in March.”

Dwain Chambers remains without Lottery funding despite being allowed back into the Olympic fold, because UK Sport, who distribute the money, have a zero tolerance attitude toward former drug cheats.