Government backs plan to host major international sporting events
UK Sport’s Gold Event Series to create ‘A Stage to Inspire’ as part of Olympic legacy.
Sports Minister Hugh Robertson and UK Sport Chief Executive Liz Nicholl today unveiled the Gold Event Series, a plan to bring over 70 of the world’s most prestigious sporting events to the UK. This includes 36 World and European Championships.
The continued hosting of major sporting events plays a central role in our long term sporting strategy, using the catalyst of London 2012 to attract prestigious events that deliver a range of sporting and economic benefits for the UK.
Inspiration - and an economic boost
The performance prospects of Britain’s athletes will be boosted by specifically targeting a number of major Olympic and Paralympic qualification events to host on home soil in preparation for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Meanwhile the Gold Event Series will create high-profile opportunities to engage 2.5 million spectators with world class sport at venues across the UK, providing an ongoing platform to inspire the British public towards participation.
The Gold Event Series is expected to generate approximately £287 million in additional expenditure for the communities that play host to these events across the UK, allowing sport to play its part in the Government’s growth agenda.
National Lottery funding
The programme is being funded by £27m in National Lottery funding, which will go toward assisting national sports governing bodies to ensure they can attract and stage the world’s most prestigious sporting events. This assistance will support both the bidding process (including assistance towards feasibility studies, business planning, political endorsement and technical bidding advice) and the delivery (including staging advice, equipment support, event research and knowledge transfer) of major events, with the highest levels of support prioritised towards the most strategically important events.
Minister for Sport Hugh Robertson said: “One of the most important sports legacies of London 2012 is our ability to attract major events in the future - which boost the economy, increase tourism and encourage participation. We already have a fantastic eight years of great sport events planned and I want to attract more events in the years ahead.”
Events already secured
A highly successful bidding campaign began almost two years ago, and 10 World and European Championships have been already secured for the UK in Athletics, Gymnastics, Triathlon, Hockey, Rugby League, Squash, Disability Swimming, Canoe Slalom and Eventing
One of the first major events to be secured for the period after London 2012 was the 2017 IAAF World Athletics Championships, which are due to be staged in the Olympic Stadium in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The first event of the Gold Event Series takes place this weekend as the UCI Track Cycling World Cup comes to the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow (16-18 November). This will be the first major international event to take place in the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games venue.