Happy Birthday to the National Lottery - 15 today

HAPPY 15th birthday to the National Lottery - the life-blood of British Olympic sport.

HELPING HAND: Olympic swimmer Mark Foster has seen his career benefit greatly from Lottery funding (Getty Images)

The first National Lottery draw was held on November 19, 1994 and sports funding - through UK Sport's World Class Performance Programme - was introduced three years later. 

£58.9m was dished out for the Sydney Olympiad and £70m for Athens. And more than £235m helped Team GB to a fourth-place finish in Beijing - with £550m pledged for the run-up to London.

And pounds mean prizes - British athletes have delivered 437 Olympic and Paralympic medals from more than £3bn of lottery cash.

It is a pot which has undoubtedly revolutionised the face of British sport. While Sir Matthew Pinsent and Sir Steve Redgrave returned from Atlanta 1996 with Great Britain's sole gold medal, British athletes topped the podium 19 times in Beijing.

And beneath the surface, governing bodies have transformed from part-time organisations to Formula One-style operations and athletes from hopefuls to favourites.

Rowing and cycling have been the biggest benefactors and scooped the largest hand-outs for the London Olympiad in January at £27.47m and £26.92m apiece - although swimming, athletics and sailing were not far behind.

Funding is awarded on merit - or a sport's ability to deliver medals.

Cycling smashed their six-medal target by bringing 14 medals home from Beijing, while rowing added two to their target of four.

They are figures of mind-boggling success when you consider Great Britain's past glories. Before Lottery funding, British Cycling picked up just one Olympic gold medal in the 76 years previous, while 22 medals - including 11 golds - have been delivered since.

And the rewards for success are there to be seen. But is it too good to be true?

Eight sports - shooting, archery, equestrian, diving, judo, triathlon, badminton and athletics - missed their medal targets in the Far East. Tough targets, maybe, but lottery funding has its critics - that it rewards mediocrity.

"They shouldn't just see the lottery as, 'Okay, I'm guaranteed x-amount of money now for the next three or four years'," said Darren Campbell in 2003, three years after winning 200m silver and 12 months prior to claiming 4x100m gold.

And, as ever, there's a loser - or eight in the case of London 2012.

UK Sport's initial target of £600m for the next three years fell £50m short after private investment - to supplement Lottery funding - was not forthcoming.

Handball, table tennis, water polo, volleyball, weightlifting, fencing, wrestling and shooting were forced to share less than £10m between them - just over a third of rowing's table-topping budget.

For those that lost out it's about survival.

Table tennis have decided to take their £1.21m budget - a 52 per cent cut - over two years, not four. If the results are not delivered, they're out of cash.

While water polo - handed just £1.4m - look unlikely to fulfil its hosts' invite and the men's team - four-time Olympic champions in the early 20th Century - may miss the opportunity to compete in home water.

Of course, we want medals - in fact, we demand them - and lottery cash will ensure they are delivered by the big hitters.

But London 2012 presents an opportunity to develop those that fall off the radar. If a home Games cannot spur an ailing sports fortunes, what can? 

But they need cash and it's a vicious circle. Medals equal cash, cash equals medals.

The launch of Team 2012 - in partnership with Visa - in September will go some way to plugging the gap, but will by no means fill it and, for some, it is sure to be an opportunity missed.