What is the World Class Programme?
The WCP represents the pinnacle of the GB Snowsport performance programmes with the primary aim being to ensure medal success for Great Britain at the Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games. In line with UK Sport regulation membership to the WCP is for those athletes on a confirmed trajectory to be podium competitive at the Winter Olympic or Winter Paralympic Games. Unfortunately, the WCP is not accessible for athletes competing in Non-Olympic / Paralympic events. To ensure continued funding the WCP has annual performance targets agreed with UK Sport with our current medal target range for Beijing 2022 being 3-7 Olympic Medals and 7-11 Paralympic Medals. The WCP is currently limited to 27 Olympic and 16 Paralympic places on the WCP although this is reviewed annually and can be increased if new medal opportunities are identified. Athletes on the WCP receive Athlete Personal Award (APA) directly from UK Sport in line with their performance attainment to contribute towards their living and sporting costs.
The WCP is not discipline specific and currently services athletes from all 4 Olympic disciplines (Alpine / Nordic / Snowboard and Freestyle Ski) and 3 Paralympic disciplines (Para Alpine / Para Nordic and Para Snowboard) where agreed performance standards have been attained.
The WCP operates at two distinct levels:
- Podium – supporting athletes with realistic medal winning capabilities at the next Olympic/Paralympic Winter Games (i.e. a maximum of four years away from the podium)
- Podium Potential – these are athletes whose performances suggest that they have realistic medal winning capabilities at the subsequent Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (i.e. a maximum of eight years away from the podium)
The WCP offers a full package of athlete support to aid development and performance and includes, but is not limited to; access to world class coaching, access to world class training environments, sports science and medical support and performance lifestyle support.
