This page explains why the World Class Programme exists and what it does to support Triathlon performance at the highest levels.

Created after the Great Britain’s poor showing at the 1996 Olympics the World Class Programme (WCP) sits behind the recent British success at Olympic and Paralympic Games. It covers all funded summer and winter Olympic and Paralympic sports, it works by ensuring that athletes get the world class support – delivered through their sport’s national governing body – that they need at every stage of their development.

It operates at two distinct levels.

• Podium - supporting athletes with realistic medal winning capabilities at the next Olympic/Paralympic Games (i.e. a maximum of four years away from the podium)
• Podium Potential – these are athletes whose performances suggest that they have realistic medal winning capabilities at the subsequent Olympic and Paralympic Games (i.e. a maximum of eight years away from the podium)

Funding is delivered in two ways

The main body of investment goes to the particular sport’s governing body to support Podium and Podium Potential level athletes with an array of world class services. These include coaching, training, and competition support, medical, technology and scientific services delivered by the Home Country Institutes and access to the best facilities that the UK and the World have to offer.

In addition, recognising that succeeding in Olympic and Paralympic sports effectively means a full-time commitment on behalf of athletes, UK Sport makes a contribution towards living and sporting costs via a National Lottery funded Athlete Performance Award. This contribution varies according to the level that the athlete competes at. In the present climate Triathlon will have around 15 athletes in total (male & female) on their WCP.

Athlete Performance Award (APA)

Designed to cover an athletes sporting and living costs the amount the athlete receives is dependent upon their Programme level. An athlete who is on the top level of the Programme (A), and winning medals at Olympic or World level will receive approximately £28,000* while an athlete at the lowest level (E) will receive approximately £6,000*

*figures correct as of 2019 – please note APA’s are means tested so that UK Sport directs funding to where it is most needed.

Find out more

To see British Triathlon’s World Class Programme Selection Policy click here

To find out more about the World Class Programme visit the UK Sport website here