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COC to reward Olympic medal winners

Gold medals worth $20,000 under new formula

Canada’s Olympic athletes will have a little more incentive to aim for the podium in the future with the launch of a new Athlete Excellence Fund that gives cash rewards to athletes who finish in the top-three. The incentive applies to all Olympic disciplines, and both team and individual sports.

The fund, which was created by the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) using the COC’s own resources, will be applied as early as 2008 at the Beijing Olympic Games. Gold medal winners will receive $20,000, silver medals are worth $15,000, and bronze medals $10,000.

If the fund had applied in the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, athletes would have earned $180,000 for 12 medals — three gold, six silver and three bronze. Winter Olympics are generally more expensive. At the Torino Winter Games in 2006 Canadian athletes earned seven gold medals, 10 silver, and seven bronze, which would have resulted in more than $1.1 million in financial rewards when team sports are included. For example, each member of the champion women’s hockey team would have received $20,000.

Canada’s goal of placing first in the medal count in the 2010 Winter Games, winning roughly 35 medals, will cost the fund a minimum of $350,000 and likely far more when team events are considered.

In 2008, Canada is sending more than 300 athletes to Beijing, with the goal of finishing in the top 16 of participating nations.

Canada is not the first country to offer rewards for medals, following the footsteps of countries like the United States, Australia, Italy, South Korea, and Romania. In the U.S., gold medals are worth $25,000.

The fund will work on a four-year cycle, and will include events other than the Olympics. For example, athletes who place in the top-five in the first two years, or in the top-four in the third year will receive $5,000.

The COC has also applied to Canada Revenue to make the awards tax-free.

“This is the first time in its history that the Canadian Olympic Committee is providing performance awards to athletes who win Olympic medals,” said COC president Michael Chambers. “We’ve taken the concept of excellence funding one step further, and are excited as this program demonstrates our commitment to athlete performance and rewarding excellence.”

Adam van Koeverden, a double medalist in kayaking, was one of the athletes on hand to announce the program, welcomed the new initiative.

“Training for the Olympic Games can be a huge financial burden for athletes and their families,” he said. “Through this fund, the COC is recognizing that burden, and what an incredible asset more Olympic medals will be for our communities and for Canada.”

Iain Brambell, the head of the COC Athletes’ Council, was a major proponent of the fund at a time when athletes are under more pressure than ever to perform.

“As Olympic athletes are being asked to meet or better the medal targets at each Games, the Athletes’ Council felt strongly about rewarding these athletes that achieve at the highest level. The decision by the council to revamp this program has been incredibly well received and supported by the COC.”

The Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC) does not have a similar plan for their athletes. According to CPC chief executive officer Brian MacPherson, it will take a lot more funding to be able to offer the same programs as the COC.

“The simple reason is that we just can’t afford it,” he said. “We’re still at the point in our financial evolution where we’re struggling to find enough money to supply support to our Paralympic teams.

“Once the system is fully funded at the national level, and the feeder level which is very underdeveloped at all levels — especially the provincial level with the possible exception of PEI — then we would consider it.”

According to MacPherson, the CPC has far fewer resources than the COC. For one thing, the COC has more corporate sponsorship, as well as a $60 million legacy to draw on from the Calgary Games in 1988. For another, the COC is far larger in terms of athletes and services, and benefits more from economies of scale by sharing resources between sports and organizations. Also, CPC organizations often spend more per athlete because of the needs of para-athletes in terms of accessibility, coaching, equipment costs, and staffing requirements. In 2008, the CPC’s Paralympic contingent to Beijing will include 150 athletes and 150 coaches, trainers, managers and mission staff. The Olympic contingent has 300 athletes, and roughly 150 coaches, trainers, managers and mission staff.

If there’s a financial legacy for the CPC from hosting the 2010 Games, MacPherson says the CPC would likely put it into programming instead of a rewards program.

“If there’s a legacy from 2010, and if I had my druthers, I would rather see that money spent on further development of the system than into athletes’ pockets,” he said. “Funding has come a long way at the national level in the last few years, but we’re well short of where we need to be to match the COC and service our teams and athletes at all levels.”

MacPherson says other countries do provide money for medals to Paralympic athletes, but overall the funding picture is mixed. Some programs are fully funded and offer rewards, while some programs are based entirely on rewards for performance.