A SLAP IN THE FACE
Olympian Kirsty Gilmour says UK Sport decision to axe badminton funding for Tokyo 2020 is nothing more than...
Hamilton ace Kirsty Gilmour says UK Sport’s decision to axe GB Badminton’s funding for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is a “slap in the face” to the sport.
The decision to chop the sport’s funding comes on the back of unprecedented success as Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge won GB’S first ever men’s doubles Olympic medal at Rio during the summer, the country’s first medal in badminton since 2004.
Kirsty, who also competed for Team GB at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, was shocked by the decision and said although it doesn’t directly affect her funding, she says she can’t now tell youngsters in schools that they will be supported, should they decide to play the sport at a high level.
She said: “It was definitely a shock. I remember being in Rio and thinking that we’d been given the target of reaching the quarter-final, we’d done that and got a bronze in the men’s doubles – so I thought we had met the target, exceeded them, and were home and dry for Tokyo, but clearly not, and that’s why it’s a shock.
“We worked so hard, but UK Sport don’t seem to have confidence in us either equalling or exceeding our achievements in Rio and that feels like a slap in the face. “These are tight times and people understand that, and maybe a reduction in funding might have been understandable, but to cut it altogether was shocking.
“We have good grounds for appeal – we’re the only sport that has achieved an Olympic medal and had funding taken away and that seems crazy.”
Kirsty says she thinks people will still pick up a badminton racquet at grassroots level, but it will affect those who attempt to turn professional.
She said: “This directly affects GB Badminton, I don’t know how it affects BADMINTONSCOTLAND, but I particularly feel for my fellow Scots. The young players had GB to aim for, it was a target, and Adam Hall has just moved down to Milton Keynes to pursue that. He had his whole future mapped out for the foreseeable future, and that has been sharply halted.
“There will be lots of changes. It might not affect grassroots as much because badminton is the secondhighest participation sport in the UK.
“Everybody will have played badminton at some point in their lives – there’s at least one court in every school and sports centre, but it will impact at elite level, it will affect me.
“I have an Athlete Personal Award and that involves me going into schools and telling kids that if they go into badminton they will be supported – this impacts on my ability to say that, because it might not be the case now.”
Kirsty added: “There are other ways of funding, but the UK Sport funding was all-encompassing and gave you everything you needed as a professional. I’m lucky because I have the Scottish Institute of Sport behind me – I don’t know how this will impact on my English or GB counterparts.”
GB Badminton have confirmed they will appeal the decision, with the hearing thought to be held in February.
UK Sport have also withdrawn funding for archery, fencing, weightlifting and wheelchair rugby, and cut cycling’s budget by more than £4million.
A statement said: “We’ve had to make some tough decisions around investment for the Tokyo cycle.
“This is not a reflection on the progress or commitment of any of the sports or athletes, it’s just a matter of us having to prioritise available resources towards those with the strongest medal potential, as we focus on our aspirational goal to deliver more medals and medallists at Tokyo 2020.”