Britain's Athletes Are Quids Out

According to new MORI research conducted for Barclaycard, Britain's aspiring medal winners receive only half the funding they need to perform competitively on the world stage.

The research, amongst 100 of Britain's best young sportspeople sponsored by Barclaycard, aged 16-24, from over 20 sports, revealed that athletes receive just half the funding they actually need to compete successfully with their international rivals.

• Athletes spend an average of just 1639,300 a year on sport including travel, equipment, entry fees, training, clothing, medical costs and other expenses.
• This figure is a staggering 1638,300 less than they estimate they actually need to compete successfully against their international rivals.
• The British public assume that athletes require around 16316,700 a year to compete.
• As many as three out of five athletes believe this lack of funding hinders their sporting performance and potential.

The feeling amongst most athletes (72%) is that they need more funding to compete against foreign counterparts, a view supported by the British public - three quarters of whom agree that British athletes do not receive sufficient funding in comparison to their counterparts in other countries.

• Eight out of ten athletes say their family has been put under financial strain to support their sporting career.
• The single main source of funding for athletes interviewed (41%) is a lottery grant.
• Additional sources of funding include savings and sponsorship.
• Almost half of the British public assume that sponsorship provides the single largest source of funding for sportspeople.

Four in five members of the British public (81%) believe that the Government should put more money towards the training of young talented sportspeople so that they might have a better chance of winning medals.

• Half of the general public would like to see Government investment going into sport in schools and colleges. In contrast to a quarter of the public who would prefer money invested to be spent on an Institute for British Sport.

Despite the lack of funding for young athletes, they remain highly motivated. The one single thing that inspires three in five athletes is their personal quest for sporting excellence - none said that money was their main ambition. Other motivations include:

• Representing their country (67%)
• The love of their sport (59%)
• The opportunity to win medals (36%)

Technical details

MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,998 adults across Great Britain, and a questionnaire distributed amongst the 100 Barclaycard Team 2000 members. Fieldwork was conducted between July and August 1998.