Team GB won 65 Olympic and 120 Paralympic medals at London 2012 and has since been pushing the idea of becoming the first nation to claim more medals at the proceeding Games, which, in this case, will be at Rio 2016.

Success at recent global sporting events, including the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, has put the team on track to accomplish this feat, claims Timson.

He is confident the major investment pumped into elite sport in the UK, which is set at around £274 million ($462 million/€345 million) for Olympic sport and £71 million ($120 million/€89 million) for Paralympic sport, as well as the significantly recalibrated system in UK Sport's targets agenda, will help enable this historic aim to be met.

Timson explained that sports have been set tougher and more demanding targets since London 2012 in order to propel them forward and keep ahead of opposing nations at future Championships and Olympic and Paralympic Games.

In terms of Paralympic sport, "Project Para" will be at the heart of UK Sport's ambitions to seal more medals at Rio 2016, with a particular emphasis being placed on winning more gold medals than that at London 2012 - 34.

"Project Para" is a group made up of multidisciplinary experts from across high performance Paralympic sport in the UK, who work to create bespoke projects and drive partnerships to enhance and develop Paralympic high performance sport.

Through initiatives such as "ParaCoach2Rio", which seeks to ensure Paralympic coaches are best placed to support their athletes on the Road to Rio and beyond, UK Sport believes their target of 121 medals can be met at Rio 2016.

UK Sport director of performance, Simon Timson, has said Great Britain is on track to achieve more medals at Rio 2016 than it did at London 2012 ©Getty Images



"The next two years are crucial as we focus the energy and expertise in the high performance system on striving to achieve our historic goal in Rio," said Timson.

"It remains a considerable challenge but the world of high performance sport thrives on having ambitious and demanding goals and the evidence suggests the sports have the capability to do it with the continued support of all partners in the system.

"UK Sport is working more closely than ever with the National Governing Bodies, the British Olympic Association (BOA), British Paralympic Association (BPA) and home country institutes of sport to enable them to create the right environments and prepare their athletes for Rio so that Great Britain can make history at the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games."

UK Sport's review of its "Mission 2016" has revealed sports are more advanced in their progress towards Olympic and Paralympic success than they were at the same point ahead of London 2012.

The analysis suggests a record-breaking 34 sports are capable of winning a medal in Rio.

Rod Carr, chair of UK Sport, added that Great Britain's success at Glasgow 2014, where more than 300 funded athletes competed for the Home Nations, winning 63 per cent of the medals in both Olympic and Paralympic disciplines including 77 per cent of the gold medals, has also given a great indication of the level of world class sport in the UK.

"The wonderful Commonwealth Games have been another reminder of the strength of the high performance system in this country with so many athletes in the World Class Programme winning medals and providing truly inspirational moments," said Carr.

"We must not be complacent though as we have agreed a really challenging goal with sports and their athletes for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"The sustained level of National Lottery and Exchequer investment has been vital to building momentum from London 2012 and I remain confident we are on course to achieve what no other nation has done before and win more Olympic and Paralympic medals post hosting."

Through its Gold Event Series, a project of the London 2012 legacy which looks to attract major sporting events to the UK, UK Sport is targeting 18 major events to be hosted on home soil in order to aid Team GB athletes as they bid to qualify for Rio 2016.

According to Simon Morton, director of major events and international relations at UK Sport, hosting a World Championships can help the host nation achieve, on average, 25 per cent more medals.

With this in mind, hosting events during the qualification period for Rio 2016 could give Team GB athletes a better opportunity to qualify for the Games, bringing both more internal competition between athletes and a higher chance of winning medals while in Rio.

The British Olympic Association and British Paralympic Association will set up a camp in Belo Horizonte to help athletes in their final phase of preparations before Rio 2016 ©Getty Images



To ensure Britain's athletes have the best chance of winning medals in Rio, around £1.6 million ($2.7 million/€2 million) of National Lottery funding is being put forward to help the BOA and BPA develop a preparation base in Belo Horizonte ahead of the Rio Games.

This camp will be used to help athletes get used to the climate and culture of Brazil ahead of the Games, as well as for squad training sessions, warm-up matches between other National Olympic Committees and other final preparations before the Games get underway.

"The BOA's role is to prepare the way to Rio in a way which means Team GB athletes come into an environment where they can compete at their optimum level," said Mark England, Team GB Chef de Mission for Rio 2016.

"We are leaving no stone unturned to ensure our planning and preparation is detailed and of a world class standard.

"The preparation camp facilities in Belo Horizonte will allow our athletes to familiarise themselves with the region before they head into the Olympic environment and with the support of UK Sport and help of National Lottery funding, we are extremely happy to have secured a base in the city."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
July 2014: Exclusive: Lottery grant payments to governing bodies from UK Sport almost doubled in year to March
July 2014: Exclusive: UK Sport suffers £12.6 million decline in lottery income
April 2014: Exclusive: UK Sport say no to Rio 2016 rugby sevens funding