UK Sport funding for Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games announced

Tim Hollingsworth, Chief Executive of the British Paralympic Association, said: “The British Paralympic Association welcomes the decision to increase funding for Para ski and snowboard following record-breaking performances at PyeongChang 2018.

“We are disappointed that our wheelchair curlers are not to receive funding at this time, but acknowledge that the decision has been made based on a current assessment of performance.

“We remain optimistic that wheelchair curling will be able to demonstrate its potential for success at Beijing 2022 and return to world class programme funding soon, as they did during the PyeongChang 2018 cycle.

“Our aim is always to work with all our member sports to take the best prepared team to the Paralympic Games, and our plans to build on the historic success of PyeongChang 2018 are already well under way.”

Para ski and snowboard will receive £3.5million during the four-year Beijing 2022 cycle and between seven and 11 medal winning opportunities have been identified by UK Sport.

It is a reduction in overall investment in Winter Paralympic Sports as Para ski and snowboard and wheelchair curling received a combined total of £3.9million for PyeongChang 2018. Olympic sports also received less funding to prepare for Beijing 2022.

Liz Nicholl, Chief Executive of UK Sport, said: “After a record-breaking PyeongChang 2018 which saw Team GB and ParalympicsGB hit their Olympic and Paralympic medal targets of five and seven respectively, today marks an important step on the path to Beijing 2022 as we target further inspirational success at the Winter Games.

“While UK Sport would like to be able to invest in every Olympic and Paralympic sport our role is to prioritise within agreed resources in order to protect and enhance the medal potential within the system. We believe these strategic investments will deliver medal winning success to inspire the nation once again in Beijing in 2022.

“We fully understand the huge significance of our decisions and that they will impact on the hopes and dreams of athletes, coaches and support staff that we are unable to invest in at this time. We are committed to managing this with appropriate care and will be working closely with those affected by these decisions to help support them in their transition.”