THE PARALYMPIC FUNDING GAP
POTENTIAL Paralympic athletes are being awarded less than half the money potential Olympic athletes are, official figures have revealed.
An Athlete Performance Award (APA) is a lottery-funded grant. UK Sport invests APAs in athletes likely to be selected for future Olympic or Paralympic Games.
With just two years until the 2020 Games in Tokyo, figures from UK Sport show that potential Olympic athletes are receiving more than £44m in APAs.
That’s more than double the £17m potential Paralympians are awarded.
The amount awarded depends on a variety of circumstances, according to UK Sport, which differs depending on whether the athlete takes part in the Olympic or Paralympic Games.
Any athlete who has already won a medal in a past Olympic Games receives up to £28,000 a year through an APA.
To receive the same amount, a paralympic athlete must win gold.
Those who finish within the top eight at the Olympic Games are given up to £21,500 in APAs but Paralympians must win silver or bronze to get the same. A further £15,000 is available each year for those who demonstrate the capacity to achieve a medal result at a future Olympics. A source from UK Sport said that Paralympians are given less money than Olympians because the pathway to medals for para-athletes can be much quicker to progress along. There are are often smaller fields of competitors, sports are sometimes less established, and there can be more medals available within an event.
Funding is awarded on the basis of an Olympic cycle and commences on April 1 in the year immediately following a Games, for a period of four years.
Potential Olympic rowers receive the most money from UK Sport - £7.4m for 100 athletes. Potential paralympic Athletics competitors receive the most money for their Games £2.8m across 50 athletes. A spokesperson for UK Sport said: “Those in receipt of an Athlete Performance Award are those who are nominated by their sport as having credible potential to win a medal at a future Games in a sport that we fund and within the allocated number of APAs for that sport. “APAs are designed to support athletes who have achieved medal success at the Olympic or Paralympic Games or whose results suggest they are very close to achieving this level of performance.”