Olympics
Athletics’ Olympic prize money plan unfair to other sports, says Britain 5-time champion
World Athletics’ (WA) decision to give prize money to Olympic gold medallists is unfair to other sports that cannot afford to do the same, Britain’s five-times Olympic rowing champion Steve Redgrave said.
Athletics became the first sport to offer prize money to Olympic champions when WA President Sebastian Coe announced on Wednesday that gold medallists in Paris this year will each earn $50,000.
The announcement was met with a positive reaction from the world’s leading athletes, with the $2.4 million prize pot to be split among the 48 gold medallists in Paris.
A total of $540 million was allocated to the 28 sports at the Tokyo Games with World Athletics receiving the most at $40 million.
Redgrave, who won five successive Olympic gold medals between 1984 and 2000, said the prize money plan would turn the Olympics into a “two-tier” system.
“If you win an Olympic gold medal in any athletics event, you are able to earn substantial financial gains from those results,” the 62-year-old told the Daily Mail in an interview published on Thursday.
“It smacks a bit hard for the sports that can’t afford to do this. Rowing is in that situation. We struggle bringing sponsorship and finance into it. This separates the elite sports to the others like rowing, canoeing and most combat sports.
“They just don’t have the same funding that there is in World Athletics. I would prefer that the money they’re putting in to be helping more of the grassroots of their own sports – or helping other Olympic sports to be able to be at the same level on the same footprint.”
-Reuters
The Olympic rings installed on the Eiffel Tower since June to celebrate the upcoming Olympic Games were removed from the Parisian monument early on Friday morning, as confirmed by an AFP photographer. But the Paris City Hall intends to replace them with a more permanent structure until 2028.
The five-coloured rings, measuring 29 metres in length and 15 metres in height, were placed between the first and second levels of the iconic iron structure on 7 June.
According to Inside the Games publication, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo wants the Olympic symbol to continue decorating the monument until the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
But the descendants of the tower’s creator, Gustave Eiffel are opposing the move. They are insisting that the Olympic rings are aesthetically in conflict with the concept and design of the Tower.
The 30-tonne rings initially installed on the Eiffel Tower were also not designed to withstand winter weather conditions.
Olympics
Despite Egypt winning 3 medals at Paris Olympics, President Al-Sisi orders sports system overhaul
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi ordered a comprehensive evaluation of sports federations that participatedat the Paris Olympic Games, following a mission report submitted by the country’s sports minister.
The mandate includes a thorough expenditure check and a performance review to better highlight areas of improvement and fund allocation in future Games.
Additionally, the president plans to take necessary measures against federations —such as limiting funds— that had negative results in the Paris Games.
Egypt’s participation in sports where it lacks a competitive advantage will also be limited, as the president aims to direct resources to promising athletes to ensure optimal results. The president also aims to reduce administrative and technical staff within Olympic delegations and task relevant ministries with preparing future Olympic athletes.
Al-Sisi’s Olympic overhaul is to be presented to the cabinet for approval and urged the government to prioritise amending the sports law for the House of Representatives for review.
Egypt took home a total of three medals in the Summer Games. Ahmed El-Gendy triumphed in modern pentathlon, Sara Samir claimed the silver in weightlifting, and 21-year-old fencer Mohamed El-Sayed earned the bronze.
-Insidethegames
Paris 2024 sold a record 12 million tickets for the Olympics and Paralympics, beating the Games record previously set by London 2012, organisers said on Sunday.
Some 9.5 million tickets were sold for the Olympics and 2.5 million for the Paralympics, which end on Sunday.
In 2012, London organisers set the record for the Paralympics with 2.7 million tickets sold but only 8.2 million were sold for the Olympics.
-Reuters
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