Great Britain only medal in boxing at the Olympic Games cost UK Sport over £12 million in funding, with cycling topping the list of the most expensive and successful sports.
Lewis Richardson was the only boxer of the six who competed in the Games to finish on the podium, winning a bronze medal in the men's welterweight. The future of boxing for the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028 is currently in jeopardy, as the sport is not on the schedule the ongoing dispute between the International Olympic Committee and the International Boxing Federation.
Team GB finished with 65 medals in Pariswell within their target of 50 to 70 medals, with each medal costing an average of £3,782,118, after UK Sport invested £245,837,685 during the Paris Olympic period, funded by government and National Lottery revenue.
Cycling was the sport that received the most investment, with £29.3 million. Britain won 11 medals, including gold for Tim Pidcock in the men’s cross-country and gold in the women’s track team sprint. That represents an investment of £2.7 million per medal.
Rowing (£23.8 million), sailing (£22.8 million) and athletics (£22.8 million) were the four most funded sports. Rowing won eight medals (three gold), while sailing won two medals (including gold for Ellie Aldridge) and athletics won ten medals, culminating in Keely Hodgkinson's 800m victory.
The results meant that Britain's two sailing medals each cost £11.4 million, compared with £2.98 million for rowing and £2.23 million for athletics. The third-highest-cost sport after boxing and sailing for per-medal costs was taekwondo, after Caden Cunningham's silver medal in the men's +80kg, which cost £8.3 million.
The sport with the highest investment that failed to produce a medal was hockey, with both Great Britain teams eliminated in the quarter-finals after the men lost on penalties to India and the women were eliminated by the eventual winners, the Netherlands. Judo (£6.4 million) and modern pentathlon (£5.7 million) were the next largest sports not to win a medal in Paris.
Tommy Fleetwood's silver medal came at no cost to UK Sport as golf does not receive any funding from the Olympic Games.