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Australian Olympic legend Dawn Fraser has commended the move to pay gold medallists at the Paris Olympics.
World Athletics (WA) will become the first international sports governing body to award prize money to Olympic gold medallists starting at Paris 2024, the federation said in a statement.
A prize pot of $2.4 million has been set aside by WA from the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) revenue share allocation it receives every four years to reward athletes.
Athletes who win gold in each of the 48 track and field events in Paris will receive $76, 788 ($US50,000). Relay teams will receive the same amount to share amongst the athletes.
”I think it’s about time,” Fraser told Nine’s Today. “The athletes deserve it, they put a lot of time into their training and I think it’s a wonderful idea that they’re doing this now.
”They’ve got a lot of money from holding the Olympic Games. It costs a lot of money, but it’s the athletes who perform.”
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Fraser said such an initiative can only help athletes realise their dream and give them an opportunity to focus solely on their quest for gold, which wasn’t the case.
Fraser, who won eight Olympic medals, including four gold and became the first woman to swim 100 metres freestyle in less than one minute in 1962, stated that without the help of wealthy donors, Australia’s swimmers would be detrimentally impacted.
”With the likes of Gina Rinehart who has been sponsoring the swimmers for 13-20 years,” she added.
“Without her money these kids wouldn’t have been able to compete the way they have, and they’ve proven that with the all the world records that have been broken recently.
“Our female swimmers are fantastic and the boys are coming up now because they’ve got more money and don’t have to spend time working three jobs like I did.”
Traditionally, Olympic medal winners don’t receive prize money as the event originated as an amateur competition.
WA says it is committed to extending the bonus initiative to Olympic silver and bronze medallists at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. The reward structure and format for those Games will be confirmed at a later stage.
“The introduction of prize money for Olympic gold medallists is a pivotal moment for World Athletics and the sport of athletics as a whole, underscoring our commitment to empowering the athletes and recognising the critical role they play in the success of any Olympic Games,” WA president Sebastian Coe said in a statement.
“While it is impossible to put a marketable value on winning an Olympic medal, or on the commitment and focus it takes to even represent your country at an Olympic Games, I think it is important we start somewhere and make sure some of the revenues generated by our athletes at the Olympic Games are directly returned to those who make the Games the global spectacle that it is.”
Coe later told reporters that he disagreed that this financial incentive would promote cheating, instead stressing the importance of highlighting the abilities of the world’s best athletes.
“It reflects World Athletics’ view that the athletes – our athletes make up 20 per cent in numbers at an Olympic Games – should be recognised,” he said.
“I recognise that many Olympic champions will be in receipt of monies, financial support, from a range of organisations, whether it’s governments, whether it’s the National Olympic Committee, whether it’s commercial partners, this isn’t in any way to overshadow the Olympic Games, it is just World Athletics, one federation, and I’m only responsible for that.”
The Olympic Games officially get underway in Paris on July 27 and run until August 12.
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