English Institute of Sport celebrates the start of a new era as the UK Sports Institute

Today the English Institute of Sport unveils its new identity as the UK Sports Institute in a strategic move that will better represent the organisation’s role in the UK high-performance system.

As the largest single provider of world-class sports science, medicine, technology, and engineering services to Olympic and Paralympic sports in the United Kingdom, the UK Sports Institute provides outstanding support that enables sports and athletes to excel and has played a crucial role in contributing to the success of thousands of athletes from Great Britain and Northern Ireland since its inception in 2002.

Over the last five Olympic and Paralympic cycles, the UK Sports Institute has evolved into an organisation that consistently performs at the highest level, providing support to athletes on World Class Programme from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, as well as England. The UK Sports Institute is a much clearer and more accurate depiction of everything the organisation has and continues to deliver.

While there will be no change to the services that the UK Sports Institute offers, a new logo featuring a red, white, and blue colour palette has been developed to create better alignment with key stakeholders in the high-performance system, including Team GB, ParalympicsGB and UK Sport. The UK Sports Institute “Ribbon” symbolises the vital support that the Institute provides in enabling Olympic and Paralympic athletes from all corners of the home nations to achieve outstanding success.

UK Sports Institute CEO, Matt Archibald is excited about the future for the organisation, saying: “Today is an historic day for our organisation as we become the UK Sports Institute. We are incredibly proud of everything we have achieved since the English Institute of Sport was launched in 2002. With a proven track record, we have earned the right to be considered alongside the likes of UK Sport, Team GB and ParalympicsGB, through a name that more accurately reflects who we are and what we do.

“We work with athletes that come from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and the programmes we work with are typically British, so we believe that this subtle but powerful change will enable athletes to better understand our role in the high-performance sector and the services that we provide as the UK Sports Institute.

“I’d to thank the other Home Countries Sports Institutes for their support throughout this process, as well as UK Sport, our Board and everyone who has played a role in making this long-term vision become a reality.”

UK Sport CEO, Sally Munday, said: “We are excited about this move from the English Institute of Sport as they start a new chapter today as the UK Sports Institute.

“The EIS make up a significant amount of the team behind the team for our Olympic and Paralympic sports and have made a massive contribution to our nation’s success over the last two decades. I have been reflecting on how much the organisation has evolved over the last 20 years. From providing world-leading support to our sports and athletes from all four corners of the United Kingdom, to becoming a connector and knowledge centre for our community, renaming as the UK Sports Institute is absolutely the right and obvious decision and we look forward to seeing what the next 20 years has in store.”

Paracanoe Paralympic champion, Charlotte Henshaw MBE, said: “I think the UK Sports Institute has been a game-changer for British sport and I think it’s always been the jewel in our crown that perhaps not everybody knows about. As athletes, we are the ones who hopefully get to stand on the podium at the end of the day, but there are so many people behind us that are working with us here every single day to make that sole focus happen – we wouldn’t be where we are without the support of the Institute.”

British Swimming Performance Director, Chris Spice, added: “British Swimming have worked with this organisation for a number of successful years, and their bespoke support and expertise in several key areas – including strength and conditioning, performance lifestyle, physiotherapy and innovation – have helped athletes across our disciplines thrive in the Olympic, Paralympic and World Championship arena, as well as within their own training environments.

“As the English Institute of Sport becomes the UK Sports Institute, we know their practitioners will continue to play an important role for our athletes and our World Class Programmes as a whole, and we look forward to continuing to work with them moving forward.”

The Home Countries Sports Institutes (SportScotland, Sport Wales and Sport Northern Ireland) have been supportive of this strategic move and will continue to operate as normal. All four organisations remain committed to working collaboratively on the shared goal of delivering world-class support to Olympic and Paralympic athletes in the United Kingdom.