Without UK Sport there would be no Team GB at the Olympic Games given the organisation’s role in distributing funding to athletes across the board who are challenging for medals.
After the Toyko 2020 Games three years ago there were calls for drastic changes in the UK Sport funding distribution given the failure of rowing and the success of events such as BMX.
But after Paris 2024 there will be another review to decide where, if anywhere, UK Sport cut and increase funding.
Here’s a breakdown of how much each medal and gold medal equated to in funding. For example: Two medals in one sport which is given £100 in funding would equate to £50 per medal.
No Olympic Games medal
To start off on a negative note, there were some sports with a big funding pot who did not produce a medal at Paris 2024.
Hockey, where the women won bronze in Tokyo but both teams lost this year in the quarter-finals, had a budget of over £13.5m
Modern pentathlon’s budget of £5.7m produced no medals, despite Team GB winning two golds in Japan, and judo package of £6.4m also saw the team return fruitless.
Funding, too, has gone into baseball and softball but this budget relates to other Olympic Games given the lack of inclusion in Paris.
Value for money?
Cycling’s pot of nearly £30m produced 13 medals at a cost of over £2.5m per podium finish. The two golds, using the same formula, cost £14.7m apiece.
Rowing, having had an awful Tokyo Games, saw their UK Sport funding of nearly £24m produce 11 medals, three of which were gold. Each medal cost £3m.
The worst value for money came in gymnastics, however, where three medals were won with a budget of £13.4m at £4.5m a pop.
But the best value for money came in golf. UK Sport data suggests that they don’t fund golf yet Tommy Fleetwood was able to win a silver medal for Team GB.
Of the sports that saw gold medals won, sport climbing came in at £1.6m per gold, with equestrian coming in at £6.2m per gold and triathlon at £7.2m per gold.
The full breakdown (by £ per medal)
SportUK Sport
Funding (£m)Medals
Won£ per Medal
(£m)£ per Gold
(£m)Boxing12.1112.1NO GOLDSailing22.8211.422.8Taekwondo8.318.3NO GOLDGymnastics13.434.513.4Swimming19.053.819.0Canoeing14.043.5NO GOLDShooting6.223.16.2Rowing23.883.07.9Cycling29.3112.714.7Equestrian12.452.56.2Triathlon7.232.47.2Weightlifting2.312.3NO GOLDAthletics22.8102.322.8Skateboarding1.811.8NO GOLDDiving8.951.8NO GOLDClimbing1.611.61.6Artistic Swimming0.4610.46NO GOLDGolf010NO GOLDBreaking0.140NO MEDALNO MEDALWrestling0.280NO MEDALNO MEDALVolleyball0.290NO MEDALNO MEDALHandball0.360NO MEDALNO MEDALWater Polo0.360NO MEDALNO MEDALBasketball1.40NO MEDALNO MEDALTable Tennis1.40NO MEDALNO MEDALSurfing1.40NO MEDALNO MEDALFencing1.50NO MEDALNO MEDALArchery2.60NO MEDALNO MEDALBadminton3.40NO MEDALNO MEDALModern Pentathlon5.70NO MEDALNO MEDALJudo6.40NO MEDALNO MEDALHockey13.70NO MEDALNO MEDALBaseball0.18NANANASoftball0.43NANANASource = UK Sport