NOC*NSF will stop awarding medal bonuses to athletes after the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo next year. The sports umbrella organization no longer considers the expenditure of prize money justifiable.
NOC*NSF typically reserves 2 million euros for medal bonuses for one Olympic cycle (Summer and Winter Games). Part of that amount has already been paid out in this cycle after the Paris Games last year.
In Milan, a gold medal will yield 30,000 euros. An athlete will receive 15,000 euros for a silver medal, and an athlete who wins bronze will receive 7,500 euros. Paralympians receive a bonus of 20,000 euros for gold.
But after Milan, the sports umbrella organization wants to use that money for other purposes, it said in a statement on Wednesday. “NOC*NSF prioritizes talent development and guidance for top athletes, and well-prepared participation in international competitions,” it reads.
Before the Paris Games, NOC*NSF had already decided to save costs, that athletes could only earn a maximum of one bonus amount. Three golds, therefore, yielded as much as one gold. That decision has been extended to the Milan Games.
Despite those cost savings, the large amount of medal bonuses, according to NOC*NSF, can no longer be justified in the future. “Choosing is necessary against the background of the sharply increased costs,” according to the sports umbrella organization.
Director of top sports André Cats regrets that NOC*NSF had to make this decision. “I would rather not make this choice,” he says. “Ending the bonus system is especially close to our hearts for winners in sports where there are hardly any sponsor contracts.”
The medal bonus was “a welcome addition” for the athletes, Cats confirms. “Even for top athletes with more income, for example through sponsorship money, the disappearance is sour, because the bonus was a nice token of appreciation.”
The athletes’ commission of NOC*NSF is not happy with the choice of the sports umbrella organization and calls the decision “sour”. “At the moment, the athletes are only giving up a well-deserved bonus, without any prospect of the desired improvements,” says chairman Inge Jansen.
The Olympic Winter Games in Milan will begin on February 6 next year and will last until February 22.