Athletics and gymnastics are the sports which will be worst hit when UK Sport’s new funding programme come into force later this spring.

The organisation announced its four-year funding plan for the Beijing Olympics yesterday and said that the new formula to decide funding would be targeted towards those athletes with realistic prospects of winning a medal.

The move means that athletics and gymnastics, which performed poorly at the Athens Olympics will see their funding for the Beijing Games cycle slashed.

According to UK Sport, athletics funding will be cut from £8.3m to £7.2m, while gymnastics will see the amount of money it receives halved – from £3.6m to £1.8m.

The two sports had a combined target of 10 medals for the Athens games, but returned with only four – two of them secured by Kelly Holmes.

Overall, 16 sports will receive more money under the new formula, including badminton, cycling, rowing, sailing, swimming and archery. Judo and triathlon join athletics and gymnastics in the four-strong group of sports to see their funding cut.

Sue Campbell, UK Sport’s chair, said: “We have to sharpen our focus and invest in those sports and individuals who demonstrate that they have what it takes to deliver on the biggest stage.”

UK Sport announced its funding plans just days after a National Audit Office (NAO) report into Olympic funding recommended that financial help should “focus on athletes who have a genuine prospect of winning a medal.”

The NAO’s report was welcomed by UK Sport but drew criticism from Simon Clegg, chief executive of the British Olympic Association.

Clegg suggested that a more thorough forensic examination of UK Olympic athletes is needed to assess the true level of sporting success.

He said: “The difference between success and failure in the Olympic environment is measured by thousands of a second – 0.545 seconds was the collective difference between five Team GB golds and what would otherwise have been five British silver medals in Athens.

“Other performance indicators must be taken into account when setting the future funding strategy, including, critically, future potential, support mechanisms, including coaching, and results at world and European level.”