£65m funding boost for elite sport

The increased public investment includes £58.8 million earmarked for Summer Olympic support and £6.5 million for Summer Paralympic sports.

The announcement is a result of the Government's decision last month to allocate up to £300 million to athlete preparations for London 2012.

The funding will mean that athletes from all disciplines are offered the opportunity to compete and win on home soil in 2012.

UK Sport will review progress across the sports after Beijing before determining the allocation of funding required to meet its overall ambitions for success in London 2012.

Sue Campbell, Chair of UK Sport, said: "We have started today a six year process that will not just deliver medals in 2012 but help transform the high performance system in this country for ever."

Highlights of the new funding package include:

• Additional investment in all Olympic sports except tennis and football, making total public funding for each at least £465,000 per year
• A single increased amount for Paralympics, rising year on year, with decisions to be made over the next few months on the sport by sport allocation from September
• Targeted funding for existing performance sports as part of no compromise approach to medal success
• Significant new investment in sports not currently represented at the Olympics to kick-start performance levels
• The flexibility for each sport to take their overall award and maximise its impact according to the unique challenges and opportunities they face.

11 April 2006