As financial pressures bite hard and more “off-track” championships are added to the global calendar, a greater number of athletes looking to compete for Britain will have to dip into their own pockets
Paying your own way to compete for Great Britain. The notion is one that would have seemed almost unthinkable until recently but, whether it is a symptom of the harsh financial realities currently being faced by athletics in the UK or part of a cultural shift already adopted by other nations and other sports, athletes will be dipping into their own pockets when it comes to a number of championship events in 2025.
While events like next month’s European Cross Country Championships will remain fully funded, given that the event has a role in the performance pathway of the country’s distance athletes, those who are planning to target the European and World Road Running Championships, World Mountain and Trail Running Championships or the World 50km and 24-hour Championships next year will have to look elsewhere.
This isn’t entirely new territory. Late last year AW reported on the British teams travelling to those global ultra running championships having to crowdfund to help pay for their costs. While that isn’t necessarily a sustainable avenue, thinking differently will be a necessity.
“It’s not what anybody wants, saying you have to pay to represent Great Britain,” says UKA Endurance Strategy Manager Chris Jones. “The landscape has changed. However, as custodians of the sport, then we have a responsibility across the whole sport. That’s the challenge.
“If an investor came along, such as a sponsorship, [UKA CEO] Jack Buckner would totally back that area of the sport, but until that financial balance comes into the sport, we’re beholden to UK Sport and that’s the way we have to operate.”
As Jones points out, it’s how some other sports, such as cycling and triathlon, have been operating for some time.
“They actually spell out that [in their policies]: ‘You’ll get this, this and this, but the rest of it you’re paying your own way’. In our sport, we’ve probably tried to hang on to things a little bit too long and, culturally, it’s expected that we will continue to fund these areas of sport.”
Jess Bailey (Marco Gulberti)
As part of the UKA selection policies, it will be highlighted exactly what is required from the athletes. For example, the European Road Running Championships document that has already been published highlights…
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