The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has once again spoken out against offering a prize money at Olympic Games, saying it would favour a small number of elite athletes to the detriment to others. The matter was discussed during the executive board meeting on Tuesday and the IOC concluded that a prize money would only benefit athletes that are already well-funded by their own national Olympic committees. “The biggest argument is one of fairness,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams. “(At Paris 2024) If all the medallists, athletes and teams from all the sports were rewarded, it’d be about 1,000 athletes and teams who would benefit. They mostly come from what you might call the well funded and privileged National Olympic Committees. 65% of the individual medallists and teams winning medals are from 15 NOCs who were on top of the medal tally.” Adams added that offering a prize money “would only increase the existing inequalities even further... it was felt by the executive board that this goes against against the mission of the International Olympic Committee, and it could very easily downgrade the Olympic Games to an elitist event.” The debate intensified after World Athletics president Sebastian Coe announced a prize money of $50,000 for each track and field winner at the Paris Games. Coe is bidding to become the next IOC president a position held by Thomas Bach for the last 10 years. (DPA)
