British Cycling Annual Report - 2008

Published: Oct 2008

The 2008 British Cycling Annual Report has now been published. All gold members and other members who receive the organisations' quarterly magazine should receive their copy direct through the post. However, we always make this publication available as a download - see link below.

To give you just a taste of what's in this year's edition, this is the President's Foreword:

President's Foreword

2008 will go down in history as the year when the sport of cycling in Great Britain made a huge
breakthrough into the public consciousness, thanks to an astonishing range of successes across
the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the World Championships.

Right: Unsurprisingly, Chris Hoy makes the front cover of the report

Some 38 Gold Medals have been achieved, and my congratulations and thanks go out to all those who have worked so hard to achieve these successes - the riders, of course, but also the managers, the coaches, and all the back-up staff: everyone who has contributed to this truly unprecedented feat. Success has been achieved right across the disciplines, and perhaps most rewarding of all has been the tremendous progress shown by our younger riders, several producing world-beating performances well before we might have expected it. Clearly we have robust and effective structures and processes in place, backed up by the right people, and credit for that goes right through the sport from the grass roots to the heights of elite competition.

Our challenge now is to thrive and expand in this new era, making the most of the opportunities that are now being offered to us - whether it be the greater demands of the media and the world of corporate sponsorship, or the massively increased interest from young people and those who want to take up our sport for the health, fitness, environmental and financial benefits it can bring to them. Make no mistake, more people than ever before, in every walk of life, now know more about our sport and want to get involved. We must welcome them, encourage them and work with them to take our sport onwards and upwards.

Of course we know that there are still issues - we need more facilities for our sport, and we need to defend our right to use the public highway in safe conditions, for instance. But clearly 2008 has been a year in which we have turned a corner in the way in which Government, the media, and the Great British public perceive our sport. We have a great team of people - staff and volunteers throughout the country - working for our sport putting on some great events, coaching and developing youngsters and providing a strong base of clubs and regions. We have some great partners and supporters in national and local government, in the corporate sector, amongst our event promoters, and in the media. So I feel confident that we can rise to the challenge and, looking forward, that the future is even brighter.

For me, it's quite simply an honour and a privilege to be involved with our sport in this golden era.

Brian Cookson OBE | President

Download a copy of the Annual Report
2008 (4.0 mb pdf) British Cycling Annual Report 2008

 

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