Paralympics the hidden victors in funding budget

Liam Malone (NZ) 200m T44 - GOLD MEDAL Olympic Stadium / Day 5 Athletics 2016 Paralympic Games - RIO Brazil Australian Paralympic Committee Rio Brazil Monday 12 September 2016 Pho

The gold medallists in next year's High Performance Sport New Zealand funding budget investment might surprise you.

Much has been made of athletics, yachting, canoe sprint and slalom benefiting from the re-jig, but Paralympics New Zealand were the biggest movers, albeit incognito.

On the face of it they received an increase of $245,000 to go to $2.4 million per annum on the official release last Thursday. That ranked them fifth, with their share of the overall $34.965m taxpayer spend increasing from 6.2 per cent to 6.9 per cent.

Further scrutiny shows PNZ's high performance arm will actually get an extra $550,000 every year - $1.7m to $2.25m. The remaining $150,000 per annum is an annual contribution towards projected Games operational costs from 2017 to 2020. That means PNZ gets the biggest increase of any national sports organisation.

The boost came on the back of their 21 medal haul - nine gold, five silver and seven bronze - at the Rio Games. That is the second-most medals picked up by a Kiwi team after the 25 of 1984; nine golds equalled the best previous performance from 1996.

Perhaps most significant was New Zealand's rise to 13th on the medal table, beating their 16th in 2004. Twenty-nine of PNZ's 31 athletes made the top eight in at least one event.
Sophie Pascoe led the way with three gold and two silver medals in the pool. The 23-year-old overtook Eve Rimmer as the country's most decorated Paralympian, but arguably it was the diversity of other athletes which enabled the campaign to reach a critical mass.

Fellow swimmers Cameron Leslie, Mary Fisher and Nikita Howarth, long jumper Anna Grimaldi and sprinter Liam Malone also took home golds.

Engagement numbers were further evidence the maturing movement captured the nation's consciousness. A total of 2.2 million watched the one-hour highlight packages on TV One and there was a 33 per cent growth in followers on the Paralympics New Zealand Facebook page after the opening ceremony on September 8 (NZT).

"If the public had the chance to witness and experience the Games, we felt they'd be inspired and excited," PNZ chief executive Fiona Allan said.

"The performance of the athletes was critical and we were thrilled to be first in the world, per capita.

"There were so many great stories about overcoming adversity and achieving. Hopefully those will help build a talent base for the future, but we're aware we need to increase community participation to do that."

Allan said the extra funding will be invested primarily to retain and support those wishing to continue to Tokyo, targeting individuals and sports that can deliver between 10-14 gold medals.

"We will reduce that to a two-medal band two years out. This funding is a potential game-changer."

There was also an 'economies of scale' element involved to stretch the funding further.

"We've got to be innovative. Our success will depend on how we keep collaborating with the likes of Cycling New Zealand at Cambridge or Swimming New Zealand at the Millennium Institute."

"The increased investment is a result of Paralympics New Zealand delivering a world-leading high performance programme," HPSNZ chief executive Alex Baumann said.

"The outstanding levels of interest that New Zealanders have shown in their achievements, has elevated para-sport to an incredible level."

New Zealand at the Rio Paralympics

- secured 21 medals - nine gold, five silver, seven bronze - three medals over target.
- earned $550,000 extra per annum in high performance funding, the most of any national sports organisation.
- finished 13th on the medal table, the country's best placing at a Games.
- 29 of the 31 representatives made the top eight in at least one event.
- set three world records and 11 Games records.