UK Sport bypasses GB Snowsport funding and launches independent governance review

UK Sport has withdrawn all funding from GB Snowsport for the next Olympic cycle, redirecting £12.5m directly to winter athletes and coaches ahead of the Alpes 2030 Games while launching an independent governance review into the national governing body.

UK Sport bypasses GB Snowsport as record winter funding package approved

Great Britain’s winter sports athletes and parasport competitors are secured for the upcoming Olympic cycle following a record £33 million funding package announced by UK Sport. Yet the major financial commitment arrives alongside a sweeping structural overhaul that strips the sport’s national governing body of its central funding conduit.

While UK Sport guaranteed £12.5m to fund coaches and athletes across skiing, snowboarding, and their Paralympic equivalents over the next four years, that money will not be routed through GB Snowsport. Funding body officials confirmed they will instead continue paying athletes grants directly into the new cycle while a permanent delivery mechanism is finalized before the end of the year.

The decision lands just six months after Team GB delivered an unprecedented three gold medals and five total podium finishes at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, matching a national record while generating historic victories on snow.

Governance friction and leadership turnover spark independent review

The funding bypass stems directly from persistent administrative turbulence inside GB Snowsport. The organization has changed its chair twice in the past three years and is currently advertising for a permanent successor to Michael Oesterlin, who serves as interim chair after four years as a non-executive director.

GB Snowsport loses funding from UK Sport but athletes unaffected

UK Sport confirmed it has commissioned an independent review into the governance of GB Snowsport, prompting a swift response from the governing body.

“We have recently concluded an independent governance review funded by UK Sport, which has confirmed that our governance standards remain strong and appropriate. We look forward to engaging fully and robustly in any new review, which we are confident will reach the same conclusions.”

GB Snowsport, via BBC

GB Snowsport also stated that it was disappointed by the funding decision but vowed to keep all options open to protect the momentum built by its athletes over the past quadrennial.

Broader shifts in elite winter sports delivery models

The restructuring extends far beyond snowsports. UK Sport is expanding its reliance on Sport Org, a specialist multi-sport performance delivery organisation designed to run elite programs on behalf of governing bodies. The curling and wheelchair curling programs are already managed under this model, and the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association is slated to transition its operations to Sport Org ahead of the Utah 2034 Games.

Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Skeleton - Mixed Team - Cortina Sliding Centre, Cortina d — Photo: Reuters

Across the wider £33m winter sports investment pool—up from approximately £32.5m for the previous cycle—funding allocations reflect where Team GB secured its medals in Italy. Bobsleigh and skeleton will receive £10 million after yielding two of Britain’s three golds in Milan-Cortina, through Matt Weston in men’s skeleton and the mixed team event alongside Tabitha Stoecker.

Snowboard cross mixed team event, Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale win Team GB's first gold medal on snow at a Winter — Photo: BBC

Winter Sport / Program	Funding Allocation
Ski, Snowboard & Para Equivalents	£12.5m (Direct delivery model pending)
Bobsleigh and Skeleton	£10.1m
Curling	£6.54m
Ice Skating	£2m
Wheelchair Curling	£1.93m
Ice Hockey (Transition Funding)	£445,000

Meanwhile, Ice Hockey UK is receiving £445,000 in transition funding to move toward commercial self-sustainability, marking a new category of investment for the agency.

“Competition across Olympic and Paralympic winter sport is only getting stronger, which is why it’s more important than ever that we invest where we can have the biggest impact. It is also why we are not afraid of driving the change needed to give our athletes the very best chance of success.”

Kate Baker, Director of Performance and People at UK Sport

UK Sport intends to finalize its new delivery framework for snowsport athletes before the end of the year to ensure seamless financial support leading into the French Alps 2030 Winter Games.