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Climbing funding announced for Olympics by UK Sport (Read 9441 times)

shark

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www.thebmc.co.uk/uk-sport-climbing-funding

Hopes for a medal in the Olympic Games from the GB Climbing Team has risen further, after UK Sport announce plans to support Climbing with an award of up to £630,000, subject to approval of a plan and associated budget for this resource.

Climbing was officially declared as a new Olympic sport nearly six months ago, the result of a concerted campaign for Olympic inclusion headed by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC). Since then, UK athletes have been eagerly awaiting an announcement from UK Sport, the country’s funding body of elite athletes, to see if they would invest in the GB Climbing Team and its medal potential.

UK Sport announce Olympic Climbing budget

Today, 1 February 2018, UK Sport announced new investment into more British medal hopes and exciting new events and disciplines in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics. The high performance funding agency revealed that it considers British athletes in Climbing have genuine medal potential, and confirmed its intention to set aside a budget to explore alternative approaches to investing in medal success. It was agreed that Climbing should be a priority for investment from the alternative fund, and an award of £630,000 is to be set aside for the remainder of the Tokyo cycle.

The investment is subject to the approval of a plan and budget, and the costs are based on implementing a ‘Medal Support Plan’ around key athletes. With now less than two years until the Tokyo 2020 games, the programme needs to be implemented quickly to benefit the athletes. Due to the urgency with which a programme needs to be put in place prior to Tokyo, any investment is subject to the BMC agreeing to the programme being implemented through a partnership with the English Institute of Sport (EIS). The EIS would be the recipient of the award, and be responsible for forming and implementing the plan in partnership with the BMC.

Dave Turnbull, BMC CEO, says: “This is a great result for our top climbers and competition climbing as a whole in the run-up to Tokyo 2020. We’ve had some world class results in recent years and it’s great to see these achievements recognised through government funding. We look forward to working with the EIS to ensure our climbers have the very best possible chance of medal success.”

Today’s announcement also unveiled that UK Sport is increasing its medal ambitions for Tokyo following strong performances in 2017. The Tokyo Olympic medal target range is increasing to 54-92 (from 51-85) and the Paralympic medal target range is increasing to 119-168 (from 115-162).

Liz Nicholl, UK Sport chief executive, says: “UK Sport’s vision is to inspire the nation through Olympic and Paralympic success. Today’s announcement, following the annual investment review into our summer sports, confirms strong potential to deliver more medal moments from more sports in Tokyo 2020.

“Exciting new events such as sport climbing, karate, para taekwondo and BMX freestyle will be funded to inspire a whole new generation of Olympic and Paralympic sports fans and it is fantastic that we already have world class talents ready to compete for medals in those events and more.”

Potential Climbing Olympians

UK Sport says that initial investment in the new Olympic sports will be made through new innovative and targeted medal support plans, as part of a new investment stream aimed at specific athletes with immediate medal potential in Tokyo. BMC ambassador Shauna Coxsey has been named by UK Sport as the athlete with the highest medal potential in the GB Climbing Team.

This comes as no surprise considering she is the reigning and two-time IFSC Bouldering World Cup Champion. Shauna has been ear-marked as one of the key athletes who will receive funding as, with training in Lead and Speed, the two other disciplines in the combined climbing event, is likely to do well in Tokyo 2020.

Shauna Coxsey says: “Today my journey to the Olympics became a little bit more real. UK Sport has announced its commitment to fund Climbing and I am fortunate enough to be recognised as a potential medalist. This funding will enable me to access elite level training support and help me to become the best climber I can possibly be. I am more motivated than ever to train hard and pursue my goals! I would like to thank all those who have supported me on my journey so far. It’s going to be an exciting few years! Bring on Tokyo 2020.”

Meanwhile, the GB Climbing Team has a number of young talented hopefuls with medal potential too, such as Molly Thompson-Smith, Will Bosi, Hannah Slaney and Jim Pope amongst others. They will have to prove their prowess on the 2018 competition circuit to win a share of the pot.

Zoe Spriggins, BMC competitions programme manager, says: “It’s inspiring to see Climbing and the dedicated GB Climbing Team athletes gain recognition through government funding. We’re excited to be working to help competition climbing realise its potential in the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020, and look forward to partnering with the EIS during this historic time.”

How does funding work?

The primary role of UK Sport is to strategically invest National Lottery and Exchequer income to maximise the performance of UK athletes in the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the global events which precede them.  Investment decisions are made on a four year basis wherever possible to cover a complete Olympic or Paralympic cycle but are focussed on an eight year performance development model. Success is measured by the medals won, the number of medallists developed, and the quality of the systems and processes in place to find and support the nation’s most promising future champions. More information can be found on its website.


gme

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That’s a lot of money if just for 2020. Have we got more than 4 or 5 people with a genuine chance of getting one of the 20 places we are told are up for grabs.

cheque

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That’s a lot of money if just for 2020.

Have you seen the price of climbing shoes these days?

highrepute

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It's not a lot of money compared to the other sports. Having had experience of gov funding and being jaded by it all, I imagine all of the that money will never be seen by the athletes. It'll fund a few trips to the EIS, a coaching session, some kind of fitness assessment or two, a firm will provide project management, another firm will provide advice on something, there might a consultant or two involved and then all the money will be gone.

source on uk sport

Funding for all olympic sports for comparison

highrepute

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By comparison - Shooting sent 6 people to Rio, won 2 bronze, gets £6 million.

There's only 20 male and 20 female climbers in the Olympics so I guess at most GB may be able to send one of each?

gme

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It’s a lot to spend when you think that we really must not have many to share it between. Suspect a lot bigger pool in shooting.

teestub

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I wonder if the funding is contingent on the BMC sorting out its governance structure to be legally compliant? Wasn't the stopping of UK Sport funding one of the things that's lead to the whole governance rejig?

tomtom

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I heard Lagerstarfish Elite Athlete Performance (LEAP) consultants were vying it out with Simon Lee Athletic Performance agency (SLAPA) for the contracts...

highrepute

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I wonder if the funding is contingent on the BMC sorting out its governance structure to be legally compliant? Wasn't the stopping of UK Sport funding one of the things that's lead to the whole governance rejig?

I'm guessing that the reason the funding is going to the EIS and not the BMC is because the BMC is having the governance issues. From UKSport

"UK Sport invests in sports by establishing a critical partnership with eligible UK National Governing Bodies that have the ambition and capability to lead athletes and teams to Olympic and/or Paralympic medal success.

Where a National Governing Body is unable to add value to this partnership, or to effectively manage the delivery of the programme, we reserve the right to direct all, or part, of our investment to a third party, whilst working in partnership to develop the capacity of the National Governing Body.
"

teestub

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Ah ha, missed that bit!

gme

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According to the other channel only Shauna is eligible at the minute so it is a lot of money.
Others have to prove viability I presume by winning events or at least podium finishes. Only molly looks good enough to do this and is badly injured.

teestub

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Hopefully Bosi, Pope, et al will step up this year.

highrepute

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This post (my post) feels like a bit of a ramble. I don't even really care about climbing in the Olympics, although I'd like us to do well. I think I just want clarity and transparency on where all this money will go.

According to the other channel only Shauna is eligible at the minute so it is a lot of money.
Others have to prove viability I presume by winning events or at least podium finishes. Only molly looks good enough to do this and is badly injured.

Do you think it's a waste of money? Why do you think it's a lot of money?

I agree it's a lot of money in the sense that it's fuck tonne of money. But my concerns are; is it good value or worth the investment or a lot of money for an Olympic medal?

Apparently we spent £5.5 million per medal at Rio and when compared to every other country in the top 10 in the medal table that's good value. In that light - if shauna gets a medal then it is good value.

But equally it's insane right? Shauna, Bosi, Molly and Pope can each have their own full-time coach, nutritionist, physio, sports-massages, movement-coach, osteopath, shaman, mental-coach, psychologist, motivational coach, cheerleading squad, fund their access to walls, couple of high-altitude training camps. And i'm still struggling to see where all the money goes?

I can't find any info about what that money is spent on. UKSport describes specific grants to fund athletes directly (called Athlete Performance Award APA) which I think is like a wage to allow full-time training, employing a full-time coach, funding travel, training camps etc - Shuana ain't got that. The only sentence of use is " the costs are based on implementing a ‘Medal Support Plan’ around key athletes". I've got no idea what that means.

I'd like to know more about how the money is spent and how it is justified.

I would also like a piece of that pie.

teestub

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I would also like a piece of that pie.

Here you go dude https://sacredtrust.org/ get training!

gme

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I am a supporter of it being in the olympics and think its great that there is some money. I didn’t say a lot in a negative way at all.
It is a lot of money for what I percieved as 2 or 3 athletes using it. (One as it turns out). Might be better spent on something more long term but I guess that’s not what it’s there for.

abarro81

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Looks from that pdf linked higher up like that's funding 2017-21, so let's presume it's up to but not inclusive of 2021 and its 3 years: ('18, '19, '20 since no funding in 2017) so £210k/yr. Which is still a lot, but if you were to split it between Shauna, Molly, Jim and Will would gradually start to look like less.. Would be interested to know how it gets spent anyway

abarro81

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As an aside, whoever wrote the BMC release needs to learn to count, as it's not "less than 2 years" until the Olympics

T_B

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Just a massage every day could easily cost £18K a year. So yes, if it were split between 4 athletes you can see how it easily gets spent. Presumably they'll want to travel abroad to access training facilities, so you'll have the cost of travel/accommodation/chaperones/insurance.

Oldmanmatt

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As an aside, whoever wrote the BMC release needs to learn to count, as it's not "less than 2 years" until the Olympics
I think it might only be that long until qualifying begins, which is essentially when the games begin; rather than the actual opening ceremony.

GraemeA

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As an aside, whoever wrote the BMC release needs to learn to count, as it's not "less than 2 years" until the Olympics
I think it might only be that long until qualifying begins, which is essentially when the games begin; rather than the actual opening ceremony.

The qualification process will include the 2019 World Championships.

Oldmanmatt

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Also...

Maybe I’m jaded, but it seems like chump change. I’m aware of a certain Gymnastics club that recieved a seven figure grant to buy a building and some trampolines, along with a coaching/access programe. Not one that has produced any contenders that I’m aware of...

Murph

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I’m probably in a minority thinking this but the olympics really is a horrible waste of money. It costs billions of public money to put on a big sportsday with a legacy that consists of abandoned and unwanted buildings, reports of drug cheats and millions being siphoned off to Swiss bank accounts. Meanwhile the Coca Colas and macdonalds of the world get to flog their wares to a captive audience of kids in from a show put on largely by unpaid and unprotected athletes while participation (which could be an actual public good) improves not one jot. It’s a zero sum game after all.

For what? To find out a few years after the event who actually won (or not at all in the case of 2012 women’s 1500m) and for a few incredibly rich people from Switzerland and elsewhere to get even richer. If you think Shauna and Jim having a £600k massage budget is a lot, imagine the £tens of millions that Lord Coe (to name but one) made out of 2012.

Gosh, that almost sounded like a rant. Go Team Gee Bee!



Andy W

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I’m probably in a minority thinking this but the olympics really is a horrible waste of money. It costs billions of public money to put on a big sportsday with a legacy that consists of abandoned and unwanted buildings, reports of drug cheats and millions being siphoned off to Swiss bank accounts. Meanwhile the Coca Colas and macdonalds of the world get to flog their wares to a captive audience of kids in from a show put on largely by unpaid and unprotected athletes while participation (which could be an actual public good) improves not one jot. It’s a zero sum game after all.

For what? To find out a few years after the event who actually won (or not at all in the case of 2012 women’s 1500m) and for a few incredibly rich people from Switzerland and elsewhere to get even richer. If you think Shauna and Jim having a £600k massage budget is a lot, imagine the £tens of millions that Lord Coe (to name but one) made out of 2012.

Gosh, that almost sounded like a rant. Go Team Gee Bee!

Agree completely

Muenchener

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Quote
With now less than two years until the Tokyo 2020 games

Not quite sure how the summer of 2020 is "less than two years away". Should people who can't count to two and a half really be trusted with six figure sums of money?  :ras:

moose

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Just a massage every day could easily cost £18K a year. So yes, if it were split between 4 athletes you can see how it easily gets spent. Presumably they'll want to travel abroad to access training facilities, so you'll have the cost of travel/accommodation/chaperones/insurance.

Boxing is supposedly one of the more "efficient" sports in terms of medals/funding ratio but each funded athlete still gets a big chunk of funds.  Last I heard, a member of the boxing podium squad gets a £28,000 "wage", with accommodation and training expenses / kits / travel to international tournaments paid for (and specially prepared meals during training camps). 

Turning professional generally brings a loss of living standards for amateur boxers as, unless they become one of Eddie Hearn's favourites and get Sky TV money (a la Anthony Joshua), they end up desperately having to sell tickets to friends and family to get a place on the undercard of small-hall shows, with any money they generate first having to pay for their opponents' costs, and then their own trainer's and manager's fees. 

 

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