The International Olympic Committee (IOC) pledged on Wednesday to pay up to $140 million to athletes through the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games by creating a fund for $10,000 grants, which they can apply for after competing.
The IOC's cash commitment came after growing calls were strongly resisted in recent years to pay prize money at the Olympics, and signalled another policy shift under its president, Kirsty Coventry.
IOC member and former NBA star Pau Gasol announced the project, which will first be open to nearly 2,900 athletes who competed at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
About 11,000 athletes due to compete in 2028 in Los Angeles can also apply for grants totalling about $110 million after those Olympics, if they meet integrity criteria such as not testing positive for doping.
"This is a win for all of us," said Gasol, who represents athletes on the 15-member IOC executive board, adding that it was "not prize money". The money allocated by the IOC is not dependent on an athlete continuing their career.
The 42-year-old Coventry is a five-time Olympian and two-time swimming gold medallist for Zimbabwe. She was elected as the youngest president and the most recent former athlete in the IOC's modern history.
Paying prize money to Olympic medallists was a central policy for one of Coventry's election opponents, World Athletics leader Sebastian Coe, who oversaw rewarding track and field champions at the 2024 Paris Olympics with $50,000.
Coventry restated two weeks ago her long-held belief that the IOC should not use its Olympic revenues to pay prize money to an elite tier of medallists. She acknowledged that the backlash to her earlier comments was "a little frustrating" because the policy plan had still been confidential.
The IOC already funds a programme called "Olympic Solidarity" that directs grants worth thousands of dollars to athletes from less-wealthy countries preparing to qualify for and compete at a summer or winter games. The Solidarity budget is worth $650 million for the four-year Olympic cycle that includes Milan Cortina and Los Angeles.
Source: www.aljazeera.com