Chemmy Alcott's Olympic skiing dream under threat

With just six months to go before the Games get under way in Vancouver, Alcott has reacted to claims that the governing body for skiing and snowboarding in this country, SnowsportGB, is £300,000 in debt.

The likes of Alcott and team-mate Ed Drake have had to use their own money in order to attend summer training programs in New Zealand and Chile.

"I've spent the last 12 years of my life preparing for the 2010 Winter Olympics," Alcott said. "This is the most important season of my career. I'm at the prime age and I don't need these kind of distractions. It is the worst timing ever and isn't going to help my Olympic preparation.

"It has come out of the blue and I should not be stressing about funding.

"The training programme cannot be compromised if I want to be in the best shape possible. Skiing is a sport decided by hundredths of a second so I need to be as competitive as possible.

"Everyone who knows me, knows I'm not a whinger but it's hard to be positive when you're desperate and we are really desperate."

It has also emerged that Mark Tilston, the British ski team's head coach and colleagues have been on half-pay since problems first began in April.

Tilston, a former competitor himself, said he had felt obliged to continue training the British team with the Olympics just around the corner.

"We, as coaches, felt that we should not go on any training camps until our backdated salaries and expenses were paid in full," he said.

"However, as we are fully committed to our athletes, and refuse to see them disadvantaged any further, we have ended up attending training camps, effectively working unpaid, though this situation is obviously not sustainable."

SnowsportGB's acting chief executive, Robin Kellen, however, has denied there being any threat of bankruptcy.

Announcing SnowsportGB had secured a finance restructuring plan to ensure security for at least the next 12 months, Kellen did express his disappointment and sympathy for the athletes who have so far been affected.

"It would be silly of me to say it hadn't affected their Olympic programme because if we had endless supplies of money then we would have started their programmes earlier and we would be resourcing it better.

"Yes they have been affected and it is extremely disappointing but I suppose it is better to have done it early on than mid-season and it's back to business now. We are not going bankrupt. We have secured a financial restructuring where we have had support from a number of individuals and UK sports agencies who are backing the organisation."