An ascendant surfing power house!
When it was first announced that surfing would be in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan a shiver was sent down the world’s collective spine. It was the most exciting sporting news since solo synchronized swimming was included in the 1988 Games in Seoul, Korea but there were also many questions.
Would the competition take place in a Kelly Slater wave pool? (A fresh rumor suggest no.)
Would Kelly Slater, speaking of, become the oldest Olympic gold medalist in history?
Would only three nations (Brazil, Hawaii and Australia) field teams?
Well, recent developments suggest that Great Britain is becoming a dark horse favorite thanks to a new “aspirational fund” and let’s learn more about it.
Britain’s surfers, skateboarders and softball players are to receive official funding for the first time to help them qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Surfing will receive £192,500 as part of UK Sport’s new “aspirational fund”, which aims to support sports which do not receive full lottery funding to realise their Olympic and Paralympic ambitions and inspire future generations, with skateboarding getting £162,500 and softball £62,500.
The decision to give money to smaller sports is widely seen as a welcome softening of UK Sport’s hardline “no compromise” approach, where only sports with a strong chance of winning a medal received backing. It was hailed by the new sports minister, Mims Davies, who said it would allow more athletes to compete at the very top in Tokyo.
“It will help Great Britain and Northern Ireland continue to be a leading Olympic and Paralympic nation and I am sure the athletes that will benefit will inspire the nation and help their sports grow,” she said.
I am sure too.
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Hmmm. Might now make it worthwhile for my kids to switch allegiances to the UK. They’re right at the pointy end here in OZ and they would BE the pointy end in the UK, looking at sharpness of their current ‘athletes’. Their UK passports may now be of some value post Brexit! What’s the conversion of £ to AUS$?
Martin Potter is English and what about Lord Ted Deerhurst…look out world the Brits want their empire back!
Chas:
Re: Pee-ramids:
https://gizmodo.com/egyptia…
Laugh it up while you still can, Beachgrit. By 2024, the ruthless genetic selection programme overseen by the gnomic German with the murky links to the DDR will be churning out ruddy cheeked giants, their skills beaten into them since prep school on the surfranches of Eton and Harrow, their rote learning of The Plan a blunt instrument to batter into submission their suncrisped antipodean competitors. We’ve marked it as an easy gold; you have been warned
We shall fight in France(2024) , we shall fight on the seas and oceans( and Pools ) , we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air ……………
This message was brought to you by Churchill ( Swim Fins )
Best swim fin ever..
You know, until they came up with way better materials..
They could use the funds for the dental care, just saying.
I prefer the English version of this article written by the renowned Briton known as Chav Smith
Well you can only imagine how the hard core Coasteering community feels.
I had forgotten all about coasteering. I feel really stupid now
It’s possible they have joined the family of sports under the umbrella of British Swimming , which includes such disciplines as diving , swimming and open water (?) which sounds a lot like Coasteering ?
Don’t forget the sports of slipping-on-rocks-and-limpets, and being-washed-off-rocks-by-waves.
I could probably slip ‘Brexiteering’ into this somehow but can’t be arsed.
A company called Go Coasteering offers fun filled days on Devon’s Cliffs all accessible from the City of Exeter ? Lemmings to the Slaughter ……….
You mean this?
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
similar but with helmets.
I say give it all to Russ to deepen his broadsword collection.
With a few pounds leftover they could commission Neil Young to write a a few songs for a collection to be known as “ Russ Never Sleeps “ and an ode to Ned Stark “ Winter is Coming “ ?
“Ned Stark “ Winter is Coming “”
As long as it’s not in a public location.
Completely Starkus !
Chas and Dave would have been my first choice but alas, Chas left us for the pearly barstool just this September gone.
its about time it was recognised as a sport and received the appropriate support needed to get its athletes on the podium. softball is going to blow your socks off. (unless you are kelly)
62500 quid is probably enough to get team uniforms and bats for players and coaching staff, are they going to send a hat around for the airfares?
Your the big man they need to play Hard Ball for Softball ?While on the subject of soft balls is there a chance that Pocket Billiards will get a guernsey ?
do they drug test?
I am sure they must need people to test drugs ?