Peaty calls for financial reward as ‘patriotism does not pay bills’

Great Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic heroes should be incentivised with cash bonuses as part of urgent investment to keep young people in sport, Adam Peaty has said.

Peaty told MPS at a parliamentary hearing that elite athletes “fly the flag, but can’t pay the bills with patriotism” and repeatedly warned of lost talent, particularly in more deprived areas, at a time when leisure centres were facing closure.

The triple Olympic gold medallist highlighted how other countries offered financial rewards for medal success, notably the United States and Singapore, whose system pays one million Singapore dollars (£551,000) to a gold medal winner.

“Give me some of that, please,” Peaty said, smiling, before urging the Government to do more to “fill in the cracks” and not rely so heavily on National Lottery income.

“I think if we had more incentives with the Government saying, ‘Look, if you’ve won a gold medal for the country, you got us to a final, here’s a little bit of a thank you’,” he said.

“I think it comes down to the question, ‘How much is a gold medal worth to the country?’ You are getting a bargain. The Government

and the country reap those benefits. Stop closing the leisure centres, because it will bite you.”

About a third of council-run leisure centres said that they were facing the prospect of permanent closure, according to research that followed the third national lockdown this year.

In Cornwall, the county council is about to vote on proposals to shut four of the region’s 12 indoor public swimming pools.

About 60 per cent of UK Sport’s funding for elite athletes derives from the National Lottery, with the Government having pledged a further £77.2 million for the cycle to the Paris Olympics and Paralympics in 2024. “I came from a working-class family – no money for sport; for anything,” said Peaty, who described Lottery funding as “a lifeline”.

It is, however, only selectively spread and Peaty is particularly concerned for young athletes who are outside the funding system but have no other financial support.

Lauren Rowles, a European, world and double Paralympic champion in rowing, told MPS that there was “a fear culture” over funding. “I have had only one sponsor in my seven years on the team,” she said.