Winter Olympics: Mckenna Faces Funding Cut

The Scottish snowboarder Lesley McKenna faces having her national lottery funding cut or even stopped altogether after she fell on both her runs during the half-pipe yesterday. She avoided finishing last only because another competitor was injured.

McKenna, who also fell in the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002, has received the equivalent of £250,000 in funding over the last four years, including an annual £12,000 of UK Sport world class performance funding. The rest was made up in travel, coaching, equipment and medical costs, including an operation on an injured ankle which had put in doubt her participation here after seven months out.

Four years ago a crash in the long pipe saw McKenna finish a disappointing 17th. Here the 31-year-old rider was last of the 34 competitors at the end of the first round after she stumbled going into the pipe on her first run. She fell again during her second routine, only finishing ahead of Melo Imai because the Japanese rider was injured. Kate Foster, the 20-year-old born in Canada but now representing Britain, also failed to reach the final and finished 20th.

"I've only been riding for the last month after my injury. You have to go big or go home. I did not ride to come 20th or even 15th - I was riding to get into the final. I think the risk was worth taking. I just haven't had enough time. But I was close to the best I've ever been," said McKenna.

As many summer sports discovered after the 2004 Olympics, though, with money increasingly tight UK Sport is no longer prepared to continue funding under-achieving programs. "Obviously we will review that performance along with everything else that happens in Turin," said a spokesman for UK Sport last night. "As we did after Athens, we will take a hard-nosed approach and we will not shy away from tough decisions."

Taunton's Emma Fowler became the first Briton to compete in the women's 15km biathlon. Sadly, she finished 79th out of the 82 competitors, more than 14 minutes behind the winner, the Russian Svetlana Ishmouratova.