Funding confirmed for 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games

More than $20 million is being invested over the next four years to prepare athletes for the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Milan.

The increased investment comes on the back of a hugely successful Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games campaign for New Zealand this year.

It will see an average annual increase of $1.6 million in funds to Snow Sports New Zealand, as well as an increase of $66,000 for Ice Speed Skating New Zealand, in addition to new funding for Biathlon New Zealand and the New Zealand Olympic Luge Association.

The two new sports have been added as part of a strategy to support performances that inspire New Zealanders across a more diverse range of sports.

A total of $14.3 million of funding will go into the National Sporting Organisations to support their Winter Olympic and Paralympic campaigns as well as athlete and coach development.

Direct financial support of $3 million will be provided for athletes through the Tailored Athlete Pathway Support programme, with a further $3 million being provided for High Performance Sport New Zealand Performance Support services, such as medical, performance nutrition and performance and technique analysis.         

An additional $390,000 of funding will go towards supporting the new Snow Sports dry slope training facility at Cardrona.

“New Zealand’s unprecedented success at the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic Games earlier this year reflects the raft of young talent emerging across winter sports,” Grant Robertson said.

“This investment will support the winter sports’ high-performance campaigns, build on the development of athlete and coach pathways and wellbeing initiatives and help provide facilities for our top winter sports athletes and para-athletes to compete consistently at the highest level.”