£7.6m Awarded to British Alpine and Para-Alpine Teams in Run Up To 2018 Olympics
£7.6m Awarded to British Alpine and Para-Alpine Teams in Run Up To 2018 Olympics
Published : 26-Jun-2014 03:21
The public funding body UK Sport, has announced awards of £2.749 million to Para-Alpine skiing and £4.89 million to the British Ski and Snowboard to cover the four year run-up to the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Winter Paralympic Games in South Korea.
The money follows the UK's best ever performances in Alpine sports at both the Sochi Winter Olympic and Winter Paralympic Games earlier this year.
"This is great news that UK Sport has recognised the achievements and hard work put in by the athletes, the British Disabled Ski Team and Disability Snowsport UK over the last three funding cycles," said Fiona Young, CEO of Disability Snowsport UK, the charity which runs the British Disabled Ski Team,
"Discussions will now take place on the best way to utilise this funding and take the BDST forward."
British Ski and Snowboard also welcomed their funding, which is a significant increase on the £1.51 million they received from UK sport in January 2012 for a nearly three-year period ending this September. During the previous two years British Ski and Snowboard received no public money at all.
"The level of funding is reflective of the current talent in our Park and Pipe programme and it will allow us as a governing body to maintain world class performance programmes and offer even more support systems for these athletes," said Dave Edwards, Chief Executive of British Ski and Snowboard.
British Ski and Snowboard athletes finished with six top ten results at Sochi 2014 including Jenny Jones' Olympic Bronze medal in Snowboard Slopestyle, plus five more athletes finished in the top 20 and another three in the top 30.
Although exactly how the money, which will go in to a pot that also includes investment in our national team from the National Lottery and private sponsors led by Delancey, will be allocated among athletes is not yet known, it seems likely that the onus of 'rewards for results' will continue, meaning much if not all of funding being concentrated on freestyle events.
"We will now continue to move forward and develop athletes who will compete and aim to beat the world's best over the next four years and in Pyeongchang in 2018," said Mr Edwards.
It is unclear whether there will be any British competitors in traditional Alpine downhill skiing events moving forward. The UK's only 2014 Olympian was Chemmy Alcott who has now retired, as has T J Baldwin who was not selected for the British team for Sochi, despite meeting IOC criteria, and announced he has decided this week that the battle for funding combined with the risk of injury was no longer worth it for him to continue.
UK Sport funding is based around athletes who are identified as having the ability to 'Podium' or are deemed to have 'Podium Potential'. This applies to athletes in the Park and Pipe programme.
Disability Snowsport: www.disabilitysnowsport.org.uk
British Ski and Snowboard: www.teambss.org.uk
UK Sport / National Lottery: www.uksport.gov.uk
Delancey: www.delancey.com
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