Gymnast Tweddle says National Lottery funding spurred Team GB athletes' success

London, Aug 7(ANI): British gymnast Beth Tweddle, who won a bronze medal in the uneven bars final on Monday at the London Olympics, has claimed the National Lottery funding for athletes has helped poor players and their coaches perform better on the international stage.

Tweddle, who won Britain's first ever Olympic medal in individual women's gymnastics, said the funding had made a "massive" difference.

"Every athlete doesn't have to get a job and train at the same time," The Telegraph quoted Tweddle, as saying.

"Our coaches are able to coach full time. So my coach, Amanda - she's in the gym with me 24/7. She's not having to worry 'I've got to go elsewhere before I can coach Beth'," she added.

Sir John Major's government launched the scheme in 1994, and the Lottery has funded both grassroots and elite sport to the tune of more than 4.4 billion pounds since then.

It poured 2.2 billion pounds into facilities to host the Olympics in London, and organisers also received a grant of 66 million pounds from Lottery funds for the Paralympic Games.

This represents just under a third of the budget for the Paralympics. Almost 90% of the 542 Team GB athletes competing this year have benefited from Lottery support.

The result has been a major improvement in Britain's Olympic performance. At the Atlanta Games in 1996, the country took home only one gold and finished 36th in the medal table.

It has already won 18 gold medals in the current Games and is sitting in third place in the table. (ANI)