Following the announcement of UK Sport's Olympic funding programme for the London 2012 Games, BBC Sport gauges the reactions of individual sports. BIG WINNERS  Ashley Jackson (left) competing in Beijing - GB's men finished fifth |
Hockey - David Faulkner, GB hockey performance director: "The 25% increase really matches the strategy and the plan we put forward to UK Sport and fits in with our mission towards 2012. "Hockey's a very high participation sport and the impact on grass-roots if we weren't funded would have been hugely disappointing given the work we're doing on the ground. "We've gone from 11th-12th in the world to fifth-sixth in three years. Now hockey has a realistic chance of hitting the podium." Synchronised swimming - David Sparkes, British Swimming chief executive: "This is great news for synchronised swimming [and] just reward for the hard work undertaken by all those within the sport and the results they've collectively achieved. "The synchro squad have shown remarkable improvement and now offer real promise for London in 2012. This funding will enable us to continue the good work as we grow as a synchro nation." LITTLE CHANGE  Christine Ohuruogu struck gold on the track in Beijing |
Athletics - Niels de Vos, UK Athletics chief executive: "This is very good news for the sport and is a vote of confidence in UK Athletics. The potential of our sport is clear for everyone to see. As well as four medals in Beijing, we had 14 other fourth to eighth places. "Additionally, a substantial percentage of the team will be at their competitive peak at London 2012. We have made some critical alterations within performance which will enable us to continue our upward trajectory led by new head coach Charles van Commenee. "The sum announced represents the level of funding we need to deliver the UK Athletics World Class Performance Programme. UK Sport will review funding after two years to ensure the sport gains maximum impact from every investment and that the right medal opportunities are being prioritised." Judo - Scott McCarthy, British Judo Association CEO: "We are disappointed that our funding has not increased but we are realistic enough to accept that we did not deliver our target of two medals in Beijing.  | MATT SLATER BLOG | "That said, we have serious reservations about the veracity of the model that greatly rewarded a number of sports who set targets of ZERO medals and delivered exactly that and somehow received huge increases in their grant funding. "There is also at least one sport that received a huge increase in funding and in reality this sport has no realistic medal prospects at all. We expect a level playing field, both on the mat and in the corridors of power - and I am not sure we have seen that here today." Triathlon - Heather Williams, British Triathlon performance programme director: "As a sport that has continued to achieve on the world stage, we are pleased with UK Sport's decision. "The British Triathlon development programme has had great success in nurturing and bringing through talented young athletes and we are on track for medal-winning performances in 2012 to match our accomplishments at the World Senior, Junior and Under 23 Championships." Modern pentathlon - Peter Hart, Pentathlon GB chief executive: "We're obviously delighted. We can now continue our planning for London 2012 and our aim of contributing to Team GB's goal of aspiring to finish in fourth place in the medal table. "UK Sport has shown faith in our pentathlon programme for more than 10 years, in which time our women pentathletes have won 66% of the Olympic medals available to them." IN LIMBO Table Tennis - Alex Murdoch, English Table Tennis Association chairman: "I was surprised that with 90% of total funding given to UK Sport, why they did not apply this percentage to all sports, and as they have taken over the responsibility to find the �50m shortfall, allocated this on a priority basis as and when. "This would have enabled all sports to go ahead with their programme and avoid the conflict the present awards have caused. When all said and done it is an overall GB team we are talking about at London 2012." Fencing - Piers Martin, British Fencing chief executive: "It will be hugely damaging if we can't take the best fencers we've got and give them the best possible opportunity to achieve in 2012." Volleyball - Richard Callicott, Volleyball England president: "We don't understand why somebody has decided that volleyball, which has ticked all the boxes that UK Sport has set, cannot compete alongside the sports that have been listed as winners. "We believe that we are potential medallists and we don't understand [why] some sports that have done no better than we have... have received funding. We think there's a strange parallel there." Handball - Chris Spice, British Handball performance management group chairman: "Obviously we're very disappointed not to have had funding confirmed, as the programme has made significant progress in the last two years and the commitment shown by the athletes and coaches has been exceptional. "We now need to work hard with UK Sport to identify other sources of income to ensure our future."
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