UK Sport announces extra investment to support Paris Olympic and Paralympic preparations

UK Sport has today confirmed an additional £4m of funding into summer Olympic and Paralympic sport as preparations gear up for the Paris 2024 Games.

The increased investment across 33 sports will support athletes in their preparations for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, including allowing athletes to attend extra competitions that have been added to the international calendar and are essential to qualification for the Paris Games, in addition to training camps.

Following last year’s significant uplifts of £11.2m of additional investment in summer sports on top of the original Paris cycle awards the latest round of investments prioritised support on activities and requirements that will have a direct impact on Paris 2024 qualification.

Within the additional £4m of funding, 26 World Class Programmes will benefit from £3.5m of extra investment. A further half a million pounds will be invested across Progression sports, those with identified long-term medal potential and National Squads Support Fund sports, where funding is designed to support the costs associated with forming and fielding squads for competition on the Olympic and Paralympic qualification pathway.

These additional investments come following the summer sports 2022 Annual Review. A full breakdown of the investments is available here.

The increased funding announced today does not include Athlete Performance Awards, which are managed separately of individual sport investment.

Matthew Curtain, CEO of British Weight Lifting said: “We are pleased with this announcement of additional UK Sport funding and look forward continuing to support our athletes at this critical point in time on their journey to Paris 2024.

“2022 was a fantastic year of medal success for GB weightlifters and para powerlifters, and this investment announcement comes as welcome news. I would like to thank UK Sport and The National Lottery on behalf of British Weight Lifting for this support.

Stuart Martin, Head of Weightlifting Performance said: “Thanks to this investment from UK Sport and The National Lottery we can further continue to support our weightlifters in their Paris 2024 aspirations. The additional investment will help to ensure our athletes get the most out of their training in the lead up to the event.

“The UK has been developing leading athletes and we are in a position to get athletes to qualify for the Paris Olympics. This investment will help to get the athletes on named support plans the help they need to get to qualifying competitions and attend training camps with national coaches.

Tom Whittaker, Para Powerlifting Performance Director said: “The extra funding announced by UK Sport and The National Lottery will help to support the World Class Programme on its journey to qualify athletes who can compete at Paris 2024.

“2022 saw our para powerlifters secure medals at the Commonwealth Games and World Para Powerlifting European championships. We look forwards to building on this podium success in the lead up to the next Paralympic Games.

“This investment will help to ensure we support WCP members directly and indirectly through our efforts to support new format team and mixed team events at international competitions.’