UKSport money allocations

The Olympics have been and gone and we have celebrated this year in amazing style at this weekends Sports personality of the year ceremony. It was back to work today as UKSport announced its money allocation for Olympic sport in the build up to the Rio games in 2016.

First off all UKSport have set themselves and team GB a challenging target but also an exciting one which if achieved will only go on to enhance the legacy of this years great games. UKSport have set the target of achieving more medals in Rio than Team GB achieved in London, a fate no hosting country has been able to achieve in the following games.

In order for Team GB to achieve this they will need to make strides forward in some sports they did not do so well in this year such as swimming and continue to dominate in sports such as rowing and cycling.

There was no surprise that it was the rowing and cycling teams who were the most successful teams in the Olympics got the majority of the pot of money, both receiving over £30 millions in the next four years. Big wins came from teams that over performed and beat their targets such as equestrian, boxing and gymnastics all receiving above 10% increases. I do not pretend to be an expert in any of those sports but boxing and equestrian I feel are sports we could dominate in again in Rio and score lots of medals. Gymnastics will also be tough mainly due to the nature of the sport being so young and the focus countries like China and Russia place on it.

Of course this pot of money is not endless and so some sports did see a cut. However it most be noted overall more money has been made available in preparation for Rio. All of this money coming from the public sector. While sports like Swimming will get all the headlines for being the biggest losers in the cuts because of a disappointing medal tally this year. The bigger losers for me are those sports that got some funding because it was a home games but will have no funding for Rio such as basketball and handball.

This is where the real Olympic legacy will be tested. UKBasketball know that they would receive no funding for the next four year cycle back in March, however this does not mean they do not aspire to be there. They already have a plan "T16" in action to ensure they qualify for the games. There funding will be raised through commercial ways such as hoping to host Euro basket in forth coming years. Of course it's a long shot that GB will be represented in Rio in sports such as basketball and handball and even more of a long shot if they were to win a medal. However it would be a real measure of our Olympic legacy if one of these teams made it to the games or one of the sports such as swimming or badminton who had their funding dramatically cut were to win medals.

I think in 2016 we can begin to measure how much of an impact this Olympic legacy has had. Can teams that have no funding or funding cut rise from the ashes and can sports we dominate in continue to dominate.