The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has confirmed that retiring Olympic athletes will not receive a podium bonus for performances at the 2020 Olympic Games.
Through the AOC‘s Medal Incentive Funding (MIF) program, gold medalists are typically paid $20,000, while athletes earn $15,000 for silver and $10,00 for bronze.
However, the funds are specified as ‘incentivizing athletes to continue training, with the goal of representing Australia at the next Olympic Games.’ As such, Tokyo Olympic medalists will only receive a payment from the AOC if they continue training and do not retire.
“Athletes must maintain appropriate training regimes with the intention of gaining national selection in the following year in order to receive the payment, says the AOC.” (Fox Sports)
Paralympians are excluded from this caveat, however.
“Every Australian Paralympian who received a medal for their performance at the Tokyo Games will receive a bonus payment,” sports minister Richard Colbeck said. “This includes any athlete who is planning to retire.” (Fox Sports)
Additionally of note, athletes who win multiple medals will only be rewarded once, based on their best result. For instance, mega-winner Emma McKeon took home four gold medals and three bronze medals, but will only receive one payment of $20,000.
You can review our post on Olympic medal payouts per nation here.
I’d be “coming out of retirement” until that check hit my bank account and announce my retirement after that.
I think rich middle east countries should looked into offer the sport citizenships to Aussie Swimmers. They already offers them to African track stars. Seems to be Aussie swimmers’ situation is just as pathetic as those african track stars.
If the Australian Government can cough up bonuses for Paralympians who, it’s important to note, receive the same level of direct athlete support grants (top athletes receiving $37k per annum) from the Australian Government then why cant the Australian Government extend the same medal bonus it’s paying to its Paralympians to its retiring Olympians? On the other hand, why didn’t the Australian Paralympic Committee work harder to secure funds to reward its podium Para athletes, just like the AOC do? Gina Rinehart also provides financial support to all Australian swimmers and some are looked after by Toyota, Ellie Cole for example. Not all of them are the poor country cousins the media presented to locked down Aussies.
The girl who medaled for Malaysia got paid more than the Australian Olympic and Paralympic teams combined. Way too many people on the gravy train getting paid.
OZ OZ OZ Uhhh OI OI OI…???
Imagine if Emma McKeon had a citizen of Hong Kong or Singapore with her performance. She’d be set.
Chinagirls would have swept the 100 fly with G S & B.
Epic.
no matter who you are, Singapore is not china. and anyone who brings up maggie macneil’s heritage is only highlighting an incredibly embarrassing and disgusting part of china’s history. china only have themselves to blame for losing her
Yes but China kept the winner. Anyhow interesting you think stealing babies from 2nd-3rd world is disgusting . I agree .
Those places don’t nurture talent on the level that Australia does…so it’s a non-starter proposition.
So who does this affect, athlete-name-wise? Anyone announce their retirement?
Bronte Campbell is probably closest. Wouldn’t be surprise if Mitch Larkin and Can McEvoy call it a day too.
Simon Cusack said that neither of the Campbells are planning to retire immediately. I suspect Bronte will call it quits after comm games next year, and I wouldn’t be surprised if others did the same. also helps that it’s less than a year away now and that there’s a lcm worlds in between. larkin, mcevoy and morgan will probably retire then. seebohm is still committed and cate could stay in the top 6 of the 4×100 for a while yet if her body holds up
Larkin didn’t medal so no “bonus” to keep him in the game, likewise Morgan. McEvoy is still notionally “tied” via 4×100 bronze.
Perfectly fine for government officials to squander millions of Aussie taxpayer dollars for “foreign aid” and the like while scrimping on already meager bonuses to our homegrown Aussie athletes. No genuine Aussie taxpayer would have an issue with these standards surely…
Would hate to see how much Aussie government has paid out in covid support payments to non Australians who have given nothing or sacrificed nothing to Australia but have been “stranded” here in Australia for the last 18months of this pandemic.
For goodness sake, if you are an Aussie Member of Parliament please talk some sense into the rest of your mates in Canberra and sort this nonsense out for “Our Athletes”.
Australia spends next to nothing on foreign aid- but we did give over $17 billion to businesses that increased their profits last year for ”COVID relief”! We have a particularly nasty Govt here at the moment- hopefully they will be voted out in a few monts.
This is the AOC . They will not be on the ballot paper .so hold your pencil & think a little clearer ..
And none of this money is funded by the government unlike the Paralympian bonuses that the government is coughing up after everyone got outraged and those have no conditions attached. So the Paralympians are actually being rewarded better.
Actually the Paralympians are worse off. They’re getting medal bonuses but are having their retainer pulled.
That is absolutely disgusting to treat Australias Paralympians with such disdain.