UK Sport has today confirmed an additional £2.4million of funding for winter Olympic and Paralympic sport.

The boost is designed to support athletes preparing for the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Milan-Cortina, and follows in the wake of an extraordinarily successful 2022-23 season, which demonstrated the potential of British athletes in a wide range of winter sports.Last season, the first in the Milan-Cortina cycle, was the most successful on record for British winter athletes. They won nine world championships medals across five Olympic sports (including four gold medals), and another nine medals in three Paralympic sports.Two sports, bobsleigh and skeleton, will each receive more than £850,000 in additional funding for their programmes. Britain’s four-man bob finished second at the World Championships, the nation’s first medal in the event in 84 years, and stood on the World Cup podium in seven of eight four-man races. While in skeleton Matt Weston won individual World Championship Gold and there were two medals in the new mixed team event.Athletes across a number of sports delivered performances that have led to additional support, including:

• Ice dance pair Lewis Gibson and Lilah Fear, who finished fourth at the World Championships, their best result to date and reached No.1 in the world rankings;
• Speed skater Cornelius Kersten, whose World Championship bronze in the men’s 1,000m was Britain’s first in the sport since 1951;
• Speed skater Ellia Smeding, who recorded a top-eight World Championship finish;
• Para Nordic athlete Scott Meenagh, who won silver at the World Championships, GB’s first ever medal in this discipline.

Dr Kate Baker, Director of Performance at UK Sport, said: “Today’s announcement of additional financial support for five of our Olympic and Paralympic winter sports recognises the incredible potential of our current crop of athletes.“They delivered several extraordinary sporting moments last season and we are excited to see them back in action later this year as we continue to pursue our ambition to become an ever-greater force in Winter Olympic and Paralympic sport.“Of course, we wouldn’t be able to continue to invest in these talented young athletes without the incredible support we continue to receive from National Lottery players who power Olympic and Paralympic sport in this country.”