While Sotherton and Lewis-Francis - respectively heptathlon bronze medallist and sprint relay gold medallist at the 2004 Athens Olympics - dropped from the podium to the development level of UK Sport's World Class Performance Programme, Porter, whose selection for the British athletics team this season, along with other new arrivals from overseas, excited media criticism, is among those elevated to top level support by UK Athletics for 2011-2012.

The blow was, however, softened for Lewis-Francis, the European and Commonwealth silver medallist, by his inclusion in podium level support as part of the relay squad.

Porter, who has an English mother, finished fourth in the year's IAAF World Championship 100 metre hurdles in Daegu.

She is now classed among those with "realistic medal-winning capabilities" at Olympic and Paralympic level.


Also promoted to the top rank are triple jumper Yamilé Aldama, who formerly competed for Cuba and Sudan before finishing fifth in a British vest at the Daegu World Championships, and 400m hurdler Jack Green (pictured), who joins his namesake and training partner Dai Greene, the world champion in that event.

Green's fellow 400m hurdler Nathan Woodward has also been promoted from the development level, along with pole vaulter Holly Bleasdale, who set a British record of 4.70m this year, and 800m runner Emma Jackson.

Sotherton, 34, who has switched her energies to 400m running and won a bronze for Britain as part of the 4x400 relay team at the European Indoor Championships in March, responded defiantly to the news, tweeting: "Nothing changes! Goals are still the same! I'm the master of my own destiny!"

Charles van Commenee, UK Athletics' head coach, said: "We operate in a results driven business in which clear decisions have to be made if athletes are not performing to the high standards we set.

"We have reviewed performances from 2011 including those from previous years and identified what needs to be done in order to meet our targets for 2012.

"Progress was made in 2011 but there is still work to be done before next August to make our athletes perform better.

"A target of eight medals including one gold still remains."

The expectations of gold are likely to reside in the cluster of current and former world champions who maintain their podium funding status alongside Greene in the crucial period before the London Olympics - Mo Farah, Phillips Idowu and Jessica Ennis.


World 1500m silver medallist Hannah England (pictured) and world 110m hurdles bronze medallist Andy Turner are also retained at the top level.

"The athletes selected onto the programme will deservedly be given support from UKA and the National Lottery and these people will perform to the highest possible standard for the Aviva Great Britain and Northern Ireland team on the international stage," van Commenee added.

"The funding made available to UKA from the National Lottery enables our athletes to work with the best coaches and other support staff to ensure they got the best possible preparation for when they pull on a Great Britain vest."

Despite his failure to qualify for this summer's World Championships, the European under-23 discus gold medallist Lawrence Okoye has been included in the development squad for the first time along with many improving performers including James Shane, who won a silver medal in the 1500m at this year's European Under-23 Championships in Ostrava. 

Three-time IPC World Champion David Weir - reigning Paralympic champion over 800m and 1500m - is among 25 Paralympic athletes named at podium level.

He is joined by Scott Moorhouse, who moves up from development level after finishing fourth in the IPC World Championships, courtesy of a lifetime best performance of 47.33m in the F42 javelin.

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