UKC

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Series


GB Climbing awarded £450K UK Sport Progression Funding

UK Sport has announced plans to invest £352 million in Olympic and Paralympic sport, including progression funding for seven sports - one of which is climbing.

Lynn Robinson, BMC President: It's absolutely fantastic news that the BMC was successful in its bid and adds a note of positivity to the start of 2021. Much work has been put into GB Climbing over recent years and we're really beginning to see the rewards of all that effort, and the new funding will help further reshape the future of GB Climbing.  © Alex Messenger/GB Climbing
Lynn Robinson, BMC President: It's absolutely fantastic news that the BMC was successful in its bid and adds a note of positivity to the start of 2021. Much work has been put into GB Climbing over recent years and we're really beginning to see the rewards of all that effort, and the new funding will help further reshape the future of GB Climbing.

The BMC successfully bid for UK Sport's 'Progression and Podium Athlete' funding to help GB Climbing's Performance Pathway. During 2020, developing GB climbing has been a priority for the BMC and the new funding will help in the following key areas:

  • Evolving and transforming the GB Climbing Performance Pathway
  • Developing, aligning and embedding elite coaches at pivotal stages in the pathway
  • Delivering a world-class domestic competition structure

In total, UK Sport will invest £450,000 in GB Climbing over the next 12 months. The funding will be used to continue support for Tokyo medal hopeful Shauna Coxsey up to the games and beyond, amongst other things.

Paul Davies, BMC interim CEO: It's not only our elite athletes, including Will Bosi, Molly Thompson-Smith and more, that will be supported by this funding either. We're excited of the potential it brings to evolve our Performance Pathway and help develop the best British competition climbing talent and coaches. It will ensure that our athletes have the best support from top coaches and access to the best training facilities, using the latest techniques all the way.  © Alex Messenger/GB Climbing
Paul Davies, BMC interim CEO: It's not only our elite athletes, including Will Bosi, Molly Thompson-Smith and more, that will be supported by this funding either. We're excited of the potential it brings to evolve our Performance Pathway and help develop the best British competition climbing talent and coaches. It will ensure that our athletes have the best support from top coaches and access to the best training facilities, using the latest techniques all the way.

On hearing the news about the new funding, Shauna Coxsey said: '"I am so happy that despite the twists and turns of the Olympic journey so far that UK Sport is continuing to support me and the wider team all the way through to Tokyo in 2021."

The announcement is the third batch of funding from UK Sport, which builds upon the Aspiration funding, which recently enabled Molly Thompson-Smith and Will Bosi to prepare for and compete in the Moscow European Championships, and the Continuity funding allowing GB Climbing to deliver Covid-secure training for the Home Nation and National Talent squads and several Covid-secure competition opportunities.

The Guardian report that the UK Sport plans to invest in a more diverse range of sports will mean that so-called 'posh sports' such as rowing, sailing and equestrianism miss out. UK Sport's chief executive told the Guardian that the organisation wanted the teams at the Olympics to represent the diversity in society and not just traditional public school sports.

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