Team England athletes’ surpassed expectation in the 2014 Commonwealth Games by leading the country to the top of the medal table, producing their best performance ever and bringing home a record-haul of medals.
They won 174 medals at the Games, including 58 gold medals - eclipsing the previous best of 165 medals from the home Games in Manchester in 2002, 54 of the gold variety.
Sport England Chairman, Nick Bitel commented: “Team England’s success in Glasgow was unparalleled and we are delighted that so many athletes achieved their goal of winning medals at the Games.”
Between 2011 and 2015, Sport England has invested £1.5 million in Commonwealth Games England to support the core staffing infrastructure, functions and activities of the organisation to plan, prepare and manage Team England in Glasgow. Sport England also supported all of Team England’s athletes by investing £93,000 in a Performance Centre in Glasgow - the ‘Lions Den’ - which provided athletes access to a full range of clinical, conditioning, rehabilitation and preparation services during the Games.
Not only were Team England’s sportsmen and women well prepared while at the Games, eight sports also benefitted from nearly £1 million worth of Sport England funding in the build-up to Glasgow 2014. Athletics, Bowls, Judo, Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis, Weightlifting and Wrestling were all recipients of Sport England Commonwealth Games funding that enabled 91 athletes to access dedicated training and preparation programmes with coaches, opportunities to take part in international competitions, and sport science and sport medicine support.
In addition, England Netball and Squash’s high performance programmes are funded by Sport England. Netball is receiving £5 million worth of funding over four years, while Squash is benefitting from £2.3 million. Despite Netball not medalling – losing in the bronze medal match to Jamaica – Squash won nine of the 15 medals on offer at the Games, including a clean sweep of the men’s individual medals with Team England’s flag-bearer Nick Matthew taking gold, James Willstrop silver and Peter Barker bronze.
Tom Duggan, England Squash & Racketball’s Interim Head of Coaching and Performance, said: “The funding we receive from Sport England is critical to the players producing results such as these.
“Whilst it’s the players who win the medals and rightly get the plaudits, they would be the first to acknowledge the role the coaching and support team have played in this achievement.”
Team England athletes’ have also benefitted from other Sport England funded programmes including the Sainsbury’s School Games. The School Games is supported by National Lottery funding from Sport England, and delivered by the Youth Sport Trust. Sport England have been the primary funder of the School Games since 2012 and successful medal-winning alumni from recent years included Nile Wilson (2012) with four gymnastics medals (2 x Gold, 1 x Silver and 1 x Bronze) and Sophie Thornhill (2012) who won two gold medals in the cycling. Overall, 70 athletes who competed in Glasgow have participated at some point in the School Games, with 43 medalling.
A further 249 athletes at the Games have also benefitted from the support of SportsAid, which receives funding from Sport England. The charity supports the next generation of sports stars by giving them financial support and recognition during the critical early years of their careers.
Nick Bitel, continued: “Many of the athletes who won medals in Glasgow had received Commonwealth Games investment from Sport England or had benefitted from Sport England investment in their sport whether it be through funding facilities, the National Governing Body or competing in the Sport England funded School Games. We’re very proud to have been able to help so many England medallists on their journey to competition success, and hopefully their performances will inspire more people to get out and give sport a go.”
