Exclusive: As UK Sport's record £355m investment in British athletes begins, Sportsmail speaks to those who have already seen gold from the funding boost
This Monday marks the start of UK Sport’s record £355million investment in British athletes in the run up to the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The message is simple: Britain wants to become the first country to better its performance four years after hosting the Games.
It is an ambitious target after the staggering success of London 2012, in which Great Britain won 65 Olympic medals and 120 at the Paralympics and finished third in the medals table in both events, but British sport has aimed high since National Lottery funding was introduced in 1997. It is hard to believe Britain won just one gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
Glory boys: Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent were the only GB gold medalists in Atlanta
Here, some of the athletes who have benefited from UK Sport funding tell Sportsmail exactly what it has meant to them…
Sir Ben Ainslie, 36 Four-time Olympic gold medallist, sailing‘Trying to become the first nation to better our performance after a home Olympics is a fantastic goal. For me, it shows just how far British sport has come.
‘I’m not thinking about Rio right now because I’m in San Francisco with my America’s Cup team but you never know – it’s still a few years away.
History: Ben Ainslie won a record fourth sailing gold medal after a titanic battle in London'I’m happy with the decisions I’ve made in my career so far and I’ll definitely be in Brazil in some capacity, even if I’m not racing.
Sir: Ainslee was knighted for his heroics‘I started receiving funding in 1997. I went to my first Olympics in 1996 and won a silver medal, but we didn’t do very well as a team. We won just one gold medal – in rowing, Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent in the men’s coxless pair. It was a pretty poor performance overall.
‘Then UK Sport funding came in and I think, straight away, you could see a big change in the way we were able to train. We enjoyed a big jump up the medal table in Sydney (from 36th to 10th) and that continued all the way to London.
‘British sport became more professional, but the rest of the world upped their game as well. When I started travelling to compete internationally most people were sleeping in tents or in the back of their cars and trying to hold down jobs as well as training.
'There were very few full-time athletes. I think that’ s been the biggest change: we have always had the passion but we simply didn’t have the time to train and recover properly.
‘I was lucky because I was still studying, but I relied on my parents an awful lot. I’m sure they were very relieved when funding came on, as a lot of parents must have been.
‘The medical support has been unbelievable. I had a back injury six months before London and it really was a difficult time. I had to have surgery and a lot of physio but the support I received was phenomenal. It made a huge difference to me and my chances of winning that gold medal.
‘Could I have achieved what I did without funding? It’s a difficult one. I was fortunate in that I had success early on and was able to attract commercial sponsors, but I couldn’t have done it without the coaching and medical support there in the background.
'It was about setting up a long-term strategy to win medals and they certainly got the right people and the right strategy to do that.’
Perri Shakes-Drayton, 24. Double European indoor champion, athletics‘It meant a lot to win two gold medals at the European Indoor Championships (in the 400m and 4 x 400m relay) in Gothenburg. You train to win medals and to be a champion was even better.
'The training that I’ve done and any doubts I may have had have gone away. I can do it and I want more. It gave me that confidence that I am as good as the rest of the girls and I want to maintain it.
Champion: Perri Shakes-Drayton won gold in the Women's 400m at the European Indoor Athletics‘It meant a lot after the Olympics. I finished on a high and I kept running close to my personal best but it was a disappointment (failing to make the final of the 400m hurdles). But rewards will come. The European titles have put the Games behind me. It’s a good feeling.
‘The 400 metres isn’t my event and hopefully I can transfer that speeds to the hurdles now. I enjoy them – there is a lot more to think about, but I haven’t achieved what I want to do yet over the hurdles.
'I’m not saying “bye” to them yet. Hurdling comes naturally now. I see a hurdle and I know how to attack it.
‘I want to come home with a medal from the World Championships in Moscow in August. I want one and I have to win one. That’s my aim.
