UK Funded athletes 2023-24

UK Funded athletes 2023-24

UK Athletics has announced the list of Olympic world-class program athletes for 2023/24. There is a total of 67 in 4 categories as follows:

Olympic podium 17 (15 last year)

Olympic podium potential 19 (23)

Olympic relays 18 (19)

Olympic confirmation 13 (11)

Of the 17 athletes in the Olympic podium category, 12 of the 2022 list retain their position, with the following five athletes being moved up to the podium category for the first time. 

Molly Caudrey – who cleared 4.60 for the first time in 2022 and had three 4.70+ jumps this year culminating in a 4.75 for fifth in the World Championships.

Zharnel Hughes took silver and fourth place in the World Championship sprints and registered 9.83 and 19.73 PRs this year to earn his top-level funding.

Morgan Lake is only 26 but seems to have been jumping forever.  In 2023 she was fourth in the Worlds with 1.97 as well as a PR of 1.99 earlier in the season.  I loved her two-edged assessment of Budapest: “Fourth in the world is something I am very happy with. That I was so close to a medal which stings a bit”.

Ben Pattison was a surprise bronze medallist in the world 800m.  Just 21, he ran a PR of 1:44.02 at the 2023 London Meet to get the World Championship standard.  He told me: “My attitude to the World Championship final was, ‘I’m already a finalist, so I might as well try to be a medalist!’ I remember thinking, ‘No one remembers who is fourth, fifth, or sixth so I need to get a medal’”.  

Katie Snowden ran a massive PR of 3:56.72 in the World Championship semi-final, commenting “I’m really stunned, to be honest. I knew I had a big PB in me but I wasn’t expecting 3:56 in the semis”.  She also ran sub-4 in the final (for eighth) and in the Brussels Diamond League.

Three athletes who were on the podium list in 2022-3 have lost their funding – Nick Miller, Andrew Pozzi, and Alex Bell.  Andrew Pozzi was third in the Commonwealth Games and sixth in the European Championships in 2022 but did not reach the final in Oregon.  This season he missed the entire outdoor season through injury. Having run 1:57.66 for seventh in the 2021 Olympic final, Alex Bell did not manage to kick on running only in the 1:59s since then.  Yet many would feel she was a bit unlucky to miss out on selection for Budapest when the discretionary place went to Izzy Boffey.

In the Olympic podium potential category, 13 athletes retain their positions, with Melissa Courtney-Bryant, Neil Gourley, George Mills, Jade O’Dowda, Anna Purchase, and Jess Warner-Judd added to the category.  Taylor Campbell, Harry Coppell, Oliver Dustin, Niamh Emerson, and Scott Lincoln have lost their funding.

The relays list has been freshened up to include those who performed well, delivering 4 medals in Budapest with some older athletes dropping out.  

The 13 athletes in the Olympic confirmation category include 10 who are being funded for the first time.

Reece Prescod pays for his decision to leave Budapest before the relay by being omitted from the list of funded athletes.

One other thing that I learned from the list was that Holly Bradshaw has moved from Loughborough to the northwest of England and has changed her coaching approach for 2024 as a result.  She is no longer listed as coached by Scott Simpson.

The full list is in format name, coach, club:

The UK Athletics Olympic World Class Programme Athletes for 2023/24:

Olympic Podium (17):

Dina Asher-Smith (Edrick Floréal, Blackheath and Bromley)

Holly Bradshaw (Blackburn)

Molly Caudery (Stuart Caudery, Thames Valley)

Keely Hodgkinson (Trevor Painter, Leigh)

Matthew Hudson-Smith (Gary Evans, Birchfield)

Zharnel Hughes (Glen Mills, Shaftesbury Barnet)

Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Aston Moore, Liverpool)

Josh Kerr (Danny Mackey, Edinburgh)

Morgan Lake (Robbie Grabarz, Windsor Slough Eton and Hounslow)

Laura Muir (Steve Vernon, Dundee Hawkhill)

Daryll Neita (Marco Airale, Cambridge Harriers)

Ben Pattison (Dave Ragan, Basingstoke and Mid Hants)

Jemma Reekie (Jon Bigg, Kilbarchan)

Jazmin Sawyers (Aston Moore, City of Stoke)

Cindy Sember (Chris Johnson, Woodford Green Essex Ladies)

Katie Snowden (Stephen Haas, Herne Hill)

Jake Wightman (Geoff Wightman, Edinburgh)

Olympic Podium Potential (19):

Lizzie Bird (Pat McCurry, Shaftesbury Barnet)

Melissa Courtney-Bryant (Rob Denmark, Poole)

Tom Gale (Robbie Grabarz, Team Bath)

Elliot Giles (Jon Bigg, Birchfield)

Neil Gourley (Stephen Haas, Giffnock North)

Jake Heyward (Mark Rowland, Cardiff)

Jessie Knight (Marina Armstrong, Windsor Slough Eton and Hounslow)

Eilish McColgan (Liz Nuttall, Dundee Hawkhill)

Naomi Metzger (Aston Moore, Trafford)

George Mills (Thomas Dreißigacker, Brighton Phoenix) 

Jade O’Dowda (John Lane, Newham and Essex Beagles)

Lawrence Okoye (Zane Duquemin, Croydon)

Aimee Pratt (Thomas Dreißigacker, Sale Harriers Manchester)

Anna Purchase (Mohamed Ali Saatara, Notts)

Charlotte Purdue (Nic Bideau, Aldershot Farnham and District)

Daniel Rowden (Jon Bigg, Woodford Green Essex Ladies)

Marc Scott (Richmond and Zetland)

Jessica Warner-Judd (Mick Judd, Blackburn) 

Callum Wilkinson (Rob Heffernan, Enfield and Haringey)

Olympic Relays (18):

Eugene Amo-Dadzie (Steve Fudge, Woodford Green Essex Ladies)

Jeremiah Azu (Marco Airale, Cardiff)

Joe Brier (Matt Elias, Swansea) 

Lewis Davey (Trevor Painter, Newham and Essex Beagles) 

Charlie Dobson (Benke Blomkvist, Colchester)

Jona Efoloko (Clarence Callender, Sale Harriers Manchester)

Adam Gemili (Marco Airale, Blackheath and Bromley)

Alex Haydock-Wilson (Benke Blomkvist, Windsor Slough Eton and Hounslow)

Imani-Lara Lansiquot (Ryan Freckleton, Sutton & District)

Rio Mitcham (Leon Baptiste, Birchfield Harriers) 

Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake (Ryan Freckleton, Newham and Essex Beagles)

Laviai Nielsen (Tony Lester, Enfield and Haringey)

Victoria Ohuruogu (Newham and Essex Beagles)

Asha Philip (Amy Deem, Newham and Essex Beagles)

Ama Pipi (Linford Christie, Enfield and Haringey)

Bianca Williams (Linford Christie, Thames Valley) 

Jodie Williams (Stuart McMillan, Herts Phoenix)

Nicole Yeargin (Boogie Johnson, Pitreavie)

Olympic Confirmation Level (13):

Amber Anning (Chris Johnson, Brighton & Hove) 

Ellie Baker (Jon Bigg, Shaftesbury Barnet)

Alyson Bell (Anne Scott, Glasgow Jaguars) 

Max Burgin (Ian Burgin, Halifax Harriers)

Emile Cairess (Renato Canova, Leeds City) 

Lucy Hadaway (Matt Barton, City of York)

Samantha Harrison (Vince Wilson, Charnwood) 

Yemi Mary John (Alan James, Woodford Green Essex Ladies)

Charlotte Payne (Paul Dickenson, Reading)

Tade Ojora (Joanna Hayes, Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow)

Aleeya Sibbons (Coral Nourrice, Newham and Essex Beagles) 

Matthew Stonier (Chris and Sonia McGeorge, Invicta East Kent)

Joshua Zeller (Matt Kane, Bracknell AC) 

The small print!

*The Olympic WCP is UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded initiative supporting the delivery of success at named milestone targets, namely outdoor track World and European Championships, and the Olympic Games.

The WCP is split into several levels reflecting the actual and potential performance levels of athletes: Podium, Podium Potential, Relay, and Confirmation. Athletes are nominated for the WCP to further the aim of UK Athletics to win medals at the 2024 and/or 2028 Olympic Games. UKA are committed to the principle that winning will always be achieved with integrity and in line with UK Sport’s ambition of ‘Keep Winning and Win Well’.

Therefore, the UKA must be confident that any athlete nominated for the WCP has the realistic potential and demonstrable performance capability and capacity to make the necessary progress to achieve a medal at least in one of the next two Olympic Games.

As per previous years, the nomination for WCP membership is subject to UK Sport ratification and a signed athlete agreement between the athlete and UKA.