BSS announce new initiative to help fund future Olympians

The British Snowsports Fund will encourage customers to make a small donation to the cause when they book skiing holidays or buy snowsport equipment as, currently, only freestyle skiers and snowboarders are funded by UK Sport.

The hope is that the country can build on Team GB's Olympic success from Sochi 2014, where the team surpassed their three-medal target with one gold, one silver and two bronze medals – including Jenny Jones' bronze, the first Brit to win an Olympic medal on snow.

BSS chairman, Rory Tapner, told BBC Sport: "Our aim is for our snowsport Olympians to replicate the success of their summer compatriots."

Chief executive Dave Edwards added: "British ski holidaymakers already inadvertently fund Austrian and French racers through tourist taxes or ski schools.

"Britons book 1.2 million ski weeks per year, so if they each contributed £1 that would be transformational."

Sportsbeat 2016