UK Sport has confirmed an additional investment of £206,000 into GB table tennis as preparations intensify for the LA 2028 Olympic Games.
It is part of a total UKS investment of close to £4 million into Olympic and Paralympic sport. The funding, agreed through UK Sport’s Annual Review process, will play a critical part in enabling British athletes to deliver their best performances in the USA in two years’ time.
UKS said in a statement: “Alongside the significant changes to athlete support being delivered through the UK Sport Institute (UKSI), this investment is essential to ensuring Britain can continue to compete at the top table of Olympic and Paralympic sport.
“The uplift will support a range of sports and programmes, strengthening medal potential and enabling sports to retain a competitive edge internationally. This includes enhanced support for athletes with identified medal potential, investment into the next generation of emerging talent, and funding to help sports meet new qualification requirements, manage rising competition costs, and capitalise on new or restructured medal opportunities.”
The GB programme is seeking to build on recent Olympic performances, including Liam Pitchford (pictured above) and Anna Hursey both qualifying to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Gavin Evans, Table Tennis England Director of Performance Development, said: “We are grateful to UK Sport for the uplift of investment and continued belief into our GB programme. This provides the necessary investment to increase our coaching resource and ability to further support our Olympic Athletes.”
Table tennis is among 16 sports benefiting from the uplift, including climbing, which receives the largest uplift, comprising just over £1.4million.
Canoeing and para canoeing, lacrosse – which will make its Olympic debut at LA 2028 – surfing and fencing are among several other sports also benefiting from additional investment.
Kate Baker, Director of Performance at UK Sport, said: “This uplift comes at a crucial point in the LA 2028 cycle and is critical to our collective efforts to help British athletes perform at their best when it matters most.
“We are incredibly excited about the potential of our athletes, and it is vital we continue to invest in that talent to help realise it in LA. Combined with the changes we are delivering to performance support services through UKSI, this will play an important role in putting British athletes on the podium in just over two years’ time.
“By investing early, whether backing emerging medal opportunities, responding to changes in competition structures or preparing for new Olympic sports, we are strengthening our competitive edge on the world stage.”