Since 1996, the National Lottery has helped athletes on Team Great Britain win 100 Olympic gold medals. Not by running or other competition, but through funding.
On August 2, Adam Peaty took the 100th gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke. Tom Daley and Matty Lee also won gold in the synchronized 10-meter platform diving, and Tom Pidcock did likewise in men’s cross-country mountain biking, according to the Lottery Post.
“This gold medal is even more special because it is the 100th won by British athletes at the summer and winter Olympics since the creation of the World Class Performance system, funded by National Lottery players,” said Dame Katherine Grainger, chair of U.K. Sport, the body set up to administer the distribution of funds.
The National Lottery funding began in 1997 after a dismal showing in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
“Our recent record would be a pretty remarkable achievement for any country, but it is a particularly remarkable achievement for a country of our size,” Chair of the British Olympic Association, Sir Hugh Roberston, said.
Funding has increased every year for Olympic programs ever since London 2012 at £264 million (US$368 million). For Tokyo, the total topped £345 million.
The money pays for support teams ready to aid the Olympic athletes. Those can include massage therapists, physiotherapists, sports psychologists and mental health experts, doctors and trainers, nutritionists, and coaches.
“The money enables the sports to put the right structure, to find the right coaches, and, crucially, it allows the athletes to be able to train full time,” Robertson said.
U.K. Sport’s controversial approach to funding shows a preference for certain sports in the pursuit of medals. In other words, sports that exhibit the best medal hopes will get millions for support, while other sports like basketball, badminton, and wheelchair rugby, receive reduced funding.
“The strategy has undoubtedly delivered and been very efficient with resources,” said senior lecturer in sports management and policy at Loughborough University, Borja Garcia. “But does it have a darker side? Yes, I think it does. I also question whether that has had a real benefit in terms of increasing participation and producing a healthier nation, and I really don’t think it has.”
U.K. Sport revealed in 2019 that it would relax its “no compromise” attitude toward funding. While it will still prioritize Olympic and Paralympic sports that show the greatest potential to deliver medals, money will be funneled into three tiers: athletes and teams with a realistic chance of making it to the podium within four years; athletes and teams with a with a strong chance in four to eight years; and investment that will enable athletes to begin the first steps on the performance pathway.
“I think, as a country, it is good for us to be really good a things,” Robertson said. “And the example that the Olympian shows is a really good one for young people growing up in this country…. It’s about having a dream and carrying it out.”
