AOC cash in medals incentive

ARCHERS and skateboarders will get almost as much funding as track-and-field athletes under Australia’s Olympic medal incentive program.

The Australian Olympic Committee ( AOC) will spend $2.375 million in funding 192 athletes in the program, based on medal results at major competitions last year.

The AOC provides $20,000 for a gold medal, $15,000 for a silver and $10,000 for a bronze.

Two skateboarders, Poppy Olsen and Keegan Palmer, and three archers will receive a combined $50,000 after they won bronze medals last year at respective major meets.

Four track-and-field athletes — Brandon Starc, Kathryn Mitchell, Dani Stevens and Henry Frayne — will share $65,000.

Rowers will get the bulk of the funding, some $425,000, with 18 swimmers to split $320,000.

Sixteen cyclists will receive a combined $275,000 under the program, which will deliver money to athletes in 17 Olympic sports.

While the AOC has publicly given up on setting medal goals for Tokyo 2020, Australian athletes ranked fifth in the world on performances at designated Olympic events last year.

Australians won 18 gold, 19 silver and 20 bronze across all sporting disciplines to feature at next year’s Olympics, ranking behind the US, China, Japan and Russia.

“Fifty-seven medals across 17 sports confirms that the athletes are tracking well just 18 months out from the Tokyo Olympics,” Australia’s chef de mission Ian Chesterman said in a statement yesterday.