Team GB to be at full strength for postponed Tokyo Games as Government confirms Olympic funding

Team GB will be at full strength for the rearranged Tokyo Olympics next summer after the Government provided assurances that funding levels would be extended for another year.

The financial guarantee comes after UK Sport warned last month it would be “catastrophic” to medal chances if £53. 4 million in exceptional funding was in danger.

Sally Munday, the UK Sport chief executive, said funding promises beyond March were a major relief as athletes resumed their full ­training schedules post-lockdown.

Oliver Dowden, the Culture Secretary, has also agreed to allow UK Sport to utilise £7.4 million in Lottery support for national governing bodies hit financially during the pandemic. In a letter to Munday, he promised to “ensure necessary funding” was available during the Treasury’s Autumn review of all spending.

Munday praised the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport for being “very supportive during what has been an extremely challenging time for sport”.

“[Friday's] confirmation of support for Olympic and Paralympic sport through to the rescheduled Tokyo Games is hugely important as it allows national governing bodies to commit to their revised plans for the Games next summer,” she added. “For sports fans everywhere this is also a significant step as we all look forward to watching our brilliant Olympic and Paralympic athletes perform on the world stage and inspire the nation once again.”

UK Sport’s funding for athletes was due to run until March 2021.

The Government pledge allows governing bodies to start booking qualification competitions for their athletes, organising training camps whilst also enabling them to maintain their network of support staff.

Nigel Huddleston, the sports minister, added that “in this time of uncertainty, we are right behind our elite athletes”. “I know our athletes had worked so hard to be in peak condition this month, so I’m very pleased to provide assurance to UK Sport and give athletes the opportunity to compete, realise their medal potential and shine when the Tokyo Games take place in 2021,” he said.

The decision at the end of March to postpone the Games has caused a billion pound black hole in sport. The International Olympic Committee has agreed to pay up to $800 million (£656 million) towards the costs of postponing both the Olympics and Paralympics. It means the local Tokyo 2020 organisers, who had already estimated staging the Games this summer at $12.6 billion, are likely to be faced with the majority of an additional one-year postponement bill that has been variously estimated at between $2 billion and $6 billion.

The question of who would shoulder the costs has been a delicate subject, but there has been increasing pressure on the IOC to make a sizeable contribution, given it has reserves of around $900 million.

A new Tokyo task force is negotiating over access to the same planned Olympic Village in Harumi Waterfront, which was due to be sold off later this year, as well as the 41 competition venues.

The Government funding guarantee also enables UK Sport to maintain increased support for the British team at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. GB Snowsport has announced an increase from £5.2 million in the previous cycle to £11.1 million for this Olympic campaign. For Paralympic funding, there has been an increase from £2.7 million for PyeongChang up to £4.4 million for the Beijing cycle.

Vicky Gosling, chief executive at GB Snowsport, said: “We know UK Sport face tough decisions when deciding how to allocate funding, and we’re extremely grateful for the additional investment we will receive to support our medal ambitions for Beijing 2022.”