Debt cripples Athens heroes

14 April 2012

An astonishing 40 per cent of Britain's Olympic team were forced to run up debts just to compete at last summer's Athens Games despite Lottery funding, a report has revealed.

A survey carried out by the British Athletes Commission (BAC) showed that 46 per cent of the women and 35 per cent of the male competitors needed the backing of their bank manager to prepare for the most important sporting moment in their careers.

The financial problems also increased with age with some competitors older than 25 struggling with debts close to a third of their annual income.

The team won 30 medals, the largest British tally in a "non-boycott" Games since the 1924 Olympics in Paris. But more than seven out of 10 competitors feel the medallists should have been rewarded financially for their success, the report reveals. It also clearly indicates that Lottery distributor UK Sport, which has announced a tougher approach to funding elite competitors, needs to iron out problems with the system it uses to distribute cash.

The report, based on questionnaires sent out to all the team by the BAC, said: "Despite funding, GB Olympians are still in debt and as they get older the debt is likely to increase. This is not necessarily because athletes' personal awards are not sufficient but it could be because they are prevented from earning extra income. It is clear that many of the Olympians are still unable to earn enough to pay off their debts."

One of the most striking examples of debt involves Sarah Webb, who started Britain's gold rush in Athens with Shirley Robertson and Sarah Ayton. Webb gave up a good job and took out a £20,000 loan to finance her Olympic dream. It allowed her to buy an Olympic-quality boat and a car to tow it to major regattas.

Standard Sport has learned that UK Sport will sit down soon with representatives of the athletes to discuss the problem of personal awards, which are means-tested. The main problem is that athletes are allowed to earn only £8,000 a year before they start to lose their Lottery funding. Many feel it is not worth getting a part-time job because they lose out financially.

Pete Gardner, the BAC chief executive, said: "This stops people working beside their training, which can help them get a fulltimejob when their sporting careers are finished and start on the career ladder. It is also important to have something else to do to take your mind off sport."

The report said "means-testing of athletes' awards needs to be seriously looked at by UK Sport".

Average debts for competitors younger than 25 amounted to £2,275 compared to £4,487 for over-25s. These are high given that the average income for the team was about £14,600 when the earnings of major stars such as Paula Radcliffe were taken out of the equation. Although top athletes also receive money for training and medical costs, nearly 60 per cent of the British team had no significant sponsorship with 68 per cent earning no serious prize money.

UK Sport will come under pressure to allow athletes to earn more before they lose any Lottery cash. Craig Reedie, the British Olympic Association chairman, said: "We would want to bring this clearly to the attention of the funders."

The report also showed that British athletes were determined to continue their hard line on drug offenders. Some 90 per cent said they supported the BOA bylaw which stopped any athlete caught taking drugs from ever competing for Britain at the Games.

The rule is not followed by many countries, who allow offenders to return to Olympic action.

But Reedie said: "If we are in any doubt we just refer it to the athletes and they are saying 'keep it', so we will."

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