British Triathlon chief: Olympic medals must follow current success

By Gerard Meagher, Sportsbeat

BRITISH Triathlon performance director Heather Williams admits Olympic medals are the be-all and end-all - despite a recent surge in success in the UK.

STAR TURN: Alistair Brownlee is arguably Great Britain's best chance of a triathlon medal at the London 2012 Olympics (onEdition)

Great Britain can currently boast the men's world and European champion Alistair Brownlee, while his younger brother Jonathan scooped gold at the European Junior Championships last year.

Tim Don also secured the world title back in 2006 - when in its winner-takes-all on the day format - as did Helen Jenkins in 2008.

And 20-year-old Hollie Avil has also enjoyed success of late, collecting world and European junior titles in 2007, as well as romping to world under-23 gold last year.

But when it comes to the Olympics, Michelle Dillon's sixth-place finish at Athens 2004, and ninth for Simon Lessing at Sydney 2000, is the best Great Britain can shout about.

And Williams admits that British Triathlon, who are now seeing the fruits of their labour rewarded after UK Sport bumped up their funding to £5.39m in January 2009, must perform on the Olympic stage to make the most of their success story.

"We're now seeing the results of eight to ten years of work and with the help of funding we've been able to develop athletes right the way through," said Williams.

"All the athletes we've got at podium level at the moment have all come right the way through from being youngsters.

"The intention is to continue that with our substantial talent programme and keep developing triathletes at the highest level.

"But without a doubt, it is Olympic success that we will be judged on. Government funding or no government funding, that is our objective.

"We've been incredibly successful as a nation and have had numerous world champions at junior, under-23 and senior level but we all know that the icing on the cake is proving that we can do it on the day at the Olympics."