International Olympic Committee Announces $10,000 Grants for All Future Olympians
On Wednesday, International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry introduced the “Fit for the Future” initiative at the 146th IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland. As part of the program, Olympic athletes will be eligible for grants of $10,000 for each Olympics in which they compete, marking the first time the IOC has issued direct payments to athletes.
The program will be available for all accredited Olympic athletes who apply, beginning with those who competed at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics in February 2026. Olympians must apply to receive the grant. For anyone choosing not to apply, the money will be reallocated for future Olympians.
Pau Gasol, the former NBA star who won three Olympic medals for Spain in men’s basketball, announced the program as part of his role as chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission.
“This grant will be available to every Olympian,” Gasol said. “Not just medal winners. Not just athletes from certain countries. Every Olympian. Because while every athlete’s journey is different, every Olympian has made sacrifices to reach the Olympic stage. Years of dedication, years of hard work, years of believing in a dream.
“This is not prize money. This is about recognizing the journey and the commitment it takes to become an Olympian. And it is about recognizing that every Olympian is part of our Olympic community, and honoring those who have come before us and paved the way, so that current and future generations of Olympians can benefit.”
Coventry added that the program “has been a topic of conversation for many years, and I am extremely proud that we are now able to do this.” This announcement comes just a month after Coventry spoke out against prize money at the Olympics, comments which provoked intense backlash from athletes struggling to fund their basic needs while training for the Games. This new program should address some of those concerns, although $10,000 would only cover a few months’ worth of expenses for most Olympians.
All participants at the Olympic Games will be eligible for the grant, with the Youth Olympic Games not included. Athletes will be disqualified from eligibility if they commit an “Anti-Doping Rule Violation or violate the IOC Code of Ethics, the Conditions of Participation or the Olympic Charter.” For those approved, the money will be initially sent to national Olympic Committees, who then must prove that money was transferred to athletes.
Olympians who competed at the recent Winter Games should be able to apply for the grant by late 2026, with payments to come in 2027.
This effort comes as part of Coventry’s larger initiative designed “to identify key opportunities and challenges across the Olympic Movement; to ensure that the strategic direction is shaped collectively by the IOC Members and the Olympic Movement; and to analyze global, sports and corporate trends impacting the Olympic Movement.” Members of the IOC Athletes’ Commission should be involved in all nine working groups set up to continue pursuing the IOC’s long-term goals over the next six years.
Also at the Lausanne meeting, the IOC announced plans to pick a host for the 2036 Summer Olympics in 2029. That would mark a return to the standard practice of determining a host seven years in advance. Previously, the 2028 and 2032 Games were awarded to Los Angeles and Brisbane, respectively, 11 years in advance when they were the only cities that applied. Most recently, the IOC picked the site of the 2034 Winter Games, to be held in venues in and around Salt Lake City, days before the start of the Paris Games.
The announcement for the funding can be found here, with details on “Fit for the Future” here. Read more from the Associated Press here and here.