Clegg wants cash for future teams

Ian Chadband13 April 2012

Britain's Olympic Association chief executive Simon Clegg today called for more funds to be pumped into future winter games teams as our most successful athletes for 66 years prepared to fly home from Salt Lake City.

As Rhona Martin, skip of the gold medalwinning curlers, fittingly led the British parade in last night's closing ceremony here, Clegg warned that the record post-war medal tally - one gold and two bronze - could not be repeated if deserving sports were not given proper reward.

He pointed out that British Skiing Federation had seen their financial support being cut year by year but had still managed to produce our first-ever Olympic skiing medallist - a slalom bronze won by Alain Baxter.

Clegg said: "That effort by Baxter was despite Britain being a third world nation in the way the team is funded."

Now, Clegg said, he expected skiing's lottery funding, which currently stands at just under £300,000, to be increased.

"I have no problem at all with accountability - under-performers should expect their funding to be cut - but success must be rewarded, and there is no more deserving cause than the skiers," said Clegg.

Despite the achievements of Baxter, the curlers and Alex Coomber, the skeleton bronze medallist, Clegg conceded that 'Team GB' had suffered "mixed results" here and explained that "serious questions" would be raised by the BOA about under-performing athletes.

Every result will be evaluated and, though he would name no sports, it seems obvious from the performances here that events like the bobsleigh and biathlon will have their backing significantly reduced.

Still, Clegg had one final message for the critics of the team, which had come with a late run of success to collect three medals in the last five days of competition and even finished above Sweden in the final medals table.

"We have been subject to some hostile press and coverage and that perhaps makes the success even sweeter," he said.

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