BPA chief Phil Lane says more funding is needed for 2012 to surpass medal tally from Beijing. (Getty Images)(ATR) British Paralympic Association (BPA) chief executive Phil Lane says it will take $12-14 million over the next four years for Britain to exceed its Beijing Olympics performance in London 2012.
Britain finished second in the 2008 Paralympic Games medal table behind China with 102 medals, including 42 golds. But Lane warned that Britain’s Paralympians will have to do even better to meet the high expectations of competing at a home Games in four years’ time.
“We have to put in some serious work,” he said. “It will be a home Games and there will be huge pressures.
“What we did in Beijing was a fantastic achievement and a step up by any measure. Clearly we want to take that forward to a home Games. But we can’t be complacent. We have to be absolutely ruthless in improving those standards,” he added.
Speaking at the launch of Paralympics GB’s Beijing Games' report Wednesday, Lane said that the British team needs extra funding to ensure it is “fit for purpose” in 2012.
The call comes with many anticipating U.K. Sport will announce a cut in resources for British Olympic and Paralympic sports next week.
BPA’s operational costs for both the 2010 Winter Games and 2012 Summer Games will be around $3 million. But Lane said they will need an additional $9-11 million “to support the huge demands that will be placed on us across the next four years” and “to back existing winning habits and break new ground.”
“Much of this we will have to raise ourselves through fundraising and corporate partners,” he said. “But we know that sustained and cohesive lottery funding has helped us make a difference in the past four years and we seek for that to continue and grow.”
Lane warned that retaining Britain’s place in the medal table will be “a tough ask” in the face of pressure from emerging Paralympic nations.
“The USA regrouped and pushed us close for second in the table, Russia are much more prominent and nations like Ukraine, Brazil and South Africa are making huge strides,” he said.
“WeThe U.K. plans to develop new talent and focus on new sports for the 2012 Paralympics. (RAMZI HAIDAR/AFP/Getty Images)are widely regarded around the world as one of the standard bearers of Paralympic sport. But we will have to find those small margins that can keep us in front and hold off both new and old rivals.”
The BPA will build on its “winning formula” by challenging some sports that didn’t deliver in Beijing, developing new talent and working with the 2012 organizers to ensure British Paralympians can “make the most of home field advantage," said Lane.
However, he was cautious about Britain’s prospects of topping the 2012 medal table. “There would be no greater crowning glory than to top the medal table in London,” he said. “Realistically, if China turn up in numbers and with investment they will be difficult opponents to overhaul.
“But if we strive to get the funding right we will be in the mix.”
With reporting from Matthew Brown.
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