Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
It’s not Olympic prize money officially — but a significant amount of cash is going directly to help athletes after they’ve competed in a Summer or Winter Games.
The International Olympic Committee pledged on Wednesday to pay up to $US140 million ($A203 million) to athletes through the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games by creating a fund for $US10,000 ($A14,500) grants for which they can apply 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 that will first be open to nearly 2900 athletes who competed at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Games.
They’ll include Australian Winter games stars like Cooper Woods, Josie Baff and Jakara Anthony, who struck gold in Milan-Cortina, but the money could be even more important for teammates who weren’t as successful.
Around 11,000 athletes due to compete in 2028 at Los Angeles also can apply for grants totaling about $US110 million ($A160 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 cash promise was the signature issue of an IOC meeting setting a future strategy under its president Kirsty Coventry exactly one year after she formally took office.
Gasol said the IOC had heard a consistent message during its strategy review: “Athletes want more direct support throughout their Olympic journey and beyond.”
The 42-year-old Coventry, a five-time Olympian and two-time swimming gold medallist for Zimbabwe, was elected as the youngest president, and most recent former athlete, in the IOC’s modern history.
Paying prize money to Olympic medallists had been 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 to the tune of $US50,000 ($A72,500).
“This is a historic moment for the movement and I’m absolutely delighted to be in the room when this has been announced,” Coe told his fellow IOC members, praising Coventry’s policy.
In Los Angeles, World Athletics is adding to its prize fund to pay silver and bronze medallists as well.
The IOC already funds a program 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, which also funds team costs, coaches and officials, is worth $US650 million ($A944 million) for the four-year Olympic cycle that includes Milan-Cortina.
