| Britain finished third in the gold medal table at the London Olympics. The target is for the country to become the first host nation to improve on its tally at the following Games. And so UK Sport, which divides up the cash available to individual sports, has increased its funding to $562 million dollars, a rise of 11%. But those sports which underperformed in 2012 have seen their allowance go down. Liz Nichol is the Chief Executive of UK Sport. "We're very confident that the system can be even better in Rio. We're very confident there is more medal-winning potential to come. And so we're setting out with a very ambitious goal, we want to be the first nation in recent history to be more successful in both the Olympics and the Paralympics post hosting." In this century Australia, Greece and even China failed to match their medal count in the years after they staged the summer Olympics. Britain has a no-compromise approach to investment. It means the likes of cycling, rowing and boxing, which delivered in London, get a financial windfall. But the amount set aside for swimming, which failed to meet expectations, has been slashed by six and a half million dollars. And there are four sports, basketball, handball, wrestling and table tennis, which will receive no money at all. Meanwhile, Paralympic sports were given a huge boost. Their pot of cash has been swollen by 43%. |
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