UK Sport reveals new strategy – will relax 'no compromise' approach after Tokyo 2020
UK Sport has set out its funding blueprint for the next Olympic and Paralympic cycles, covering the Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028 Games.
The strategy includes a significant change in the way the high performance body will hand out grants – namely, the relaxing of its 'no compromise' approach to funding elite sport.
The 'no compromise' strategy prioritised grants to sports which exhibited the best medal hopes at major games. The flipside was that sports deemed to have less of a change of success – such as basketball, badminton and wheelchair rugby – had their funding slashed.
Instead, the new approach will see three tiers of funding that will channel investment into different stages of the performance pathway to enable the pursuit of medal success.
It will also reach deeper to developing the next generation of athletes and allowing more sports to realise their Olympic and Paralympic ambitions.
Funding will still, however, be focused on Olympic and Paralympic sports – and prioritised towards athletes that demonstrate the greatest potential to deliver medal success.
The funding tiers are:
• Podium: Investment to athletes and teams with a realistic chance of an Olympic or Paralympic podium position within four years
• Podium Potential: Investment to athletes and teams with a realistic chance of an Olympic or Paralympic podium position within four to eight years• Progression: Investment to enable sports and athletes to take the first step on the performance pathway
The new system means that by separately assessing Podium and Podium Potential investment streams, funding long-term potential is not dependent on short-term success. This is to ensure that the development of a complete and coherent performance pathway will enable a stronger connection between funded programmes.
Meanwhile, Progression Funding will extend UK Sport support to provide athletes with an even greater chance of succeeding at the Games over a longer timeframe.
It will allow more sports to benefit from investment, more athletes to be identified earlier and further down the talent pathway and more communities to be engaged and impacted.
The new strategy follows an independent public consultation on the way UK Sport funds elite sport, which revealed that 61 per cent of people agreed the current medal winning strategy is "the right approach" to investment in Olympic and Paralympic sport in the UK, with only 10 per cent disagreeing.
The consultation saw 4,923 people submitting responses.
“As an investor of significant public funds, it is right UK Sport should ask the general public whether we should continue aiming to inspire the nation through medal success and whether we could change our focus in any way," said UK Sport chair Dame Katherine Grainger.
“The findings have allowed us to create an exciting blueprint for the future of Olympic and Paralympic sport in the UK and put the athlete at the heart of everything we do.
“We are confident the new strategy will help sustain medal success while enabling more communities to be inspired by the power of high performance sport.”
UK Sport Paris 2024 Los Angeles 2028Seven sports secure UK Sport funding to help with Tokyo 2020 plans
UK Sport strengthens mental health support for elite sport – appoints special panel and first mental health lead
Surfing and skateboarding among sports to share £3m Aspiration Fund ahead of Tokyo 2020
Liz Nicholl to step down as CEO of UK Sport
AI firm Midjourney enters wellness with spa, fitness and body scanning concept
Hot spring wellness community Ameyalli sells residences and breaks ground on resort and spa
OMA completes New Museum transformation with landmark expansion and Oberon restaurant
OMA has completed a major transformation of New York's New Museum, creating a larger cultural campus that combines expanded exhibition spaces with learning, performance, hospitality and public programming. The latest addition, Oberon, extends the visitor experience beyond the gallery, reflecting a growing trend for museums to become all-day destinations.
The New Museum in New York has entered a new chapter with the completion of a major
David Rockwell creates immersive magic destination, The Hand and The Eye
Montana Heritage Center by Cushing Terrell opens after US$107 million investment
Universal launches new theme park model with Kids Resort
'Minor wellness hotels' recorded the strongest growth across top KPIs in 2025, finds RLA Global
Great Barrier Reef attraction set for AU$180 million reinvention
Fairmont Cheshire, The Mere, has architecture by Leach Rhodes Walker and interiors by Bergman Design House.
Marriott International partners with Fitwel for wellness solutions across its residential portfolio
Preidlhof Luxury DolceVita Resort to unveil new spa in February 2027
Places Leisure is working with Roberts Limbrick to build £60m wellness flagship in Basingstoke
Hoshino Resorts opens Kai Kusatsu as it expands the Kai onsen ryokan brand
Qiddiya and Populous share details of Saudi Arabia’s National Tennis Centre
Disney confirms US$30 billion investment programme as it highlights its economic impact
Until combines multiple disciplines at new Canary Wharf club
Sea Lanes opens following a partnership between The Eden Project and Canary Wharf Group
Bas Smets brings water and wilderness to Vitra
Expo 2030 Riyadh will create a permanent global destination
Luxury resort coming to Hunter Valley will have longevity spa
'Data chocolate', dreams made real and artworks shaped by visitors’ emotions: Refik Anadol’s AI art museum launches in Los Angeles
London Museum reveals 2026 opening date for new Smithfield home
BIG unveils Eve Music Hall as Croatia venue nears completion
Bob Rogers hands BRC to long-serving leadership team
Palazzo di Varignana launches family wellbeing and longevity retreat in Emilia Romagna
Anasa Wellness and Spa debuts at Patmos Aktis as it joins Marriott
Design-led Koru Health Club combines high-performance training with recovery
Wellness care hospital opens in Vilnius with innovative spa and hospitality concept
Universal and Puy du Fou projects point to rise of Oxford–Cambridge corridor
A proposed Puy du Fou development near Bicester and Universal Destinations and Experiences’ planned resort in Bedford are emerging as part of a wider transformation of the Oxford–Cambridge Growth Corridor into a major centre for UK leisure and tourism investment.
For years, the corridor has been associated primarily with science, technology, housing and university-led economic growth. However, the clustering of large-scale visitor attraction projects along the




















