Funding Cuts Hit Team GB's Training Camp

In 85 years of Winter Olympics, only one British skier has even flirted with a medal position – Alain Baxter coming agonisingly close in Salt Lake 2002. Following a harsh doping allegation (a US-branded Vicks Inhaler the guilty party), Baxter lost his medal and a place in the history books of the Winter Olympics. So, are our skiers really that bad or is lack of funding the deeper lying problem?

In recent years, the people at the top have continuously cut funding to the British ski team following its consistently poor performances, as shown yet again by the BBC headline British skiing hit by cash crisis. If this continues, Team GB will continue to struggle to compete in future Olympics, with the eventual possibly of complete withdrawal.

The latest cash crisis to hit British skiing follows the previous funding cut in 2006, when alpine skiing funds were almost halved from £1.72m to £922,000. British ski chief at the time, Jason Cockburn, warned that these cuts would ‘have an adverse effect on our up-and-coming athletes‘ and would force programme cuts to hinder medal hopes for 2014 and 2018. However, the effects appear to be surfacing sooner than expected.

With just 6 months until the start of Vancouver 2010, Great Britain’s only ‘real’ skiing medal hope Chemmy Alcott, fears the current situation could hamper any chance that she has of ending the 85 year Olympic jinx. With funds cut, Snowsport GB in £300,000 of debt and ski coaches not being paid – Chemmy described this debacle as the ‘worst timing ever‘ in the ‘most important season‘ of her career.

So, how will this latest revelation affect Team GB’s chances of a podium finish in Vancouver? And if our skiers do fail to reach the dizzying heights of a Top 3 finish, should we expect another funding cut in 2010? Only time will tell…