Athlete Personal Awards

Athletes under sponsorship from the National Lottery are entitled to apply for a personal award - the Athlete Personal Award (APA). This award serves as a means of helping to pay for athletes living and sporting costs.

Successful athletes are then compared to a number of criteria's - including the level at which an athlete is capable of performing - before receiving their award.

Podium athletes are then separated into three performance bands:

• Band A - Applies to athletes who have won medals at Olympic of World Championship level
• Band B - Athletes who finish in the top 8 at Olympic or World level competition
• Band C - Athletes who are likely to be major championship performers, but flexibility is given so that individual sports can set their own criteria. 

Depending on the band that athletes are placed into directly affects the amount of money they will receive as part of the reward.

• Band A athletes - £27,737
• Band B athletes - £20,804
• Band C athletes - £13,869

This system was first introduced in 1994 to allow a new stream of funding to support the UK's most talented athletes in their attempts to compete and win in the Olympics. 

The reward system begins on the 1st April and runs for four years following the Olympic cycle.