City firm to put £1m into fencing
CITY insurance firm Beazley has pledged £1m of funding for British fencing to boost hopes of Olympic gold at London 2012.
The five-year partnership comes at a crucial time for the sport following 59 per cent cuts in funding from UK Sport. The investment will be put towards GB teams, the British Fencing National Academy and increasing grassroots participation in the sport.
Richard Kruse, a leading member of the British fencing foil team, said: “Our target [for 2012] is one medal and if we don’t produce that then financially with UK Sport we would be in a lot of trouble so external sponsorship is a good thing.”