Hoy urges government not to cut Olympic funding

LONDON — Four-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy on Tuesday pleaded for government funding for Olympic sports not to be cut.UK Sport have warned that half of the Olympics sports could face cuts if funding is slashed following the Government's spending review this autumn.Hoy, four times an Olympic cycling gold medallist, said he could have not reached the heights he has achieved without the benefit of Lottery cash.Hoy, speaking in the new London Olympic velodrome to mark two years to go to the Games, said: "It's important to invest in sport. It's important for the success of the nation to be doing well in home Games and for future generations."For many reasons it's important to invest in sport."Lottery funding came on board in 1998 just when I was finishing university and it could not have come at a better time for me."I personally benefited massively from that and the public can stake a claim to being part of all the success we have had because they have essentially funded Olympic sport in this country."Peter Keen, UK Sport's director of performance, said if there are cuts he would direct the cash to those sports with best chance of success.Keen told the Guardian: "Like all publicly funded organisations we'll soon hear our budget."You must remember that our London mission was funded by a dramatic increase in exchequer funding, not lottery funding. But we're dependent on exchequer funding that will be determined in the autumn."We're £50 million down on the original budget we had in 2006. It was a £600 million investment and it's a shame we don't have that now."But it's more important to focus on our mindset rather than the money. With any reasonable budget we will give the backing those (prospective medal-winning) athletes deserve."And so if that means we can only fund half the sports then that's all we can do. What we really don't want to do is dilute our commitment to excellence." Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »

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