Today, Wednesday, the International Olympic Committee announced an unprecedented measure for the benefit of athletes participating in the Olympic Games, which is to benefit them from direct financial grants.
The program was approved on the opening day of the annual session of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, where the committee also approved amendments to the Olympic Charter, as well as changes to the mechanism for evaluating cities nominated to host the Games.
Although the Olympic Games abandoned the amateurism requirement for participants years ago, the International Olympic Committee has until today remained reticent about providing direct financial incentives to athletes.
The committee stated on its website that “every athlete participating in the Olympic Games will be eligible to receive a new grant worth $10,000 within the (Olympian Ready for the Future) program.”
She added that the total value of the fund will reach 140 million US dollars during each Olympic cycle spanning four years.
The President of the International Olympic Committee, Kirsty Coventry, explained that the international sports body considered that the amount of $10,000 “represents an appropriate value in various parts of the world, and it can help the athlete launch a project or constitute a simple initial capital.”
For his part, Chairman of the Athletes Committee Pau Gasol said during a press conference on the sidelines of the committee’s meetings in Lausanne that all Olympic athletes will be eligible to receive this scholarship, regardless of their countries or final positions in the competitions.
The former Spanish basketball star explained that this step aims to “recognize the importance and value of the athlete being an Olympian, and his participation and representation of his sport and his country in the Games.”
Gasol stressed that this scholarship is not a financial award tied to results, adding that athletes participating in the Paralympics will not be included in it.
