Olympics a mere step in reducing imbalance
allists in Paris won’t bump their bank balances exorbitantly – the Diamond League series means the cream of the crop can win up to $10,000 per meeting and $30,000 at the series finale, and sponsorship deals can be worth six figures per year.
Yet a gold in Paris would now not only be a physical triumph for New Zealand high jumper Hamish Kerr, but a valuable financial one also.
The majority of Kiwi athletes who will contest this year’s Olympic Games are fiscally supported enough by High Performance
Sport NZ to make a living from their sport.
But very few are making a windfall from their sporting career which will set them up for the rest of their lives – in contrast to golfers Lydia Ko and Ryan Fox, who are set to represent their country in Paris. That duo have respective lifetime earnings – at the ages of 26 and 37 – of NZ$29.2m and NZ$19.3m.
They’re eye-popping figures that 2021 Tokyo Olympics NZ trampoline representative Maddie Davidson could never spring to within touching distance of.
Coe said the payments would help recognise the critical role the athletes play in the success of any Olympic Games, The Times reported this week.
“I came from an era where to compete for the UK, it was a second-class rail ticket or a 5p per mile allowance, and you went for the one that was the best margin. And a 75p meal voucher,” one of the sport’s middle-distance greats said.
“My view is that the world has changed. It’s really important that where possible we create a sport that is financially viable for our competitors. This is the beginning of that,” Coe said.
The International Olympic Committee responded to the news by pointing out that it “redistributes 90% of all its income, in particular to the National Olympic Committees and International Federations. “This means that, every day, the equivalent of US$4.2 million goes to help athletes and sports organisations at all levels around the world. It is up to each IF and NOC to determine how to best serve their athletes and the global development of their sport.”
That can be problematic – not every International Federation nor National Olympic Committee has their athletes’ best interests catered, nor paid for.
Most Olympians – including all those who make the New Zealand team for Paris – could rightly argue that all worldwide sporting bodies should adopt the same rewards approach as athletics – and would a few more dollars hurt ya while you’re at it?
The NBA’s highest-paid player, Steph Curry, earns US$52m this season, while Kylian Mbappe costs Paris St Germain US$215m per year.
The IOC has become as rich as chocolate mud cake since the Olympic Games was adroitly shaped into a deep vessel for broadcast rights and sponsorship – and not by those who were doing it out of admiration and reward for the competitors either.
US broadcaster NBC has a $7.75 billion partnership to screen the Games through until 2032, as current IOC president Thomas Bach and his executive management team were paid US$13.95 million between them as recently as 2022, Matt Lawton wrote in The Times.
This week’s first step should be a springboard to lessen the imbalance between administrator and athlete – something which would have delighted Paulen.