The 100-strong team returned home with13 gold medals from a competition that attracted 1,600 entries from 23 countries. It is hoped that many of the British team will form the basis of the squad for 2012.

 

"It was the most wonderful opportunity for young athletes across a range of ages to experience high-level competition against some of the world's leading nations on the other side of the world," said Clegg.

 

"It was a huge lifetime experience for them.

 

"The overall experience was first class and they all performed exceptionally well.

 

"One of the most encouraging things was that the team did well in sports like taekwondo and gymnastics where we need to perform above what we have in the past if we are to meet our aspiration of finishing fourth in the medals table in 2012."

 

Under the new cooperation agreement signed by the BOA and the Australian Olympic Committee, (AOC), Britain are set to compete in future events in 2009 and 2011.

 

To guarantee its future, AOC president John Coates announced the Festival would be granted a 25 per cent funding boost of £350,000.

 

"We want the standard to keep going up, we want international competition in every sport here, not just Australians," Coates told reporters at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.

 

"When we set it up (in 2001), I was thinking it was more an event for Australian kids, but the world has moved on.

 

"It's now critical that we attract good competition for each of these sports to differentiate this from just Australian championships or an interstate event."

 

Coates downplayed the prospect of the event becoming a free leg-up for rival nations, saying the Festival's benefit to local athletes would only increase with international competition.

 

"I don't think we should be worried that we're helping China or Great Britain, I think we've got to face them some time," he said. "We're actually really pleased that they, along with New Zealand, are at the core of this with us.

 

"We need to face the best."

 

Coates said the games not only served as a method of spotting potential talent, but as a way of bringing athletes into closer contact with the AOC at a younger age, better preparing them for the intensity of an Olympic Games or international event.

 

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