Following its annual review of winter sports, UK Sport has confirmed funding for ice dance pair Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland through to the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games. The pair, who have already qualified for Sochi, are supported by funding secured through UK Sport’s Small Squad Investment Programme, which was accessed by Wharton Consulting on behalf of the National Ice Skating Association in June 2012. In order to secure funding, Wharton were required to show the pair’s trajectory towards the top of the sport by comparison with the world’s best; also how progress would be delivered and maintained in the face of competition. Currently ranked 11th in the world, Penny and Nick achieved their best results in both World and European Championships in 2013 and are on track to fulfil the route mapped out by Wharton towards the next Winter Olympic Games in 2018.
