IOC creates $10,000 grant program for Olympic athletes
The IOC says athletes will be able to seek post-Games grants through a new program worth up to $140 million through Los Angeles 2028.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
The International Olympic Committee will offer $10,000 grants to athletes after they compete at the Olympics, a shift that puts direct cash support behind competitors without calling it prize money. The Associated Press reported that the IOC pledged up to $140 million for the program through the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games.
IOC member Pau Gasol, who chairs the athletes’ commission and sits on the IOC executive board, announced the plan Wednesday during an IOC session in Lausanne. He said the first eligible group will be nearly 2,900 athletes who took part in the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
About 11,000 athletes expected at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will also be able to apply after those Games, AP reported. The grants available after Los Angeles are expected to total about $110 million, with eligibility tied to integrity requirements, including avoiding a positive doping test.
Direct payments, but not prize money
Gasol described the plan as “a win for all of us” while stressing that it was “not prize money.” According to AP, the IOC money will not depend on whether an athlete keeps competing after receiving a grant.
The move follows years of pressure for the Olympic movement to share more money directly with athletes. It also marks a notable early policy step for IOC President Kirsty Coventry, who formally took office one year ago.
Gasol said athletes had sent a consistent message during the IOC’s strategy review: they wanted more direct support during their Olympic careers and after them. Coventry, 42, is a five-time Olympian and two-time swimming gold medallist for Zimbabwe, and AP reported that she is the youngest president and most recent former athlete to lead the IOC in its modern history.
Debate over Olympic payments
The question of Olympic prize money was a central issue in Coventry’s election race against World Athletics president Sebastian Coe. World Athletics paid $50,000 to track and field champions at the 2024 Paris Olympics and plans to extend its prize fund to silver and bronze medallists in Los Angeles, AP reported.
Coe praised Coventry’s new policy during the IOC meeting, calling it “a historic moment for the movement.” Coventry, however, has maintained that Olympic revenues should not be used to pay prize money to a small group of medallists.
Coventry said Wednesday that a recent backlash over her comments on prize money was “a little frustrating” because the grant plan had still been confidential. She said the policy was not created in the past few weeks.
How athletes will apply
Gasol said athletes will seek the grants through an IOC online platform that supports competitors during and after their careers. AP reported that approved funds are expected to go to national Olympic committees, which would then have to show the money reached the athletes directly.
Wealthy Olympians, including some athletes in basketball, football and ice hockey, will remain eligible, Gasol said. “They will decide if they want to apply,” he told reporters.
The IOC already runs Olympic Solidarity, a program that provides grants to athletes from less-wealthy countries as they prepare for the Games. AP reported that the program’s budget, which also covers team costs, coaches and officials, is $650 million for the Olympic cycle that includes Milan Cortina and Los Angeles.
IOC members also approved new procedures Wednesday for selecting Olympic hosts and for adding or removing sports and events from Olympic programs, AP reported.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.