In a ceremony late last week in the Kremlin, the Russian Olympic Committee and Russian Sports Ministry detailed the rewards program for both its competing and non-competing Olympic athletes. Despite having been banned from competing at the 2016 Olympics in Rio by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Russian track and field athletes will be among those receiving governmental rewards now that the Games have concluded.
According to reports, Russian gold medalists will receive 4 million roubles (~$61,000 USD) and a BMW X6, silver medalists are to receive 2.5 million roubles (~$38,500 USD) and a BMW X5, while bronze medalists will reap 1.7 million roubles (~$26,000 USD) and a BMW X3.
Said Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Mednedev, “No matter how hard some people tried, they failed to foil the Olympics for Russia and you have managed to prove that our victories have nothing to do with doping or other sins, which some people periodically attempt to attribute to us.”
Both the Russian Olympic Committee and the Russian Sports Ministry will reportedly be contributing to the rewards given to both competing and non-competing athletes.
“The foundation has given the Russian Olympic Committee material compensation for our leading sports competitors from the track and field team that was audaciously barred from participating in the games,” Medvedev said.
Russian Olympic delegation head Igor Kazikov is quoted as saying, “We will reward them, marking their preparations for the Games. They are not to blame for not getting a chance to compete in Rio. They will be rewarded by the Russian Olympic Committee and by the Sports Ministry. We will think how to do this.”
As a nation, Russia managed to place 4th overall in the medal count in Rio, collecting a total of 56 medals. Athletes earned 19 golds, 18 silvers, and 19 bronze medals over the course of the two-week competition.
The Putin regime is not that much different from the Soviet regime in the way it uses international competition and athletics to enhance nationalism and providing a sense of Russian pride through the accomplishments of the athletes. There are two types of Russian athletes, one who go along with the regime because he or she derives benefits from it and the other one is the kind who pursue it for the love of the sport and will chafe under a crooked system of manipulation and cheating. Russian athletics is just a sign of dysfunction that exist in overall Russian society. So long as Russia has a bad system of government with no checks and balances, I’m afraid Russian athletics will… Read more »
I do live in Russia and i think Rodchenkov and the guys who told the truth to mass media are just heroes. You think they did it because they were deprived of their piece of favour pie? I doubt that.
The point of my comment is that IOC tries to defend the rights of clean sportsmen and clean sport itself, but Russian athletes do not share this goal. Not only they do not share this goal, russian propaganda targets americans as the ones to blame. I think that fact should be taken into account when you decide on the strategy to deal with russian case and achieve the goal
I wonder if this is way to keep their athletes from turning against the Russian Olympic Committee? Positive reinforcement for sticking to the doping plan.
You will be very surprised. The big problem is that Russian athletes do not blame RUSADA or sport government bodies. They blame ” some misterious americans” for ” some kind of information war connected to politics”. It is a big problem that this ban is not perceived by sportsmen as a sign to stand up for clean sport.
Russian propaganda managed to change the perception of people and sportsmen.
Not a single court case was initiated by banned sportsmen against RUSADA or government sport bodies. They only initiate cases against IOC.