The Brit’s proposal to reward Olympic gold medals in athletics with prize money will widen the gap between rich and poor in competitive sports.
Sebastian Coe is President of World Athletics – but has his eyes on the position of President of the International Olympic Committee.
Alex Pantling / Getty
$50,000 for a gold medal. This definitely puts an end to the amateur idea of the Olympic Games. For almost a hundred years, no professionals were allowed to take part in this event; in 1972, ski star Karl Schranz was excluded from the Winter Games in Sapporo because he had worn a T-shirt with an advertising print on it at a football game for a good cause.
The International Olympic Committee (IOK) is now happy when stars from professional sports attract attention at the games. Roger Federer, Neymar and the basketball dream team with all NBA professionals delighted the fans with their performances. Officially they all competed for free, but their suppliers and advertising partners probably rewarded their successes with big bonuses.
Athletics is moving forward
But now the world athletics association is taking a decisive step further: at the games next summer in Paris, every Olympic champion will receive $50,000 in addition to the gold medal. A total of 2.4 million is financed through income from the IOK, according to a communiqué from World Athletics.
The president of the association is the Briton Sebastian Coe, a former Olympic champion himself and OC President of the London Games in 2012. His goal is to pay out bonuses for all medal winners in Los Angeles in four years. In 2015, World Athletics committed to channeling all the money the association receives from the IOK directly back into sport.
There have been prizes at the World Athletics Championships for more than thirty years. Originally, the managers of top athletes like Carl Lewis, who were still very influential at the time, put the association under pressure and even threatened a boycott of the World Cup. In 1993 and 1995 each winner received a Mercedes, and from 1997 onwards money was distributed.
The bonuses are now no longer limited to medal winners. But athletics doesn’t just excel when it comes to paying athletes for their work. Today, World Athletics also stands for integrity and a clear line. This positioning was also sorely needed because Coe’s predecessor Lamine Diack had established a corrupt system in which, among other things, athletes could make positive doping samples disappear for money.
When the systematic fraud in Russia was exposed, the world association acted quickly and consistently. The Russian association was suspended and given clear instructions on what it had to do to prove that there was no longer any institutionalized doping. Individual athletes were allowed to compete under a neutral flag if they underwent a rigorous control system. The reintegration process was halted when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Coe remains true to this line to this day. Although the IOC has decided to let Russians and Belarusians compete under the Olympic flag in Paris, they will not be allowed to compete in athletics.
Sebastian Coe wins gold in the 1500 m at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
DieterFINDER / AP
Is a two-class society emerging?
The Olympic Games are one of the main sources of income for the national Olympic committees, but also for the sports associations involved in the program. After the last Summer Games in Tokyo in 2021, 540 million each went to these stakeholders. At the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang there were 215 million. At the Summer Games, athletics, as a core Olympic sport, benefits the most. In Tokyo she received $40 million from this pot.
That’s why Coe’s initiative is already attracting criticism. His compatriot Steve Redgrave, who won five consecutive Olympic gold medals for Great Britain in rowing between 1984 and 2000, said in an interview with the British Daily Mail: “The whole thing has a bitter taste for all those sports like rowing, which are “We cannot afford such generous prize money.”
The money from the IOK is actually there to support the grassroots. Successes are already being rewarded by the national Olympic committees with gifts and bonuses, which vary greatly depending on the country, the importance of sport within it and the financial possibilities. Swiss Olympic recently paid out 40,000 francs for a gold medal. Olympic gold was only in Germany, which was more successful in terms of sport
Worth 20,000 euros. Russia, on the other hand, rewards its Olympic champions with $100,000.
Sebastian Coe presenting the medals to the British 4×100 meter relay team at the 2022 World Championships in Oregon.
Jean-Christophe Bott / EPA
Athletes could benefit twice in the future
If other associations follow the example of the track and field athletes, medal winners would be rewarded twice in the future. From their nations and the international associations. The money would then be missing from promoting young talent. When asked, Swiss Olympic said it would stick to previous practice at least in Paris 2024. “From Swiss Olympic’s point of view, the medal winners receive the reward they deserve for outstanding achievements.”
There is also the indirect funding model, which has proven itself. “A large part of Swiss Olympic’s income flows through the member associations to promote sport in Switzerland, from which all athletes benefit throughout their entire career path.” There are also targeted support contributions from the Swiss Sports Aid Foundation, which is also financially supported by Swiss Olympic.
Sebastian Coe’s proposal is likely to cause further discussion. It should also be seen in the context of his ambition to one day inherit IOK President Thomas Bach. As in any election campaign, money is a very effective tool.
Sebastian Coe in 1981 during his world record run over 800 meters.
2024-04-12 20:11:46
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