Elite sport funding body UK Sport says it will invest a record £330 million in British Olympic and Paralympic sports ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
More than 50 sports will benefit, although the athletics budget has been reduced for the second year in a row.
Five new sports coming to the 2028 Games – baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse, para-climbing and squash – have received funding.
Breaking, who first appeared at the Paris Games this summer, is no longer eligible for support after being dropped from the Olympic program.
The total amount is £400 million when you add Athlete Achievement Awards (APAs), which are paid directly to individual athletes and cover their living and sporting costs so they can focus on competing. Approximately £70 million was awarded under the APA Paris funding cycle, which totaled £385 million.
Sally Munday, chief executive of UK Sport, told BBC Sport that the funding should not be seen as either a “reward” or “punishment” for competing at the Paris Games.
“The decision we made for all sports is to test their potential,” Munday said.
“UK Athletics will receive over £30 million towards its Olympic and Paralympic programs and we believe this will put it in a great place to support its athletes at the forefront of Los Angeles.”
Jack Buckner, chief executive of UK Athletics, said the organization was “disappointed” by the decision to reduce the sport’s contribution by £1.725 million and stressed that the 10 medals at both the 2023 World Championships and this year’s Olympic Games ” deserves a higher level of investment.
Kayaking is the latest sport to have its funding cut by more than £500,000. When total funding for the Paris 2024 cycle is taken into account, modern pentathlon and equestrian received a smaller budget, but rowing increased to £24.85m from £22.72m despite cuts between Tokyo and Paris.
Meanwhile, British Basketball Federation chairman Chris Grant said the sport had “entered a new era” with the £2.925m prize, mainly to help develop the 3×3 format of the game.
Great Britain won 65 medals at this year’s Games and 124 medals at the Paralympic Games.
They finished seventh in the Olympic medal table, behind the sixth-placed Netherlands and fifth-placed France, but Munday said the goal was to “consistently be in the top five.”
“We’re really going to be doing forensics – were there things we could have done differently to make sure we didn’t end up in this situation again?” Munday said.
“We will leave no stone unturned to make sure we truly understand the factors behind why we finished seventh. However, we are absolutely clear that we want to consistently be in the top five.”
