She is experiencing her second Olympic Games, but the format still does not please her. At least not the absence of bonuses for medalists. This Wednesday, Swedish biathlete Elvira Oeberg made a rant to her national media Expressen to criticize certain decisions of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). She criticizes him in particular for the ban on promoting his own sponsors and the absence of bonuses offered to athletes.
Silver medalist with the Swedish relay behind the French, the 26-year-old athlete will not receive a single cent from the IOC. The result of an old policy where the Games were reserved for amateurs and therefore did not offer bonuses. “It’s a mentality from another age,” said Oeberg. Today, we come here and we are exploited. This is unacceptable. Without us, the athletes, there would be no Olympic Games. And even though it’s my job, I don’t make any money from it. »
“Let the money go back to the athletes”
The Swede also doesn’t appreciate having to hide her personal sponsors during the competition. “I find that really unacceptable. We are going to the Olympic Games, but we do not even have the right to highlight our sponsors, she lamented. I’m going to the Olympics mainly to get people talking about me, but I risk withdrawing. I won’t make a penny unless I have a great deal with my sponsors. And there, only the medals count. »
His teammate Sebastian Samuelsson shared his opinion on the bonuses. “See the colossal industry that the Olympic Games represent! And the important partners they have! There is clearly room for that, he added. I would rather see the money go to the athletes than see the rich treating themselves to yet another fancy dinner or luxury hotel stay. »
The IOC responded to his harsh attacks, saying that the Olympics should be “synonymous with honor, community and representation of one’s country, and not financial reward.” “Our role is to reinvest Olympic revenues in the entire sports movement rather than paying individual athletes,” he said.
