´óÏó´«Ã½

Last week's brought good news to a large number of Olympic sports and a lot of athletes. The broad message? Here's more money; go out and win more medals.

But while one hand gave to hockey, gymnastics, skeleton and curling, the other took from skiing, snowboarding and figure skating. As things stand, those three sports will now receive no cash at all from the UK's central funding body for sport.

That news has taken a psychological toll on the individuals battling for results in those sports. Britain's top alpine skier, , broke down in tears reflecting on a week where she broke her leg and lost more than £60,000-a-year in funding. Top snowboarder only discovered she had lost her financial support when a friend read it on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ website.

UK Sport may argue that if cannot tell its athletes when they have just had all their funding axed, then it does not deserve the money in the first place.

However, life in these sports is not as simple as being funded or unfunded, and it is not the vanishing cash that most incenses Alcott and Gillings.

Read the rest of this entry

Taxis to school, driving lessons, an evening with Steven Gerrard, the keys to a Bentley, and some of the highest-quality beef.

In the pursuit of Olympic excellence, Barrie Wells has shelled out for some odd things. But, a year after first publicising his scheme to help fund the 2012 dreams of a handful of British Olympic prospects, the multi-millionaire is convinced it has been worthwhile.

Wells, who made his money in insurance, started this in mid-2009. He set up a foundation to give some of his money away to worthy sports clubs around Britain, but also selected around 16 elite athletes - in sports he enjoyed, primarily athletics, triathlon, modern pentathlon and swimming - to receive extra cash towards their training.

On top of the money they receive from their sports' governing bodies, these athletes have managed to persuade Wells that parting with thousands of pounds of his own cash, to cover expenses they cannot meet with their own funding, is going to reap rewards: if not financial, then in the priceless terms of making him a part of London 2012 and their fight to represent Britain.

A year ago, I asked Wells what was motivating him to give away his cash like this. He told me he wanted to be "taken on the journey". As 2010 reaches a conclusion, is his unique experiment working out that way? Where has the money been spent, and what's he getting in return?

Read the rest of this entry