The British Olympic Association (BOA) and UK Sport – the bodies responsible for the funding and support of Olympic and Paralympic athletes – have warmly welcomed the Budget, which makes a further £200m available to support elite athletes ahead of the London Olympics in 2012.

Chancellor Gordon Brown announced that £200m of exchequer funding would be made available over the next seven years, to help Britain achieve its medal ambitions.

The news was well received by UK Sport, which revealed that it would, in the light of the funding – which is in addition to existing investment from the lottery – be moving forward with one of its preferred programmes, which allows comprehensive funding of all Olympic sports, except football and tennis.

Sue Campbell, chair of UK Sport, said: "This announcement is excellent news. It puts us well on the road to achieving our ultimate goals for 2012 and leaving a lasting legacy for performance sport in this country.

"We recognise the obligation we have to deliver against a transparent, responsible and performance driven process that can stand up to public scrutiny."

Chief executive of the BOA, Simon Clegg, said: "Speed of delivery and getting this new money to the coalface of sport is now the priority."

UK Sport has published 'The 100 Day Plan' – a delivery programme, which outlines how quickly National Governing Bodies can expect to benefit from the announcement.

Other monies for sport noted in the Budget included £2m over two years for funding an extension of the Sporting Champions scheme – a programme which brings world class athletes into schools to motivate young people. There will also be £6m for school sport festivals, and a further £7m in 2006-7 for the National Sports Foundation.