ABSTRACT
The money invested directly and indirectly by the UK Government in preparation for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in Athens in 2004 resulted in the winning of 30 medals at a cost of £5.3 million per medal (see Table 19.1). The funding that produced the medals and placed the United Kingdom tenth in the medals table was part of a steadily increasing expendi-ture on elite athletes. Following the award of the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to London in 2005 the Government ‘agreed a funding package of £722 million from April 2006 to March 2013, doubling the direct funding for elite sports and athletes from £300 million to £600 million’ (House of Commons, 2008, p. 7). Although this figure was subsequently reduced to £550 million and despite the post-2006 figures not being directly comparable to those in previous years, it is clear that the upward trend in funding evident from the early 1990s has continued and accelerated.
