Kirsty Coventry, IOC President and a Zimbabwean former Olympian, was censured by fellow Olympians after comments opposing athlete prize money at the Olympic Games. She said she does not believe in paying athletes and explained that coming from a small country and a sport that does not pay well shaped her view. She noted the IOC does not provide athletes a stipend or salary for competing. Coventry said the IOC should find more ways to directly impact athletes and support them on their journey to becoming Olympians and while they are Olympians. She emphasized talent identification and inspiring athletes from smaller nations. Her remarks followed attention on the Enhanced Games, where top athletes reportedly earned large sums for gold medals.
"“I don't believe in paying athletes,” Coventry told New Zealand based outlet Sport Nation. “I come from a small country, I came from a sport that doesn't necessarily pay athletes very well and I still don't think we should be paying athletes at the Olympic Games.” The IOC does not pay athletes a stipend or salary for competing at the Olympic Games. Coventry emphasised in the same interview that the IOC needed to find more ways to directly impact athletes, and find ways to help them on their journey to becoming Olympians and while they're Olympians."
"Coventry underlined the need for talent identification, and finding means to inspire athletes from smaller nations to make it to the largest sporting event in the world. “That was very much my journey,” Coventry, 42, said. “I was an Olympic solidarity scholarship holder without that money. I'm not sure I would have been as successful, and so I'm so grateful for that.” She returned to the global spotlight after becoming the first woman, and first African chief of the IOC, in 2025."
"Under the current Olympic model, athletes are financed through national sporting federations, sponsorships, self-funding, or, in the case of Coventry, the Olympic Solidarity Scholarship. Coventry's remarks came just days after the ethically questionable Enhanced Games saw top athletes win $250,000 for every gold medal. The Enhanced Games allow elite sprinters, swimm"
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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