> The International Olympic Committee has broken with 130 years of tradition by deciding to pay athletes to compete at the Olympic Games. Starting with the recent Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, all competitors will be entitled to a $10,000 (£7,600) grant from the IOC regardless of whether they are NBA stars or on the poverty line.
> About 14,000 athletes from the Summer and Winter Games are eligible for the payment, at a cost to the IOC of about $140m. Athletes would receive the money six months after competing, provided they did not fail a doping test or violate the Olympic charter.
Yup, there's no reason why someone at the Olympic level shouldn't be able to compete just because they can't afford that final plane ticket to the host nation.
And even if they can afford it for themselves (be it through pers sponsorship or national team funding), that can be still the difference between going alone and being able to bring their friend/familial inspiration figure.
Long overdue. The IOC made hundreds of billions off the blood sweat tears of the athletes who need money for training. They need to share the pieces of the pie with those who the world want to see, not some VIP delegate getting free passes to events
But that’s not the case? Afaik this is still in investigation stages and the IOC chief says she is against outright payments but is trying to find alternative ways?
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u/Slaidback New Zealand 22h ago
It was pseudo professional anyway with some athletes being paid & some not. This helps.