by World Athletics President Sebastian Coe’s decision to award cash prizes to Olympic gold medalists may have been welcomed by athletes but the move has upset some of his fellow Federation leaders and surprised seasoned Games observers have them.
Coe put the cat among the pigeons when he announced last week that track and field gold medalists at this year’s Paris Games will receive $50,000 (47,000 euros), a first for a federation at the Olympics.
The total prize fund of $2.4 million will come from the allocation of the International Olympic Committee’s revenue share that World Athletics receives every four years.
We will never know what Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, would have made of Coe as he truly feared that the “spirit of profit and professionalism” would attack the Games, but he went down to bad with some of the British. peers.
David Lappartient, president of the International Cycling Union (UCI), made his displeasure clear.
“If we focus money on the best athletes, many opportunities for athletes around the world will disappear,” said the Frenchman.
“We really believe that this is not the Olympic spirit. The proposal was not discussed.”
It wasn’t just the prize money offer that angered Coe’s fellow Federation chiefs and the IOC.
“What surprised everyone was that Coe took the decision unilaterally with an hour’s warning to the IOC and zero warning to other federations,” claimed Michael Payne, a former IOC marketing director who maintains close links to the body, for AFP.
“The attitude of the federations, not unreasonable, is that they were thrown under the bus. What are you going to do just three months before Paris?, “said Payne.
The Irishman claimed that the Olympics were a “collaborative effort” and that “you don’t blind people like that if you don’t want to create a media storm”.
“And that was the agenda.”
The International Tennis Federation said it had no plans to pursue a suit and pay prize money and that any future changes would be made “in consultation with the Association of International Summer Olympic Federations and the International Olympic Committee”.
Coe defended his move, declaring that the image of the amateur athlete has faded.
“I’m probably the last generation to be on the 75p meal voucher and a second-class railway ticket when I’m competing for my country,” he said when announcing the decision.
“We are now operating on a completely different planet to when I was competing, so it is very important that the sport recognizes that changing landscape.”
Karsten Warholm, the Olympic men’s 400m hurdles champion, told AFP it was a “smart move” to pay prize money.
“To be honest, anything offered in terms of a prize is good for the athletes, it’s motivation,” said the Norwegian.
– ‘Apoplectic with rage’ –
Coe’s companion criticized the decision.
“Now obviously other sports will get some scrutiny or even pressure from athletes saying: ‘Well what about our sport, how can this sport do it and not us?'” said the British Olympic Association chief executive. Andy Anson with Sky Sports.
“It’s a debate we can have but we have to have it at the right time, and in the right place, and together.”
Terrence Burns, another former IOC marketing executive, said the ramifications of the decision were still “speculation”.
“The glue that always holds the (Olympic) movement together is its ability to remain united and consistent within its fragile Federation where everything is connected,” he told AFP.
“Every decision made (and probably considered) has ripples in the Olympic pond, intended and unintended.”
It is not the first time Coe has followed a different path to the IOC and most confederations – the two-time Olympic 1500m champion has led the way in taking a hard line against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.
The 67-year-old Englishman has earned widespread praise from Ukrainian athletes, political leaders and beyond for banning athletes from Russia and Belarus in his sport.
Payne is left scratching his head about Coe’s reasoning behind the prize money gambit.
“He was always independent,” Payne said.
“He is also a very skilled and experienced political operator. He ran a great campaign to win London (host of the 2012 Olympics).
“(But) this one I can’t figure out.”
This prompted suggestions that Coe could be eyeing the IOC presidency when Thomas Bach leaves the seat next year.
Payne believes that “if it was a presidential ploy, it was a gold medal of its own”.
“Because who is electing the president? It is the members of the IOC. Many of them are presidents of the international federation, who are apoplectic with rage.”
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