Gold the goal for Zac the purist
Self-confessed “purist” Zac Stubblety-cook believes there is enough opportunity for swimmers to benefit from prizemoney at major events without attaching a cash prize to Olympic gold.
Stubblety-cook, who was Australia’s only male individual gold medallist at the Tokyo Games, could benefit if World Aquatics followed the lead of World Athletics, which has announced it will award gold medallists a $50,000 gold medal bonus in Paris.
Ariarne Titmus said earlier this week the time was coming for the Olympic movement to share its riches with athletes but like StubbletyCook she hadn’t taken up the sport for money.
But StubbletyCook, who showed he was on track for Paris selection with a comeback win in the 200m breaststroke at the Australian Open championships on the Gold Coast on Thursday, believes the prestige of an Olympic title should be reward enough for athletes.
“There’s enough opportunity for us at the moment,” he said.
“I think that’s a World Aquatics decision. For me personally, I think the Olympic Games is, in its essence, a bit of a purist (event).
“We have our world championships and World Cups for those opportunities.”
Like Stubblety-cook, world champion Sam Short believes the prestige of Olympic gold is reward enough.
“Growing up I’ve kind of always just wanted the gold medal to be honest, an Olympic gold medal’s priceless - you’re an Olympic champion forever if you get it,” Short said.