British Triathlon secures UK Sport funding boost for Tokyo 2020

On Friday 9 December 2016, UK Sport, the nation’s high performance sport agency, revealed its ambition for British athletes to deliver more medals and medallists at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games to inspire the nation. This is underpinned by a £345 million investment of UK Government and National Lottery funds.

Within a raft of funding for a multitude of sports, British Triathlon (and other NGBs) received financial support for the next four years. The figures show a slight uplift for triathlon and paratriathlon. Although, in reality, the funding is in line with previous funding cycles; it’s just the way it’s been accounted over the 2017-2020 period.

The announcement is extremely welcome news for British Triathlon, especially when the organisation had been warned that there could be a decrease – due to lower numbers of people in the UK playing the National Lottery and thus adding to the funding pot.

British Triathlon Performance Director Brendan Purcell said “We received the best outcome that we could have hoped for from our funding bid, which is a significant vote of confidence in our world class programme. Thanks to UK Sport and the National Lottery for their continued support of triathlon and paratriathlon.”

UK Sport’s strategic leadership and investment approach over the past 20 years, working in partnership with the British Olympic and Paralympic Associations, led to record-breaking performances by Britain’s National Lottery funded athletes at the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer.

Great Britain became the first host nation in history to better both its Olympic and Paralympic medal haul at the next Games, and finished in second place on both medal tables with 214 medals overall and 255 medallists. 214 medals represented Great Britain’s best ever overseas combined Olympic and Paralympic medal haul.

In preparation for the next Games, UK Sport began working with sports over a year ago on their individual strategies for success at Tokyo 2020 to ensure that the momentum continues from Rio to Tokyo, providing a significant competitive advantage.

The ongoing commitment from Government to supporting the nation’s ambitions for success on the Olympic and Paralympic stage has seen sustained levels of overall investment for the Tokyo cycle, at a challenging time for National Lottery good causes revenue.

Rod Carr, Chair of UK Sport, said “These are critical funding decisions for sports to take them on their journey to Tokyo 2020 and beyond so the historic success at Rio can be maintained.

“We have received incredible support from the Government, who have confirmed their commitment to funding our ambitions through to Tokyo 2020, providing the financial assurances needed for the continued evolution of our high performance system to ensure the athletes and sports with strong medal potential have what they need to inspire the nation.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Government and National Lottery players for their continued support.”

Sports Minister Tracy Crouch said “Rio 2016 was incredible – our Olympic and Paralympic heroes’ amazing performances made the country proud. The four year journey to Tokyo 2020 starts now and the Government and National Lottery is backing UK Sport to help maintain our place as a sporting superpower.

“UK Sport’s approach to elite sport has proven successful in Beijing, London and Rio; and the ambition to win more medals in Tokyo is a bold one that, if achieved, would mean a sensational summer of sport in 2020.”

With this funding UK Sport has been able to invest in the Tokyo performance strategies of 16 Olympic and 15 Paralympic sports and over 1100 athletes, with £336 million allocated. The total Tokyo investment will be up to £345 million, allowing for in-cycle adjustments, transitioning sports and for UK Sport to continue to work with those newly confirmed Olympic and Paralympic sports with strong medal potential for Tokyo. This could include sports such as Climbing, Karate, and Para Taekwondo.

Regretfully, UK Sport has been unable to invest in five sports that were funded in the Rio cycle: Archery, Badminton, Fencing, Weightlifting and Wheelchair Rugby.

Liz Nicholl, CEO of UK Sport, said: “We have been working in partnership with sports for over a year to develop their Tokyo strategies and I would like to thank them all for their engagement, professionalism and ambition during this process.

“We would like to invest in every sport but the reality is that we have to prioritise within agreed resources to protect and enhance the medal potential within the system; if we underinvest across the board then the British teams will ultimately underperform at the Games and medal success will be put at risk.

“We know what it takes to win and what it costs to win and believe these investments will deliver medal winning success to inspire the nation once again in Tokyo.

“We have not taken these decisions lightly and we know that this impacts on the hopes and dreams of athletes, coaches and support teams that miss out. We are committed to managing this with appropriate care and will be working with those affected by these decisions to help them in their transition.”

The aggregated medal potential of the sports UK Sport has today confirmed investment in for the Tokyo 2020 cycle is between 51-85 Olympic and 115-162 Paralympic medals. This has informed UK Sport’s ambition to deliver more medals and medallists, across the Olympic and Paralympic Games, to inspire the nation.

Chelsea Warr, Director of Performance at UK Sport, said “Our high performance system and investment approach is revered the world over; we are now up there as one of the world’s most successful sporting nations.

“We’ve worked closely with our sports to understand their strategies for the next cycle, and I firmly believe we haven’t reached our peak. The cumulative target ranges we’ve agreed with the sports show us we can deliver more medals and medallists to inspire the nation.

“Underpinning this ambition are our expert people – coaches, practitioners and leaders – who remain motivated and excited by the prospect of continuing to make history through supporting our athletes to realise their potential.”

www.uksport.gov.uk
www.britishtriathlon.org