A government spending watchdog has said that UK Sport will face a series of tough decisions on funding for athletes before the 2008 Olympics in order to field the best possible team.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has published its findings into UK Sport’s World Class Performance Programme (WCPP) – the National Lottery-backed funding system for Olympic athletes.

The report examined Britain’s performance at the 2004 Athens Olympics and Paralympics. It said tough decisions would have to made on funding for sports that didn’t win any medals, to ensure sports with a record of success received more money.

In response, UK Sport said that funding would be targeted at those with a “realistic” chance of triumphing at the 2008 Olympics.

Responding to the report, chief executive of the British Olympic Association, Simon Clegg, said: “The report makes interesting reading. The difference, however, between success and failure in the Olympic environment is measured by thousands of a second.”

Between 2001 and 2005, the WCPP provided £83.5m of funding while Team GB’s 2004 Olympic performance was the most successful in 20 years – winning a total of 30 medals.