Team GB Hits UK Sport Medal Target
Team GB’s performance at London 2012 continued yesterday with the team surpassing the minimum target set by UK Sport for Olympic sports of at least 48 medals, marking Great Britain’s most successful Olympic Games in over a century.
The bronze medal won by Robbie Grabarz in the High Jump took GB’s tally to 48 medals – one more than the performance of the team in Beijing with 5 days of competition remaining.
Earlier in the day, triathlon became the 12th sport to earn an Olympic medal – achieving the second component of the UK Sport target, which was for more sports to medal than the 11 who did so in Beijing.
UK Sport set out its ambitions for Team GB in July for the final Mission 2012 submissions of the London cycle, with a record 20 sports targeting medals in London (of which 14 had a medal as the bottom of their target range).
Using the aggregate of each individual sport’s range, UK Sport published a medal range of between 40 and 70 medals, from which it committed to a target of a minimum of 48 medals, from at least 12 sports with an aspiration to achieve a top four finish in the medal table.
Team GB is now celebrating Great Britain’s best campaign since the 1908 London Olympics – when tug-of-war was also an Olympic sport, and nearly half of the athletes were British.
Chair of UK Sport, Baroness Sue Campbell CBE paid tribute to the impact of sustained investment, through the Exchequer and National Lottery, and the commitment of the athletes and support teams, in reaching this remarkable milestone:
‘It has been an incredible journey, since winning the Olympic bid in 2005, putting in place the foundations on which we have built a truly world class, sustainable, high performance system. The backing of The National Lottery and the Government over the past 15 years, and more recently, from Team 2012, have made available the critical investment which was needed.’
‘However, the financial support is just one component. This achievement belongs to the athletes, their coaches, their support staff, and families; as well as the remarkable crowds who have shouted themselves hoarse in support of Team GB. Together they have provided some truly memorable moments, whether on the water, in the velodrome or on the tracks, inspiring a nation and our next generation of Olympians.’
Liz Nicholl OBE, chief executive of UK Sport, added: ‘We are absolutely delighted that this important and ground-breaking benchmark has been met today. It’s credit to the sports and the athletes that they have risen to the challenge in such emphatic fashion.’
