Over the next 18 months, Britain will play host to over 30 major sporting events, including the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Swimming World Championships in Glasgow in July and the International Cycling Union (UCI) Track Cycling World Championships at the Lee Valley Velo Park in London in March 2016.

Of the 30 events due to be staged in Britain, 95 qualification spots for Rio will be available and they will incorporate 13 World and European Championships.

The launch featured Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games boxing gold medallist Joe Joyce, gymnast Rebecca Tunney, world and European indoor sprinting champion Richard Kilty, London 2012 hockey bronze medallist Kate Richardson-Walsh, wheelchair rugby's Mandip Sehmi and sprinter Dina Asher-Smith, where they unveiled a "We Need You" slogan.

UK Sport are hoping the British public will come out in force, just as they did for London 2012, for all of the upcoming competitions that will be staged on their shores in order to help their athletes reach the Olympic and Paralympic Games next year.

UK Sport director of major events and international relations Simon Morton outlined the events due to be staged in Britain over the coming 18 months here today ©Getty Images



"The performance of our athletes in Rio is at the heart of our decision making and is one of the main aims of this campaign," UK Sport chairman Rod Carr said here.

"We saw the remarkable effect of home crowd support at both London 2012 and Glasgow 2014 and we genuinely believe that it could make the difference over the next 500 days as athletes strive to make it to Rio.

"Hosting all these events shows to the world that we are determined to build on the legacy of London and it is important for our athletes to have home advantage when they are trying to qualify for Rio as it is by no means a given."

UK Sport are putting a total of 900,000 tickets available as they aim to recreate the atmosphere of London 2012, where the hosts won 65 medals at the Olympics, including 29 gold, finishing behind both China and the United States on the overall medal table.

British Paralympians then managed a haul of 120 medals, which included 34 gold.

The UK's high-performance sports agency also say the campaign will help raise over £37 million ($55 million/€50.5 million) for host cities and regions.

British athletes Joe Joyce, Richard Kilty, Rebecca Tunney, Mandip Sehmi, Kate Richardson-Walsh and Dina Asher Smith were present for the launch ©Getty Images






"There's no better feeling than racing in front of a home crowd and hearing their cheers can really inspire you," European Indoor Athletics Championships silver medallist Asher-Smith added.

"I'm really excited to compete in the UK this year and hopefully use that support to give some strong performances and give myself the best possible chance to making it to Rio."

Fans that sign up to the #EveryRoadtoRio campaign will get the chance to win one of two "golden" family tickets which will give the winners entry to all 30 events over the coming year and a half, and anyone wishing to do so can click here.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
March 2015: UK Sport "no compromise" to be softened following public review