UK Sport Cuts Funding For Successful Olympic Disciplines

(ATR) The Chair of UK Sport tells Around the Rings that they are not in a position yet to allocate funding for the new sports in Tokyo 2020, despite being just over three years away from the Games.

Rod Carr was speaking at the announcement of the cycle of funding for British athletes in the build up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Japan in 2020.

A total of £345 million ($436.8 million) will be invested in 31 Olympic and Paralympic sports, £2 million ($2.53 million) less than was invested in the cycle for Rio 2016.

Carr said that the total figure could at some point include funds for the new Olympic sports, which include karate, climbing, skateboarding, surfing and baseball/softball.

However, he admitted that they would need more information about how they could prosper in such events before releasing funding.

"I think in those sports where we have world champions or European champions in similar disciplines, some of the sports that are going to take place are not exactly the same as the current round of disciplines," Carr said. "What we don’t have, because of the lateness of how they were introduced to the program, is all the rigor.

"So it would be dead easy for us to say ‘we have a woman bouldering champion from memory, bouldering is like speed-climbing so we’ll just go in there’. You can’t do that on the one hand and make difficult decisions about badminton on the other, you’ve got to actually go back to the facts and have conversations.

"Those sports are learning, they have their eyes open about what our view of what they need to do is. I’m very confident there will be significant support for those sports but we’re just not quite ready yet."

The head coach of GB’s baseball team, Liam Carroll, said after the funding announcement: "The key to unlocking our potential is investment and I’m pleased that UK Sport has left the door open.

"We look forward to the opportunity to impress upon them that getting behind Great Britain Baseball can extend their tremendous track record of investing in Olympic medal contenders."

In reference to badminton, Carr was alluding to the fact that UK Sport has cut funding for the racket sport despite Team GB winning a bronze medal at Rio 2016 in the men’s doubles. Archery, fencing, weightlifting and wheelchair rugby have also had their funding cut.

UK Sport CEO Liz Nicholl defended the funding cuts, saying that tough decisions had to be made.

"We would like to invest in every sport but the reality is we have to prioritize to protect and enhance the medal potential," she said.

"If we under-invest across the board then the British teams will ultimately at the Games and medal success will be put at risk."

Great Britain enjoyed their most successful away Games in Rio, coming home with 67 Olympic medals and 147 Paralympic medals.

Team GB’s cycling team won 12 medals in Rio but the sport has now had its funding cut by more than £4 million ($5.06 million) to £25.98 million ($32.9 million) in the Tokyo cycle.

Written by Christian Radnedgein London

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