Paris 2024 Olympics: Team GB Legacy

Stephanie Peacock Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd September 2024 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stephanie Peacock)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Christopher. I of course congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Gower (Tonia Antoniazzi) on securing this important debate and on such a thoughtful speech.

As the Minister responsible for sport, I could not be prouder of the performance of our Olympians in Paris. The team brought home 65 medals, which was the third-highest haul of all time, one more than the number won in Tokyo, and equal to the number won in London 2012. There were so many incredible moments, with Tom Pidcock’s recovery from a puncture to take gold in the mountain biking, Alex Yee’s sprint finish to snatch gold in the men’s triathlon, and Keely Hodgkinson storming to gold on the track in the 800 metres, to name but a few. Barnsley’s own Becky Moody also brought home a bronze as part of the Team GB dressage team. The breadth and depth of Team GB’s success was amazing, winning medals across 18 of the 32 sports. All our athletes—whether they picked up medals or not—have had an impact that goes far beyond the pool, the velodrome or the track: they have inspired the nation and shown the next generation what is possible, and I hope they are all very proud of that.

I was fortunate enough to attend the games in Paris to see our athletes in action in road cycling and swimming, and to visit the Olympic village and witness at first hand how our athletes are supported. I was not alone in making it to France to cheer on Team GB—half a million tickets were snapped up by British fans—and for all of the fans who did not make it over there, there were millions more back home who were gripped by the amazing performances of our athletes on the other side of the channel.

With the Paralympic games now well under way, it would be remiss of me not to mention Paralympics GB and the incredible performances we are seeing from our athletes. The UK is the birthplace of the Paralympic movement, and Paralympics GB have finished in the top three at every game since Sydney 2000. I was delighted to be there last weekend to see the amazing team in action. It was fantastic to see Maisie Summers-Newton bring home a gold for Paralympics GB; I was absolutely gripped by the wheelchair tennis, where I was lucky to see both Andy Lapthorne and Greg Slade win their singles matches; and I really enjoyed seeing my first game of boccia and cheering on the amazing Claire Taggart. I know the nation is fully behind them to continue that success in Paris, and I wish them the very best of luck.

Sport is a huge part of our national story. British and Northern Irish athletes have competed at every single Olympic games since 1896, when the first modern Olympic games took place in Athens. The Great Britain and Northern Ireland teams have the distinction of being the only nation to have won a gold medal at every summer Olympic games since. Team GB have been in the top seven in the Olympics since 2008 and, other than the USA and China, we are the only nation to win more than 60 medals at the last four games.

The success of this year’s games was the culmination of years of hard work and dedication from not just our athletes but all the coaches and support staff behind the scenes, as well as the instrumental work of UK Sport and the national lottery. Every athlete has the raw ingredients of talent, determination and perseverance, but they need the right environment to nurture those skills.

When discussing the legacy for our future Olympians and Paralympians, the Government recognise the vital importance of funding. The investment of public money in Olympic and Paralympic sport allows UK athletes with the potential to achieve on the world stage to train full time and to fully focus on achieving their sporting potential. It provides UK athletes with access to the very best coaching in the world, as well as world-leading medical support and research, supporting athletes to achieve peak physical condition for competition and helping them to recover quickly from injury. Funding also provides access to the world’s best sports science and technology to support athlete performance.

All that means that UK athletes are provided with the best possible chance to achieve their potential, and that they arrive at the Olympic and Paralympic games as among the best-prepared athletes in the world. That has transformed British fortunes at the games, with Team GB rising from 36th in the Olympic medal table in 1996 to the top-seven finishes at every Olympics since 2008. Paralympics GB have also achieved top-three finishes in every games since 2000.

UK Sport invested £385 million of Exchequer and lottery funding for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic cycle. As we look beyond Paris, the Government are fully committed to multi-year funding for our elite sports system, to enable our athletes to excel on the world stage. That means supporting them financially to match, and build on, their success in Paris as we look forward to Los Angeles 2028.

Our athletes are ordinary people who, through hard work and determination, have gone on to do extraordinary things and who will in turn inspire a generation. Our success on the world stage is a huge source of national pride and helps to encourage people of all ages to get involved in sport and physical activity. I see the enduring impact that it can have at a local level. Barnsley’s Dorothy Hyman competed as a sprinter in Rome 1960 and Tokyo 1964, winning three medals, and she continues to inspire our community today. The sport centre in Cudworth named after her is a hub of sport and physical activity for the local community. We want to give the next generation every possible chance to chase their dreams of becoming the next Keely Hodgkinson, Max Whitlock, Caden Cunningham or Bryony Page.

From the chances it gives young people to the jobs that it creates, sport is helping to deliver this Government’s mission of kick-starting economic growth and breaking down barriers to opportunity for all. Just last week, Sport England announced that, following Team GB’s performance in Paris, it is investing £120 million into funding the next generation of Olympic and Paralympic talent. That funding will increase and enhance opportunities for talented young athletes in England to explore and develop their athletic potential, regardless of their background or financial circumstances. It will support athletes starting out in grassroots environments, as well as those already on formal talent pathway programmes, and it will be available for the 2025-29 funding cycle.

The Youth Sport Trust hosted the school games national finals in Loughborough this weekend—a multi-sport event that brings together junior national ranked athletes and their peers who have shown potential via non-traditional roots. With more than 180 school games alumni represented at this year’s Olympic and Paralympic games, it is great to see how nurturing young talent can transform lives.

Our Olympic and Paralympic athletes are also being supported to get out into their communities and make a difference to the causes they care about. The Changemaker initiative is a partnership between the national lottery operator Allwyn, Team GB, Paralympics GB and UK Sport. It aims to help athletes to maximise their impact upon their return from Paris 2024 and give back to the local communities that have supported them. Athletes can choose the social impact project they wish to support, and it could be anything from grassroots sports projects to mental health initiatives—whatever cause they are passionate about.

I have noted the comments by my hon. Friend the Member for Gower about the Andy Murray centre. Andy has of course contributed a huge amount to British sport throughout his long career. I understand that plans for the centre have now been withdrawn, but I am sure that many people will be working hard to find other ways to honour Andy’s legacy.

The legacy of the games is not limited to the elite support system. Team GB’s performance has the power to inspire everyone. We want to help as many people as possible to get active, whether that is someone completing their first parkrun or someone who is an inspiring future Olympian or Paralympian. The Government recognise that high-quality, inclusive facilities help to ensure that everyone has access to sport, as my hon. Friend the Member for Newport East (Jessica Morden) spoke about in her area. We will continue to support grassroots sport, including through the multi-sport grassroots facilities programme, which will invest £123 million throughout the UK this year. We will also provide support through our arm’s length body Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million of national lottery and Government money.

[Adam Jogee]

I welcome the Minister to her place in the first Westminster Hall debate since her appointment. I welcome the Sport England funding she just referred to, but I urge her to make representations to it to look beyond the big cities when it comes to how that funding is allocated—I see my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater) nodding—to places like Newcastle-under-Lyme.

[Stephanie Peacock]

As a Member of Parliament who represents a town, I hear my hon. Friend’s comments.

In the interests of time, I want to address the questions that my hon. Friend the Member for Gower put to me. She asked that we work holistically across Government to address participation inequalities. As she will know, this Government are focused on delivering our five core missions, including breaking down barriers for everyone and fixing the NHS by improving the health of our nation. We recognise that increasing physical activity rates across the population is fundamental, which is why I will work with my ministerial colleagues to ensure that sport is a key part of delivering those missions. She also asked me to meet her and talk about the curriculum; as a former teacher, I would be delighted to do so.

This debate has been a brilliant opportunity to outline the Government’s commitment to maximising the legacy of our biggest sporting events. We are of course committed to supporting sport and physical activity, whether that be our Olympic and Paralympic future stars or funding our grassroots sports system to ensure that everyone has the access to sport and physical activity that they deserve. I again thank my hon. Friend for securing this important debate.

Question put and agreed to.