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UK Sport has confirmed
that British Judo will be awarded £7.6 million in funding for
it's Olympic programme, and £1.3 million for it's Paralympic programme,
for the London Olympiad.
British Judo’s funding
forms part of a total £292 million of confirmed investment by
UK Sport into British Olympic and Paralympic sports ahead of the
London Games in 2012.
This funding, building
on the £265 million invested for Beijing, has enabled UK Sport
to agree a target of a “Top Four” finish in London, aiming to
win more medals in more sports than in Beijing and thereby ensure
the most successful Olympic performance by a British team for
100 years.
The Paralympic target is
to retain second place in the Medal Table behind China, again
winning more medals in more sports than in Beijing.
Judo was one of 19 Olympic
and 14 Paralympic sports, which have been allocated full performance
funding for the period of the London Olympiad – from April next
year until March 2013.
All funding will be reviewed
by UK Sport after two years to ensure that the maximum impact
is being gained from every investment decision, and that the right
medal opportunities are being prioritised.
British Judo, who hit its senior and
junior World medal targets for the last Olympic cycle but fell
short in Beijing with two 7th places, has maintained similar levels
of funding for its Olympic programme.
Commenting Scott McCarthy,
British Judo CEO said, “We have mixed reactions about the funding
news received today. We are disappointed that our funding
has not increased but we are realistic enough to accept that we
did not deliver our target of two medals in Beijing and in sport
you must deliver to expect greater rewards.
"That said, we
have serious reservations about the veracity of the model that
greatly rewarded a number of sports who set targets of ZERO medals
and delivered exactly that and somehow received huge increases
in their grant funding.
"However, we know must get back
to the status of delivering medals on a consistent basis as we
have in the past.
"We believe we have the right
people in place to deliver a centralised training system to ensure
that we deliver multiple medals, out of the total of 56 judo medals
on offer at each Olympic Games.
"With more funding we would have
been able to get where we need to be quicker, but at the level
we will receive I am confident we will still be moving in the
right direction and prepared to deliver in London”.
Funding for British Judo’s paralympic
programme has increased following Sam Ingram’s bronze medal win
in Beijing.
A total of £247 million
has been invested in Olympic sport for the London cycle. The funded
sports are: Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Boxing,
Canoeing, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Gymnastics, Hockey, Judo,
Modern Pentathlon, Rowing, Sailing, Swimming, Synchronised Swimming,
Taekwondo and Triathlon.
The Olympic sports that
are still to have their funding confirmed are: Fencing,
Handball, Shooting, Table Tennis, Volleyball, Water Polo, Weightlifting
and Wrestling.
Media Contact:
Emma Griffin
(t) 07875 368495
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