Team GB volleyball player Maria Bertelli tweeted: “uk—sport london2012 sebcoe legacy? Please explain? Gave everything & more because I believed your promises £false.”
Chris McDermott, a member of the British handball team, tweeted: “I’m devastated. Absolutely gutted. Gave everything for seven years, now we’ve been chopped.”
Even though Sport England had announced their own funding for grass-roots sports the day before, it is the elite level that has been rocked with the cuts.
The big winners were the medal successes at London: rowing is the most heavily backed sport with £32.6?million over the next four years, an increase of £5.3m.
Boxing is up £4.2m to £13.8m, cycling gets £30.6m (up £4.6m), equestrianism £17.9m (up £4.5m) and gymnastics £14.5m (up by almost £4m).
But some sports felt the cuts most painfully.
Why invest that much money and then pull the rug away?
Volleyball England’s chief executive Lisa Wainwright insisted the decision not to fund sitting volleyball for the next Paralympic cycle has “extinguished” any legacy left by London 2012 for the likes of 7/7 bombings survivor Martine Wright.
Wright, who lost both legs in the 2005 attacks on London, gave a moving speech at the ExCeL on Sunday as winner of the Helen Rollason Award for “outstanding achievement in the face of adversity” at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
But Wainwright believes any legacy left from London 2012 has now disappeared.
She said: “When we speak of legacy remember this day – the flame has well and truly been extinguished.
“Today’s funding announcement is so disappointing for all the athletes, staff and the sitting volleyball programme who have made such significant progress given their previous funding of less than £5,000 each for all training, competition and support.
“The investment requested from UK Sport was less than £500,000 per year per squad over the next four years.”
GB Volleyball performance director Kenny Barton described himself as “numb” but he hopes to continue the progress made despite missing out on funding, except for women’s beach volleyball which receives £400,000.
Barton said: “We would like to prove we can continue. At the moment I am numb. I can understand UK Sport but I don’t necessarily agree with the pursuit of medals only.”
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