Team GB face brain drain fear

Great Britain's Olympic teams face a brain drain of coaching talent unless the Government can guarantee up to £100million in extra targeted funding.

That was the warning sounded today by Colin Moynihan, chairman of the British Olympic Association, who insisted: "We need a promise that the money will come."

Moynihan was talking after Britain finished the Beijing Games with their biggest medal haul - 19 golds, 13 silver and 15 bronze - since the first London Olympics in 1908.

Moynihan said: "We've got some of the best in the world and there will be countries who will come with their cheque books.

"To counter that we have to have in place four-year funding so the governing bodies can go out and negotiate contracts to keep the very best. What the government have said is that there will be £100m a year over the next four years. But there is uncertainty over the £25m which is coming from the private sector.

"I'm hoping that very soon the government will say 'we need to underwrite that' because there's got to be visibility over the full four-year programme."