Britain’s Jenny Meadows has been promoted to the top tier of the lottery funding programme following
her 800m bronze at the World Championships.

Heptathlete Jessica Ennis, triple jumper Phillips Idowu and Paralympian David Weir also make the list of 67 on the programme for the 2009/2010 season.
Meadows, 28, moves up from Development status with her award increased from around £8,000 to a maximum of £26,142.
There are no places for sprinters Mark Lewis-Francis and Christian Malcolm.
Coming on the back of UK Athletics chief executive Niels de Vos setting a target of 10 medals for GB to win at London 2012, the national governing body revealed the latest winners of their investment plans.
The programme, which runs annually from December to November, is split into two levels of funding – Podium and Development – each with strict criteria and standards which must be met in selection and maintained with the support of UKA staff.
Since a disappointing haul of four medals at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Britain’s athletes overall have performed impressively over the last 12 months with six medals at the Worlds in Berlin this summer.

Jenny Meadows

The Podium level of funding is split into three categories, including those who have medalled or had a top-eight finish at Olympic or World Championship level or are likely to be major championship performers, and also covers Podium relay teams.
World heptathlon champion Ennis and World triple jump gold medallist Idowu are at the top level, along with Meadows, 1500m silver winner Lisa Dobriskey and the men’s 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams.

Wheelchair racer David Weir, winner of five medals at the 2008 Paralympics and is currently ranked number one in the world, also makes the list of top recipients.

It is fine reward for Meadows, who, two weeks after winning her 800m bronze at the Worlds in August, revealed how she and her husband coach Trevor Painter had struggled for two years on a single wage.
The Wigan runner added last month: “Lottery funding would allow me to stop the stress of how we are going to afford this and it will allow me to go away for a little bit longer to train. I am always having to hurry up because Trevor has a full-time job.”
With only 33 athletes receiving funding from the lottery programme last year, UKA head coach Charles van Commenee said the “dramatic” rise in podium athletes was “a direct result of their performances over the last 18 months, which clearly demonstrates increased levels of world class performance”.
Andy Turner, 110m hurdler, returns to the top level of funding, while sprint hurdler William Sharman (fourth in Berlin) and Swansea’s David Greene (400m hurdles World finalist) were promoted.
Turner, who won Commonwealth and European bronze medals in the 110m hurdles in 2006, was removed from the funding list a year ago and said at the time he had been harshly treated and challenged the decision.
However, the delighted 29-year-old said after the latest announcement: “Last year was a difficult time for me, but it was the wake-up call I needed.
“I definitely over-competed last year and that experience and the impact it had injury-wise made me realise just what a blessing lottery funding is by allowing us to peak for the big events and perform where it counts.
“I am looking forward to embarking on a winter of tough training and repaying the faith shown in my ability in 2010.”

Other athletes were not so fortunate.
The 27-year-old Lewis-Francis, part of GB’s gold-medal winning 4x100m relay team in Athens in 2004, is missing from the list, as is Welsh sprinter Malcolm, fifth in the Olympic 200m final in 2000 and 2008.
There are 65 athletes on the Development level list, which includes promising middle distance running talents James Brewer, Hannah England and Stephanie Twell.

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/8328123.stm