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Uncertainty over funding arrangements for top athletes could severly hinder Britain's chances of featuring high up the medals tables in the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London, a report has warned.

The National Audit Office (NAO) warned that plans to raise £100m from the private sector as part of a seven-year £700m package of support for elite sport may not happen because of delays in fund-raising and competing sponsorship demands.

The spending watchdog also warned that funding for sportsmen and women hoping to compete in the 2012 Games must not be spread too thinly if the country wants to realize a strong haul of medals.

Following the Athens Olympics in 2004, when the GB scooped nine gold medals, UK Sport adopted a "no compromise" policy of ensuring funding went to sports and athletes with a real chance of grabbing a medal.

The NAO report noted that a "step change" in performance by athletes would be required if UK Sport and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport were to achieve their goal of fourth place for Britain in the Olympic medal table and second in the Paralympic table in 2012.

It warned that the new goal "may distract UK Sport's focus and funding from its primary goal of winning medals".

"In the light of uncertainty about funding levels, UK Sport should avoid distributing too high a proportion of the extra funding to those sports with no medal potential at the Games," said the report.

It warned that elite athletes would face stiff competition for private sponsorship in the run-up to 2012 from other parts of the event, such as arenas and other new facilities.

2:52pm Thursday 20th March 2008

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