“I think this gives them a little bit more skin in the game,” Sebastian Coe said while defending the pioneering action taken by World Athletics. Incidentally, just a few weeks ago, Coe, the chief of World Athletics, announced providing prize money of $50k to all the track and field champions in the upcoming Paris Olympics.

But instead of “adding more skin”, the announcement of prize money drew a lot of flak toward World Athletics. Initially, Noah Lyles ignited the fire by sharing the key factors behind such a proposition. Tara Davis-Woodhall followed that by doing her part, pointing fingers at the core issues. 

While giving her takes on the announcement as mentioned earlier, Tara mentioned the high expenditures a track and field athlete generally faces for competitive preparations. “Why do we have to go all the way to Europe, spend all this money, and barely get a dime when we come back to the [United] States?”, she said to support reality. 

Furthermore, she was amazed to see World Athletics putting money in a place where “they aren’t even sponsoring”. So, deep down the wire, the 24-year-old American athlete threw a belter to the role World Athletics has been playing around. But according to Tara, the prize money announcement might be “pretty cool” – at least when the track and field athletes are prone to spend more on their preparation.

Some voices remain hopeful

Eventually, in the same conversation, another athlete, Kenny Bednarek, was also present to share his take. So talking about Sebastian Coe’s announcement, he also preferred to point out the burning issue of lack of sponsoring. “You have athletes that work their b**t off… every single day, every single year… some compensation is needed for them,” he conceded. But what is more necessary on this point- prize money or a sponsorship? Sebastian Coe has an answer. 

While defending the prize money, Coe, being a former Olympic track and field champion, promised to increase the investment for the betterment of the track and field athletes. Hinting at that move, the CEO said to add more money to the announced prize sum for the upcoming LA Olympics in 2028. But that could be a barrage of sand against a flood. At least some track and field veterans think that. 

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Tara Davis-Woodhall finds veterans to support her 

While announcing the prize money, the World Athletics clearly ignored the second and third position holders. Do they not qualify to bear the burden of being a track and field athlete who sheds sweat in the preparation? Andy Anson, the British Olympic Association chief, raised that question. Furthermore, David Lappartient, the convener of the cycling governing body (UCI) batted for a holistic discussion on it to serve the actual need. According to him, World Athletics did not do that beforehand, unfortunately. Apart from such big names, the track and field giants also threw their questions. 

As per a measurement on the brink of the Tokyo Olympics, the average cost for an athlete touched the ceiling of $38k yearly. Since then, a lot has changed with the value of money. So as per the American sprinting legend, Justin Gatlin, the announced prize money is too short to serve the actual role. 

“They can’t buy a car nor a house with 50k, it should be at least double the World Championship“, he retorted. Now, again, things are showing to take a turn just before the Paris Olympics. But what do you think to be a fitting solution to this burning problem? Please let us know in the comments.