UK Sport chair Rod Carr has warned of complacency over Team GB’s recent Olympic successes and has called for continued investment in elite sport using National Lottery money.
Describing lottery funding as “the fuel that feeds the engine”, Carr said the decision to set up UK Sport and to invest in the system in 1997 has transformed the fortunes of British sport.
“Since National Lottery funding began it has turbo-charged the sporting system in Great Britain to such an extent we are now among the sporting super powers at the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” he said.
“The funding has supported more than 4,500 athletes on UK Sport’s World Class Programme and between them they have won a staggering 633 Olympic and Paralympic medals.
“The sustained investment has allowed this country to attract and retain some of the world’s best coaches and support staff. It has help develop elite training centres and deliver, alongside our science medicine and technology arm, the English institute of Sport, the talent ID campaigns that have fast-tracked athletes like Helen Glover, Lutalo Muhammad and Lizzy Yarnold to Olympic glory.”
Carr added that the transformation of Team GB’s fortunes has been nothing short of remarkable since the introduction of lottery funding.
British athletes secured a solitary gold at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games and finished a lowly 36th in the medal table – while at London 2012 the team finished third in the medal table with a total of 65 podium finishes.
Carr said the Olympic success is also helping to inspire the next generation of medal hopefuls.
“The impact (of funding) goes beyond London 2012, with the Games creating 213 Olympic and Paralympic medallists, each a wonderful role model, committing to inspiring the next generation by visiting schools and community groups. At the last count more than 10,000 visits have been made.”
“After London 2012, surveys showed the achievement of GB’s athletes ranked alongside national institutions such as the NHS and the Armed Forces in fostering national pride.”
Carr made the comments in a column for the UK Sport website. To read the full text,
click here.
