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UK Sport’s decisions on financing Paris 2024 signal a move towards greater diversity and winning “the right way,” says President Dame Katherine Grainger.
British sports will receive £ 352 million for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, divided into 43 sports.
New additions such as surfing and skateboarding have been funded, while some traditional sports have seen their budgets reduced.
“This is a really important and exciting time,” Grainger told BBC Sport.
“There are two key things: broader diversity and broader commitment and that winning is still important, but how we win is equally crucial for everyone in the system.
“Everyone is on board to make sure we win the right way and that it’s not just a good catchphrase.
“This is not just a phase, it is an evolution of the system and how [we win] being so powerful and popular now. “
Those without the proper culture ‘are not welcome’
UK Sport’s “no-compromise” approach that ties funding strictly to medal potential, which was announced in 2004, has been blamed for a series of recent athlete harassment and welfare scandals.
However, a the change of strategy was announced in October, focus future funding of Olympic and Paralympic sport on the potential of medals over a 12-year period instead of four, with a “progressive approach” aimed at producing success in a wider range of sports.
“What we have done is take a holistic view of sports in terms of looking at its cohort of athletes and their potential for the future,” Executive Director Sally Munday told BBC Sport.
“We have looked at how they run their programs, the cost of running their programs, and we have looked at how they are going to make sure that culture is at the center of what they do.
“We are very satisfied with the sports we are investing in and are committed to having the right culture.
“We will work together with sports to make it very clear that if you are not going to put a good positive culture at the center of what you do, you are simply not welcome.”
Former T-shirt Grainger, Britain’s most decorated Olympian, has been head of the national funding body for the past three years, adding: “We have a duty to do well for the public pound and say it should reach as many as possible. and in the right way.
“You need to have this heart of solid integrity and trust in the system.
“I want our sports community to be known internationally for its people-first approach and also known for upholding the highest standards of integrity.”
The winners and the losers
While the funding represents an increase from the £ 345 million allotted for the Tokyo Games and widens from 32 to 43 sports, some of Britain’s most successful sports have lost.
Athletics, gymnastics, rowing and swimming budgets have been cut by around 10%, while sailing, canoeing, horse riding and the modern pentathlon have also seen cuts.
Badminton has seen a significant increase and GB wheelchair rugby has regained its funding. The sport received a total of £ 3 million in the run-up to Rio 2016, but had all funds withdrawn after failing to win a medal at the Games.
Since then, they have won two European titles and rose to number four in the world.
Great Britain won 67 medals at Rio 2016 and claimed 64 gold medals at the Paralympic Games.
British Rowing CEO Andy Parkinson said he was not surprised to see a cut of around £ 2.4 million for the sport in “tough economic times.”
However, her Pentathlon GB counterpart Sara Heath said she was “disappointed and perplexed” by a reduction of just over 20%.
In a statement, Pentathlon GB said it intended to appeal, with Heath emphasizing a “lack of parity … in all sports that receive this crucial funding.”
On the decision to cut funding for a number of sports, Munday added: “These are quite difficult times in terms of the financial envelope that is available to us and we have reviewed the article.
“We wanted to get to more sports than we could have before and as a result we have had to make some pretty tough decisions.
“I believe sports that have been consistently successful will continue to be successful with the funding they have received.”
A new additional fund worth £ 3 million will also be open to requests from other sports, such as breaking, which is to be presented at the Paris Olympics for the first time.
UK Sport is expected to assess the breaking potential over the next 12 months, as it did when rock climbing, skateboarding, surfing and karate were first added to the Olympic program.
Who has what?
In rowing, funding fell by almost 10%, while swimming (11.4%) and horse riding (11.6%) also registered significant decreases.
However, archery saw its funding more than doubled, badminton increased by around £ 2.5 million (over 300%) and cycling saw a 12% increase.
| Olympic sport | Amount awarded |
| Archery | £ 2,134,257 |
| Athletics | £ 22,175,520 |
| Badminton | £ 3,154,358 |
| Boxing | £ 11,395,507 |
| Rafting | £ 12,108,836 |
| Cycling | £ 27,601,684 |
| Diving | £ 8,463,542 |
| Equestrian | £ 11,085,964 |
| Gymnastics | £ 12,510,990 |
| Hockey | £ 12,376,622 |
| Judo | £ 5,446,804 |
| Modern pentathlon | £ 4,391,183 |
| Rowing | £ 22,212,008 |
| Navigation | £ 21,338,088 |
| Shooting | £ 5,802,749 |
| Swimming | £ 16,590,017 |
| taekwondo | £ 7,776,898 |
| triathlon | £ 6,806,550 |
| Paralympic sport | Amount awarded |
| bowl | £ 3,473,835 |
| Para-archery | £ 2,633,644 |
| Para-athletics | £ 9,065,401 |
| Para-badminton | £ 1,106,833 |
| Para-canoe | £ 3,032,881 |
| Para-cycling | £ 7,829,158 |
| Para-equestrian | £ 3,011,243 |
| Para-shot | £ 1,692,915 |
| Para-rowing | £ 3,139,577 |
| Para-swimming | £ 7,829,247 |
| Table tennis | £ 3,717,787 |
| Para-taekwondo | £ 563,162 |
| Paratriathlon | £ 3,814,618 |
| Weightlifting | £ 1,612,722 |
| VI Judo | £ 847,617 |
| Wheelchair basketball | £ 4,197,157 |
| Wheelchair fencing | £ 1,599,819 |
| Wheelchair rugby | £ 2,650,289 |
| Progression sport | Amount awarded |
| Basketball | £ 1,350,000 |
| Mountaineering | £ 1,562,811 |
| Fencing | £ 1,672,485 |
| Skateboards | £ 1,672,485 |
| Surf | £ 1,350,000 |
| Table tennis | £ 1,350,000 |
| Weightlifting | £ 1,350,000 |
