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≡ ATHLETE PAY ≡
In a 22 May interview with SportNationNZ’s Alex Chapman, International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry (ZIM) said:
“I don’t believe in paying athletes and I come from a small country. I came from a sport that doesn’t necessarily pay athletes very well and I still don’t believe we should be paying athletes at the Olympic Games.
“Now I do think we should find more ways to directly impact athletes and find ways to directly help them on their journey to become Olympians, while they’re Olympians and as they’re finding ways into their new career transition, because I think as the Olympic Movement, it’s not just about those athletes that are the best in the world, right?”
She added, referring to her own swimming career:
“I was an Olympic Solidarity scholarship holder; without that money, I’m not sure I would have been as successful. And I’m so grateful for that. And it’s because of that that I want to be able to have that solidarity model felt across the Movement.”
Thirty-three days later, the IOC Session approved a first:
“[E]very athlete at the Olympic Games will be eligible for a new USD 10,000 ‘Fit for the Future Olympian Grant.’ The grant has been set up to support the sporting career or the career transition of Olympians. A fund of USD 140 million per Olympiad has been set aside, as announced today by the Chair of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes’ Commission (AC), Pau Gasol, during the 146th IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland. The first athletes to benefit from this initiative will be the Olympians who competed at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.”
Coventry said in a follow-up post to her SportNationNZ interview that she was referring to prize money and not to money paid to athletes for development and training. The IOC paid 2,150 “Olympic Scholarship” holders some $17.6 million in 2024 alone.
Now, every Olympian can get $10,000, as part of Coventry’s “Fit for the Future” program:
“The Fit for the Future Olympian Grant complements the existing support programmes. About 14,000 Olympians per Olympiad are expected to be eligible for a grant of USD 10,000 for each edition of the Olympic Games in which they compete. The grant will be delivered through existing National Olympic Committee (NOC) structures.
“If an Olympian chooses not to apply for this grant, their allocation will remain in the fund to benefit future Olympians. The grant will not decrease or detract from already existing support provided by the IOC to the NOCs, International Sports Federations (IFs), Organising Committees for the Olympic Games (OCOGs) or Olympic Solidarity.”
Said Coventry in the IOC statement: “It has been a topic of conversation for many years, and I am extremely proud that we are now able to do this.”
(Yes, The Sports Examiner called for it in July 2025, but for $10,000 for every Olympian for the Olympic year and the three years following.)
IOC Athletes Commission Chair Gasol (ESP), clearly a rising star in the Olympic Movement, noted in the statement:
“This grant will be available to every Olympian. Not just medal winners. Not just athletes from certain countries. Every Olympian. Because, while every athlete’s journey is different, every Olympian has made sacrifices to reach the Olympic stage. Years of dedication. Years of hard work. Years of believing in a dream.
“This is not prize money. This is about recognising the journey and the commitment it takes to become an Olympian. And it is about recognising that every Olympian is part of our Olympic community, and honouring those who have come before us and paved the way, so that current and future generations of Olympians can benefit.”
The first payments are expected to be sent in early 2027, for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
Observed: This is a monumental shift for the IOC, but completely in keeping with Coventry’s concern that the Olympic Movement has to remain relevant, and today, that means paying athletes.
The activists will moan that this is already insufficient and that unionization and collective bargaining are needed, ignoring the reality that the IOC spends 68% of its revenue just to put on the Olympic and Winter Games.
But this is an important step and there will be more money for athletes in the future. A day after the 132nd anniversary of the founding of the IOC, Coventry has – as she promised – taken the organization is a new direction.
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