Grainger 'frustrated' Britain not hosting more events

BBC News

27-03-2025

Outgoing UK Sport chair Dame Katherine Grainger says it is "frustrating" that Britain is not staging more major events over the next decade, warning of "a big gap"."We risk public investment, we risk global reputation, we risk opportunities for athletes," the head of the funding agency told BBC Sport.The former Olympic rowing champion is leaving her role as the most senior figure in Olympic and Paralympic sport after eight years in charge.As well as funding elite athletes, UK Sport tries to ensure the country bids for and stages the world's biggest events."We've got a great reputation for it," she said. "But I think we've got challenges going forward."We have a few [events] lined up. But when it comes to 'mega-events', after 2028 we've got nothing secure."The number of major events being hosted in the UK has been declining since the start of the decade.Britain is set to host the women's rugby union World Cup in England this year, along with the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, and the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.Last week, it was confirmed that the men's and women's Tour de France races will both begin in Britain in 2027. In football, the UK and Ireland are staging the 2028 men's European Championship.But while the home nations have also expressed an intention to submit a joint bid for the 2035 women's football World Cup, Grainger says more needs to be done."We don't want fallow years," she said. "After 2028, we don't really have anything named. That is quite a big gap."There are plenty of events that still are there for the taking. It's quite obvious why these mega-events are so important to the country, and yet maybe we haven't made the case clear. "Maybe it's a very difficult time, especially for government to support financially, but there's something we still could do to get more security... We do need more to make sure we've got consistent eyeballs on this country, on what we're doing in sport."No one can get complacent of our place within global sport, and I think we still should have big ambitions of what we can do next, and that will take collaboration."While UK Sport has secured a record £330m government funding package for its sports over the next four years to pursue medals at the LA 2028 Games, it is hoping for more financial backing to bid for major events. Winning bids can require several years of campaigning, and Grainger highlighted the 2029 World Athletics Championships, the 2030 Solheim Cup and the 2031 Ryder Cup as possible targets.She also said there was "a really good conversation" to be had around the Special Olympics for people with intellectual disabilities. It currently sits outside UK Sport's funding remit, and the event has never been staged in the UK.The DCMS has been approached for comment.
'We have made sure athletes have a voice'
Grainger arrived at UK Sport in 2017 with the British high performance system and its "no-compromise" approach, linking funding to medal potential, under intense scrutiny amid a spate of athlete welfare controversies. She insists that since then, the body has put "huge amounts in place to make sure, as much as we can, it is a place that is safe and nurturing and supportive".She added: "When I came in, there was a big challenge to the system - with such great success historically across Olympic and Paralympic sport - was the human price being paid, sometimes too much? And I think there was a real honesty that looked into it."We have made sure athletes have a voice and are listened to. I think we made sure that athletes are valued for who they are and what they bring to the performance system. I think we have still seen phenomenal performances through summer and winter Olympics over the last two cycles, which I'm very proud of."Under Grainger's leadership, UK Sport said it would win "the right way", and focused funding of sports on medal potential over a longer 12-year period, intended to produce success over a wider range of sports. It also established 'culture health checks' to boost duty of care, gave more funding to the British Elite Athletes Association, and insisted funded sports appointed a director to take a board lead on welfare and safety work."I think we've made a healthier-style investment," she said."It will always be tough, and it will always be challenging. And high performance, by its nature, will have some rough edges, and yet that doesn't mean it in any way needs to be uncomfortable for people or certainly unsafe. "It was [about] creating an environment where people feel they could talk about what they've experienced and how we can try to fix it. 'Winning well' has been embedded really comfortably, and that's really important to go forward."
Coventry IOC win 'huge'
Grainger is moving on to become the first female chair of the British Olympic Association. She says Kirsty Coventry's historic election as the first woman president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is "huge"."A lot of ground broken, which is fantastic because it's an organisation that there's always a question mark [over] whether or not they are open to change for the future. And I think this was a resounding answer," she said."She's going to bring in something different that we've probably not seen before. I think there's a lot of excitement about what she might do."Grainger said she was "surprised" that British candidate Lord Coe only received eight votes in the election."In this country we're used to seeing Seb as a winner," she said."But I think he spoke very well about looking forward to seeing what Kirsty brings, and knowing that he wanted an athlete to lead that organisation."