The British Olympic Association (BOA) and UK Athletics (UKA) are at the heart of an increasingly heated debate over the performance targets set for the London Olympics.

At the publication of the BOA's 'relative Olympic medal table' yesterday (20 February) – which is based on performances by established athletes in their respective sports' major championships – Britain came seventh overall. The target for London 2012 is fourth.

BOA officials remain confident that this is still achievable, despite recently aired comments to the contrary from new UKA chair, Edmond Warner.

Warner said two weeks ago that he was weary of being committed to delivering a certain number of medals at London, commenting: "This aspiration is very dangerous if it becomes a central target. I'd love it to happen but it is an awful long way from where we are now."

At the launch of the table, BOA chief executive Simon Clegg singled out athletics, which had fallen to 34th in the world rankings: "We were able to secure seventh place despite what one might describe as a modest contribution from athletics," he said.

"While we are not showing yellow cards to anyone, it goes without saying we'd like to see swimming [which was ranked 19th] and athletics contribute at a higher level than they are at the moment," he added.

Cycling, one of the most consistent performance sports in recent years, dropped to 12th, from 1st.

The BOA says that it is encouraged by the fact that Britain now has nine world champions across seven summer Olympic sports, and 13 sports, rather than nine in 2005, contributed to the table.

Photograph: BOA chief executive Simon Clegg has called on sports to improve their contribution