The recent change in the Olympic reward policy has caused a storm around the world. However, Boris Becker and Martina Navratilova seem to support it offering valuable insights. For many years, athletes competed for honor and the gold. However, with time, people believed that motivating them with financial rewards would be amazing.

The World Athletics started bringing this policy into light in 2015 as they believed athletes need financial stability. Navratilova and Becker joined them stating how sports nowadays “is a full-time job”. After the World Athletics announced financially rewarding the Olympic gold medalists from this year, famous coach Boris Becker and former tennis legend Martina Navratilova spoke about it.

Navratilova appreciated this gesture very much and said– “I think it would be fantastic. The Olympics have always been the biggest sporting event, but the medalists didn’t get any financial rewards. Everyone was making money, except the athletes. So I’m glad that’s going to change. Maybe for some athletes, it won’t, it meant too much, but for others it certainly did,” 

Martina Navratilova highlighted that the Olympics offer just honor to the athletes. However, a financial reward as a bonus might be a game changer for the participants of the Paris Olympics. Joining Martina Navartilova’s bandwagon, Boris Becker said- “When I heard Sebastian Coe about the prize money, I said: finally someone who keeps up with the times. Sports today is a full-time job, whether you’re in athletics, swimming or anything else. Those behind the athletes make money, so I think the athletes should get financial rewards too.”

Both Navratilova and Becker express that adding financial rewards with gold medals in the Olympics will certainly add more value to sports’ place as a profession. Given that many players rely on the sport as their income, such financial rewards will motivate them to bring out the best. Now that we know that famous tennis legends support this policy wholeheartedly, let’s read what the Association of International Summer Olympic Federation has to say about it.

ASOIF thinks the new Olympic reward policy “undermines the values of Olympism”

ASOIF didn’t support this policy. They said- “For many, this measure undermines the values ​​of Olympism and the uniqueness of the Games. You cannot and should not put a price on an Olympic gold medal, said ASOIF in a statement, recalling that “in many cases Olympic medalists indirectly benefit from commercial sponsorships”. The decision does not take into account the less privileged athletes who are lower in the final ranking.”

The Association of International Summer Olympics issued this opinion against Sebastian Coe, the president of World Athletics statement- “The introduction of a bonus for gold medalists is a key moment for world athletics and for athletics in general, which underlines our commitment to motivating athletes and recognizing the vital role they play throughout all editions of the Olympic Games,” According to this new policy, Olympic gold medalists are said to be offered a $50,000 reward with the medal from this year. Nevertheless, ASOIF seemed to be against this policy.

Despite ASOIF’s criticisms, Boris Becker and Martina Navratilova showed why it is important to financially reward athletes. They also offered an insight presenting this reward’s impact as a motivating factor for young generation athletes.