Cross-country skiing: the British almost without financial resources
WhileAndrew Musgrave has chained, in recent days, two podiums in a row in the double thrust races of the Blink-Festival, British cross-country skiing has learned some very bad news. In the blur since the beginning of last week and the publication of the federations supported by UK Sport for the next Olympiad, it is not one of the sports the British sports funding body has decided to bet on.
Like alpine skiing and para nordic skiing, cross-country skiing will get a sum from UK Sport, but it won’t do the trick. “It will not be enough to maintain an elite level of performance, regrets GB Snowsport, in total disagreement with this decision, in a press release. It is a blow to the athletes, coaches, technical staff and employees of the federation who have shown enormous dedication in recent years to increasing Britain’s position in cross-country skiing. »
« Less than a fifth of the previous budget »
“We are now urgently exploring all other options to continue this program, including new business partnerships, reducing costs across the organization and seeking greater efficiency within the program, but we expect some tough decisions to be made in the coming weeks,” continues GB Snowsport, pessimistic.
James Clugnetcontacted immediately by Nordic Magazine, confirms that his team “has lost funding”: “What is certain is that we will have much less money than before, less than a fifth of the previous budget, he announces. We will have to make quite difficult choices, for example between whether we decide to have a coach or to participate in world cups. We will have to pay a lot of things ourselves if we want to keep a professional organization, ”he announces.
