GB Badminton’s £8.6m boost for London 2012

BADMINTON can today start building in earnest for the London 2012 Olympics after being awarded £8.6million under UK Sport's Elite Funding Programme.

BADMINTON England Chief Executive Adrian Christy said: "I am delighted that badminton continues to have the full support of UK Sport to deliver its future medal hopes.

"We are very much aware of the current climate in which the Government have been trying to secure the level of funding required to build on the great success Team GB enjoyed in Beijing.

"Having not medaled in Beijing, there was clearly a risk to us where any removal of funding would have had a devastating impact on our aspirations to see GB athletes on the podium in London.

"After a nervous couple of hours this morning I took a call from John Steele, Chief Executive at UK Sport, and was delighted to hear that we had been awarded just over £8.6m for this Olympic cycle - a figure in line with our hopes and expectations.

"What this means is that we can invest exactly where we need to - that being in our athletes. You can rest assured that we will give the athletes we believe can deliver for us, the best support possible in an environment that is conducive to success."

Team GB won a bronze medal through Simon Archer and Joanne Goode at the Sydney Olympics and a silver medal through Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms (pictured) at Athens 2004.

Robertson has vowed to carry on in the hope of climaxing his career with a medal in London and, since Emms' retirement, he is now competing with new partner Jenny Wallwork. Players like Robertson, Anthony Clark and Donna Kellogg will provide the experienced backbone to a squad which has a rich vein of talent coming through in time for the London Games.

A total of £292 million of confirmed investment has been allocated by UK Sport to 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.

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.

On the Paralympic side, there are a number of significant increases in funding for sports in order to ensure that there are sufficient resources available to our most successful programmes.

A total of £45 million has been confirmed today to Archery, Athletics, Boccia, Cycling, Equestrian, Judo, Powerlifting, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis, Wheelchair Basketball (Men), Wheelchair Rugby and Wheelchair Tennis.

The Paralympic sports that are still to have their funding confirmed are: Fencing, Goalball, Volleyball, and Wheelchair Basketball (women).

Except for Wheelchair Tennis, Football and Tennis disciplines will receive no funding from UK Sport as they are deemed able to self fund.