The nascent GB Squash has been awarded £500,000 on the path to the Los Angeles 2028 after UK Sport revealed its greatest investment to date into Olympic sports.
Squash is one of five new or returning sports to the LA programme funded by UK Sport, including baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse and para climbing.
These sports are collectively set to benefit from £3m in total from UK Sport to support their ambitions in LA.
The funding forms part of a record package of £330m of government and National Lottery funding to be invested in Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic sports for the Los Angeles cycle. A similar sport such as badminton, a long-time Olympic sport, received £3.8m for the four-year period leading up to LA, an increase of nearly £600,000 from the Paris cycle.
Dr Kate Baker, Director of Performance and People, UK Sport, said: “Following the spectacular performances of Team GB and ParalympicsGB in Paris this summer, it’s so important for us to be able to keep the momentum going as we head into the LA cycle. This is our greatest investment to date, with more sports set to embark on an Olympic and Paralympic campaign with us than ever before.
“I’m excited to work with the new sports receiving investment from us for the first time (Flag Football, Lacrosse, Para Climbing and Squash), as well as Baseball/Softball who received National Squads funding in the Paris cycle, and warmly welcome them to our Olympic and Paralympic community.
The £500,000 tranche for squash doesn’t include investment into Athlete Performance Awards.
Athlete Performance Awards (APAs) are awards paid directly to athletes to help them meet the demands of high-performance programs and compete in the Olympics and Paralympics.
UK Sport had previously looked at the sport’s track record and medal potential and a UK-wide squash governing body also built a case for athlete funding.
The funding follows Sport England investment to England Squash of £7.3m, announced in 2022.
Earlier this year, England Squash announced that leading coach Rob Owen had taken on a role as their Olympic Programme consultant.
Owen is tasked with advising the performance team in the design of an enhanced athlete programme to support England’s top players in maximising their potential ahead of the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028.
At LA, Stanford University will provide Team GB squash athletes with access to its athletic facilities on campus, for acclimatisation, training and performance purposes.
The squash venue for LA2028 has yet to be announced.