Judo thrown £10m to get Londoners fitter

JUDO has received a £10 million cash injection in an attempt to remedy London's couch potato syndrome before the 2012 Olympics.

Dozens of clubs are planned across the capital after judo was one of the main winners of 46 sports awarded £480 million in total by Sport England.

The British Judo Association plans to improve links between schools and its existing 37 clubs and place a qualified coach in every borough. Judo received a generous award thanks to its potential to meet government targets to boost sports participation by two million people and reduce the dropout rate among school-leavers.

Other sports funded to deliver improvements in sport participation by Londoners are basketball with an £8 million grant, rugby union (£30 million) and boxing (£4.7 million).

Pressure is on sports chiefs in London after a government survey showed participation levels were flatlining in the capital despite rising in most other parts of England.