Eight winter sports receive £24.2m funding from UK Sport for next Winter Games
- Published
It is the first time that ice hockey has been included in UK Sport's winter sport funding programme
Eight Olympic and Paralympic sports will receive £24.2m in funding from UK Sport to boost medal hopes for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Games.
Ice hockey will receive funding for the first time.
British Bobsleigh joins British Curling and GB Snowsport in benefiting from world class programme funding.
A national squads investment has also been introduced to ensure athletes can attend major competitions and qualification events.
Ice Hockey UK says the funding will be directed towards elite coaching and the creation of a High Performance Academy.
Its chair, Lord Wrottesley, said: "For UK Sport to have the confidence to invest in ice hockey's performance programmes in the UK speaks volumes for the potential of our sport in this country. We have flown below the radar for far too long."
The total funding, £24.2m, is the same figure that was granted during the 2018-22 cycle, which was down from £32m in the 2014-18 cycle and saw wheelchair curling and bobsleigh lose their funding.
Team GB won two medals at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing - down from their record five at Pyeongchang 2018 - and six in the Winter Paralympics.
Funding by sport:
Curling - £6.4m
Wheelchair curling - £1.4m
Ski and snow - £7.2m
Para-ski and snow - £4.7m
Bobsleigh - £1.9m
Skating - £1.6m
Ice hockey - £900,000
Luge - £80,000
In addition, UK Sport said it remained in active conversation about a potential investment of £4.8m in skeleton.