IOC President Kirsty Coventry: “I Don’t Believe in Paying Athletes”

International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry, a former Olympic Gold-Medal swimmer from Zimbabwe, has publicly expressed her disapproval of paying Olympic athletes.

In an interview with Sport Nation NZ, Coventry was upfront about her perception in not paying athletes, however somewhat needs to seek out extra methods to “directly impact athletes”.

“I don’t believe in paying athletes. 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.” Coventry advised Sport Nation NZ. “Now I do think we should find more ways to directly impact athletes.. to find ways to directly help them on their journey to becoming Olympians, while they are Olympians, and as they are finding ways into their new career transition.”

In that very same interview, Coventry responded to a query concerning Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rights utilized by Olympic athletes, and, in response, talked about that what athletes don’t get monetarily, they get in “beautiful venues, beautiful villages,” and a “beautiful experience.”

“All of that comes from the money we raise,” Coventry mentioned. “What I challenge athletes, national federations who are asking for more money… the solidarity model is very particular. Now if the entire movement wants us to change, we would have not as many countries, not as many sports, we’d be particular on what that would look like. And I don’t think that the Olympic Games, and I don’t think the Olympic movement thinks that’s the Olympic Games.”

While she didn’t deny the monetary struggles athletes face, she targeted extra on supporting and prioritizing a system of assist by way of Olympic committees and solidarity packages, which Coventry drew a comparability to as a former solidarity scholarship holder herself.

Throughout the interview, Coventry pushed to maintain the present solidarity mannequin in place, somewhat than straight paying athletes, whereas nonetheless sustaining its assist.

According to a report from Inside the Games, the IOC’s mannequin relies on income redistribution to the Olympic motion, organizing committees, federations, nationwide committees, and improvement packages. Olympic Solidarity is a system that aids nationwide Olympic committees with varied athlete improvement packages.

That similar report additionally particulars how World Athletics paid $50,000 to Olympic gold medalists on the Paris Olympics in 2024, with that very same quantity being distributed amongst successful relay groups.

Within the game, we’ve seen a wide range of athletes open up in regards to the lack of monetary assist, one in every of which being Hunter Armstrong, who has represented the United States at two Olympic Games, and gained a number of medals, deciding to affix the Enhanced Games, the place he gained $375,000, and did so with out using enhancements, with hopes to proceed coaching for a third Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.

Similar to Armstrong is fellow American Olympian Cody Miller, who has additionally been utilizing his social media as a platform for potential income, posting on his YouTube channel, which presently has 193,000 subscribers. He, too, made the choice to affix the Enhanced Games, the place he gained two occasions and secured half 1,000,000 {dollars} in winnings, the biggest payday of his swimming profession.