Funds Shake-Up Should End This Fear Of Failure

UK SPORT is changing the way it distributes funds to Olympic and Paralympic sports.

- Sam Quek

Under the new model, money will be allocated based on medal potential over a 12-year period as opposed to over four years.

On the surface the decision to alter the funding formula may seem strange given how successful, in terms of medals, the system has been.

In 1996, Team GB finished 36th in the Olympic medal table with just 15 medals including one gold. That ranked us below the likes of North Korea, Algeria and Ethiopia.

Something had to change – and it did a year later when National Lottery funding began and completely transformed UK Sport.

Fast forward 20 years to Rio 2016 and second place in the medals table following Team GB’s most successful games in living memory.