Despite the "inspire a generation" rhetoric used to justify the investment in the 2012 London Olympics, new official figures show that the number of 16- to 25-year-olds playing sport has "gone down since the Games," according to Owen Gibson of the London GUARDIAN. The latest Active People survey from Sport England "shows regular participation among 16 to 25-year-olds has declined by 53,000 over the past year to 3.74 million." However, there will be relief for the government and the London 2012 organizers that the figures "show a marginal increase in the number of people playing sport overall compared with those compiled just before the Games." Despite Andy Murray becoming the first British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years, "tennis also continued to struggle to arrest a decline in participation, putting future funding at risk." The Lawn Tennis Association was one of a handful of governing bodies put in "special measures" by Sport England last year and warned that "its funding would be cut if it did not improve its participation figures" (GUARDIAN, 12/12).
