British Judo to receive increased funding from UK Sport for Tokyo 2020

The British Judo Association has been informed today (Friday 9 December) by UK Sport that the World-Class Performance Programme will receive £9,966,766 in funding for the Tokyo 2020 cycle.

This represents an increase in funding from the Rio cycle and highlights the belief UK Sport have in the the sport and its WCPP programme to deliver success at Tokyo 2020 and the strength of the Tokyo submission and strategy developed by British Judo.

As a Band 3 sport British Judo will be expected to deliver medal success in Tokyo and UK Sport are confident that, with the future strategy, structures and systems in place, British Judo will perform in four years’ time.

Tokyo investment for the Olympic programme comes to £7,575,680 and for the Paralympic programme £2,391,086. The investments follows British Judo’s performances at Rio 2016 which saw a bronze medal for Sally Conway at -70kg and three fifth places for Jonathan Drane, Sam Ingram and Chris Skelley; the developing success of Junior athletes at Centre of Excellence at Wolverhampton University; as well as the establishment of the WCPP as a fully centralised system for the start of the Tokyo cycle in 2017 and the development of the player pathway.

Ronnie Saez, Chairman of British Judo, said:

“Firstly I’d like to thank UK Sport for the confidence they’ve shown in British Judo and the World-Class Performance Programme. A lot of hard work has gone into developing the programme over the last few years and it is great to see the belief UK Sport have in what we are doing.

“I’d also like to offer a big thank you and congratulations to Nigel and the whole Performance team who work tirelessly to deliver a Programme that will achieve success in future Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

Commenting on the decision Nigel Donohue, British Judo Performance Director, said:

“UK Sport would not be investing in our programme if they did not have confidence in our ability to deliver in Tokyo in four years’ time and we are very excited with the athletes that we have in the system who we believe can achieve medal success at the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“The Tokyo investment highlights that we’ve got the right strategy in place and that the programme, structures and systems are evolving year on year as a World-Class programme. The programme is by no means the finished article and we will always strive to keep evolving and improving. We are always looking to improve to ensure that our athletes are best prepared when they step on the mat.

“I’d like to thank Matt Archibald from UK Sport for his support during the Rio cycle. I’d also like to thank the Performance team who are dedicated to the continued development of the World-Class Performance Programme and I look forward to getting the Tokyo cycle underway.”

British Judo Chief Executive Andrew Scoular said:

“The increased investment from the Rio cycle shows the strength of our Tokyo strategy and submission and shows that UK Sport have great belief and confidence in British Judo and the World-Class Performance Programme.

“I’d like to thank UK Sport for their continued support of British Judo, not just financially, but in helping us develop our strategy and ensuring that we are always looking to develop and improve as an organisation.

“I’d also like to thank the Board for their continued support. Their commitment to improving the organisation has made a real difference and we look forward to continuing that work going forward. I would also like to thank the National Lottery for their support of British sport.

“Finally I’d like to thank not only the Performance team but staff across the BJA for their hard work and commitment to our sport and I’m excited for the Tokyo cycle and challenges and successes over the next four years.”

Liz Nicholl, CEO of UK Sport, said: “We have been working in partnership with sports for over a year to develop their Tokyo strategies and I would like to thank them all for their engagement, professionalism and ambition during this process.

“We know what it takes to win and what it costs to win and believe these investments will deliver medal winning success to inspire the nation once again in Tokyo.”