Lottery Jackpot for Skiers and Curlers

Alpine skiing and curling can expect a lottery windfall after helping Britain to its most successful Winter Olympics for 66 years but other sports such as snowboarding and bobsleigh may face cuts in funding in the wake of disappointing results.

"We will be asking serious questions of the athletes who have underperformed," said Simon Clegg, chief executive of the British Olympic Association.

Snowboarding is expected to be the biggest loser. Lesley McKenna received £120,000 to help prepare for these games but crashed twice during the half-pipe and then said she did not consider the Olympics to be that important. Bobsleighing, which received £1.1m of public money, could also face a reduction after the failure to come close to emulating the four-man bronze in Nagano.

Alain Baxter's exceptional performance in taking the bronze medal in the men's slalom has thrust alpine skiing to the top of the pile after years of relative poverty. The entire British squad had received only £300,000 compared with £6m ploughed into Austria's Olympic effort.

"Over the last 10-15 years there has been a year-on-year reduction in government support for skiing and I now expect this decision to be reversed," Clegg said.

"It is not only because of Alain's medal but because of the results of the entire alpine team. We have absolutely no problem with accountability but success must be rewarded as well, and there is no more deserving a case than a sport that has suffered financially for many years."

The subject of lottery grants was raised in the House of Commons yesterday when the shadow culture secretary Tim Yeo claimed future success could be jeopardised by a lack of funding.

"Lottery-funded spending on sport has fallen by one third since 1997, a drop of over £100m a year," he said. "It undermines the chances of future British Olympic success."

But Richard Caborn, the sports minister, said the government's contribution to sport would more than double over the next two years.

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