British Cycling has been named Sports Governing Body of the Year at the 2013 Sport Industry Awards which took place last night in London.
(l to r): British Cycling Recreation & Partnerships Director Stewart Kellett, Multiple Paralympic Gold medallist Dame Sarah Storey and British Cycling President Brian Cookson.
The honour comes after the greatest year in the organisation’s history. Key achievements included:
· 16 gold medals at London 2012
· A first British winner of the Tour de France
· A million more people inspired to take up cycling
· 50% year on year membership growth
More recently, in March, British Cycling launched a strategy to get one million more women cycling by 2020.
Reacting to the news, British Cycling’s Chief Executive, Ian Drake, said:
“I’m absolutely delighted that British Cycling has been recognised as Sports Governing Body of the Year.
“Cycling is the sport that redefined our national sporting identity last year – we saw the first British winner of the Tour de France and took 16 gold medals home from London 2012. Adding this award to our roll call of successes is a phenomenal achievement and is testament to the hard work of everyone involved with British Cycling from staff, sponsors, members and riders. Most importantly though I’d like to thank the army of volunteers at both regional and club level without whom our sport simply could not function.
“The growth that we’ve enjoyed over the past four years has been amazing, and the past year is no exception. Membership, which will soon reach 75,000, is at an all time high, participation continues to rise across all facets of cycling, and we’ve taken important issues right to the heart of government, including championing road safety.
“We want to continue to build on the exceptional achievements of 2012 and are continuing to set ambitious targets for both participation and performance for Rio 2016 and beyond.”
British Cycling’s President, Brian Cookson, said:
“British Cycling’s success story, particularly over the last five years, has been monumental and this award is great recognition of that achievement. Not only do we have world-class riders across all disciplines of the sport, we’ve also got one million more people now riding regularly.
“The recognition brought by this award further boosts our growing reputation as a successful organisation that achieves ambitious goals. Plans are already afoot for further medal success on the Road to Rio in 2016 while we’re also confident of making improvements in participation of cycling through our support of the Get Britain Cycling report and our plans to get one million more women cycling by 2020.”
This unique achievement in sport - where British Cycling has delivered sustained success at elite level while also tackling participation and attracting more people into everyday cycling - is a feat that is rarely achieved.
There was further success for British Cycling as BSkyB won the award for best sponsorship of a sport team or individual for their support of the Great Britain Cycling Team.
