The British Elite Athletes Association (BEAA) welcomes today’s announcement from UK Sport outlining the launch of an updated Athlete Performance Award (APA) framework for the Los Angeles Olympic cycle.
The APA is a grant which all World Class Programme athletes receive to allow them to fully engage with their sporting programme. It is funded directly from the support of National Lottery players.
Athlete funding has been a key focus for the BEAA since April 2022. In three consecutive member surveys, athletes told us that funding was their top priority and so we have sought to represent them on this subject and urge decision makers to take meaningful action.
Over the last 12 months, the BEAA has been consulted as UK Sport conducted a review of the APA framework.
As part of that consultation, we shared feedback from our most recent member survey, in which 64% of the 189 respondents indicated they could not continue to compete if their APA remained the same.
Our work in this area has been supported by the Athlete Advisory Forum, who, in addition to presenting their views on the APA to UK Sport, cosigned a letter to Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, in October, calling on the government to find an urgent funding increase.
Following the review, UK Sport has confirmed the following changes to the APA, which will be available from 1 April 2025.
- A 12% increase in the APA budget for the LA 2028 Olympic cycle
- An increase in the value of APAs at all continuing levels
- A simplified APA framework, making it more accessible and easier to administer.
Commenting on the changes, BEAA CEO, Kelly Sotherton MBE, said:
“We welcome the news that UK Sport will be increasing their APA investment ahead of the LA Olympic cycle. This is a step in the right direction for athletes and we know they are hugely grateful for the support they receive from the government, UK Sport, the National Lottery and its players.
“Our most recent athlete survey highlighted funding as a key concern, and we are pleased to see UK Sport acknowledge and respond to this feedback. We thank athletes for sharing their experience, and the Athletes’ Advisory Forum for their role in raising these concerns.
“We understand that the APA is a contribution to athletes’ sporting and living costs and cannot address every financial challenge they face, so we remain committed to working with stakeholders to explore alternative and sustainable funding solutions on behalf of our members.”
