New Zealand's historic run at the Beijing Winter Olympics has resulted in some extra gold for the nation's snow sports with the Government confirming a $20 million investment for the 2026 Games in Milan.
Minister for Sport and Recreation Grant Robertson announced on Thursday the increased funding was due to this year's successful campaign in Beijing which saw New Zealand net two gold medals as well as a silver thanks to the podium-topping efforts of snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and skier Nico Porteous.
"New Zealand’s unprecedented success at the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic Games earlier this year reflects the raft of young talent emerging across winter sports," Robertson said.
"This investment will support the winter sports’ high-performance campaigns, build on the development of athlete and coach pathways and wellbeing initiatives and help provide facilities for our top winter sports athletes and para-athletes to compete consistently at the highest level."
The financial injection over the next four years will see an average annual increase of $1.6 million in funds to Snow Sports New Zealand, as well as an increase of $66,000 for Ice Speed Skating New Zealand.
In addition, Robertson said new funding will be established for Biathlon New Zealand and the New Zealand Olympic Luge Association to help inspire Kiwis to take up a more diverse range of sports.
In total, $14.3 million of the funding will go into the numerous sporting organisations to support their Winter Olympic and Paralympic campaigns as well as athlete and coach development while the Tailored Athlete Pathway Programme and High Performance Sport New Zealand Performance Support services will receive $3 million each.
Robertson added an additional $390,000 will go towards Cardrona's new snow sports dry slope training facility.
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