2026 Winter Olympics: British skeleton handed £1.7m funding cut
- Published
Matt Weston's 15th place was the best finish for a Briton in skeleton at Beijing 2022
British Skeleton has been handed a £1.7m funding cut for the next Winter Olympics cycle after failing to win a medal at the Beijing 2022 Games.
UK Sport has given the sport £4.7m to prepare for Milan-Cortina 2026, down from £6.4m for the previous cycle.
Britain's skeleton athletes have won seven medals - three of them gold - since the sport's return to the Olympic programme in 2002.
UK Sport gave £24.2m to eight other winter sports bodies in July.
British Skelton said a "thorough investment process" with UK Sport had brought "a shared understanding of what it takes to deliver success."
Matt Weston's 15th place was the best result for a Briton at Beijing 2022.
Weston admitted that "something is not right" in the British programme after it could not get close to the success of Amy Williams, who won gold in 2010, and Lizzy Yarnold, who triumphed in 2014 and 2018.
"Skeleton has been one of the British winter sport success stories of the past two decades and we are excited to continue to support the programme towards 2026," said Dr Kate Baker, Director of Performance at UK Sport
"Skeleton has a rich tradition of successfully transferring talented athletes from other sports and creating role models in our system."