International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry has come under fire from fellow Olympians over her recent comments that athletes should not be paid prize money at the Olympics.
Mr Coventry, who won seven medals in five Olympics with Zimbabwe, made the controversial comments last week during his first visit to Oceania as IOC chief.
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“I don’t believe in paying athletes,” Coventry told New Zealand-based Sport Nation.
“I come from a small country and a sport that doesn’t necessarily pay athletes well, but I still don’t think athletes should be paid at the Olympics.”
The IOC does not pay scholarships or salaries to athletes to compete in the Olympic Games.
In the same interview, Coventry stressed that the IOC “needs to find more ways to directly impact athletes and support them on their journey to becoming Olympians and while they are Olympians.”
She emphasized the need to find means to discover talent and inspire athletes from small countries to participate in the world’s biggest sporting events.
“It was just my journey,” said Coventry, 42. “If I didn’t have that money, I would be an Olympic Solidarity Scholarship holder. I don’t know if I would have had as much success as I did. So I’m very grateful for that.”
The multiple Olympic and world champion from Zimbabwe is considered the most decorated African Olympian. In 2025, she became the first woman and the first African to become the head of the IOC, and once again attracted the attention of the world.
Under the current Olympic model, athletes are funded through national sports federations, sponsorship, self-funding or, in Coventry’s case, Olympic Solidarity Scholarships.
Why was Coventry criticized?
Coventry’s comments came just days after top athletes won $250,000 for each gold medal in the ethically questionable Enhanced Games.
The Enhanced Games allow elite sprinters, swimmers and weightlifters to compete for world records while taking banned performance-enhancing drugs.
Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev won a $1 million bonus for “breaking” the world record in the men’s 50m freestyle, but it will not be included in the official record books because the world’s sports authorities do not recognize the athletes’ achievements as legitimate.
Coventry’s comments drew harsh criticism from Olympic athletes, who commented on an Instagram post from swimming news station SwimSwam.
Current Olympic champion and 50m freestyle record holder Cameron McEvoy said Mr Coventry’s comments “could not have come at a more inopportune time”, ostensibly referring to the Enhanced Games. Although this first experimental competition has been heavily criticized, it has become a more lucrative option for athletes looking to earn money while continuing to play their sport.
Former world and European champion Filippo Marnini criticized “a sport where the values of the sport are trampled on for the sake of spectacle.”
“But let’s not forget that athletes sacrifice their lives to pursue their dreams, and once they retire, 90% have no future,” commented the Italian freestyle sprint champion.
He emphasized how athletes putting on a show are the backbone of events such as the Olympics. “If it wasn’t for the athletes, we wouldn’t even be here.”
Former Olympic champion and Australian long-distance swimming great Grant Hackett called the decision “retrograde”, while former South African swimmer Roland Schoeman said: “The IOC likes the idea of ’Olympic values’ as long as the athletes are the only ones making the financial sacrifices.”
“I can’t get old with this.”
Canadian gymnast Felix Dolch and former British athlete Greg Rutherford also supported the swimmer, with the long jumper saying: “This doesn’t get old.”
American rapper Flava Fluff also commented on the post, saying, “That’s why I had to step up.” The television personality has become an unexpected sponsor and financial blessing for several athletes, especially the U.S. women’s water polo team, which she supported at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
He also teamed up with Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and husband of tennis icon Serena Williams, to financially help American discus thrower Veronica Fraley, who was struggling to pay her rent.
Former Olympic hurdler Sally Pearson responded to Coventry’s comments in a video on her Instagram account.
“Olympians and athletes who perform and compete on stage to entertain everyone are not paid. Volunteers and Olympians are not paid at the world’s biggest sporting event,” said the former world and Olympic champion from Australia.
“Can you imagine saying to a rock star, ‘I’m going to go on tour and perform in front of thousands of people, but I’m not going to pay you?’ Do you think they’ll go?”
In his comments, Mr Pearson, 39, explained how athletes are unable to earn money in the lead-up to the Olympics due to strict rules.
Voices calling for the establishment of a players’ association
The IOC can use athletes’ names, images and likenesses (NIL) to promote and celebrate the Olympics, but athletes receive nothing in return.
In 2021, the National Collegiate Athletic Association changed the NIL rules to allow student-athletes to financially benefit from the use of the NIL. When asked if the IOC would take a similar stance, Coventry, who previously swam for Auburn University in Alabama, US, ruled out moving to a similar model.
“Yeah, they get a beautiful venue. They get a beautiful village. They get a beautiful experience. And it all comes from the funds we raise,” Coventry continued in the same interview.
Renowned Paralympic champion Hunter Woodhall called Coventry’s comments “embarrassing”, while former British long jumper Rutherford said: “The sooner we form a players’ union, the better.”
Rutherford detailed his financial struggles in the sport, but admitted that because he comes from “one of the best sports in the Olympics” he was able to earn a decent salary compared to other sports.
“A lot of the money I earned went back into the sport to try to win again,” he said, describing the gamble of athletes investing thousands of dollars in training, nutrition and competition.
World Athletics became the first governing body to award athletes $50,000 for an Olympic gold medal. Rutherford compared World Athletics president Sebastian Coe, a former Olympic champion, to using his experience as an athlete to change the financial system, while his opponent Coventry has taken a firm stance on not paying athletes.
“I’m not saying every athlete should be a billionaire. I’m looking for an organization that makes $12 billion, charges billions to countries for hosting, pays executives millions of dollars, blocks athletes from making money, and owns footage of their biggest moments to take a long, hard look at themselves,” Rutherford said.
According to financial reports, the IOC generated $12.4 billion in the 2021-2024 cycle, most of which came from global broadcast rights. Almost 74% of that was redistributed to international sports.
The IOC has not officially released details about Coventry’s income as president, but it is estimated to be $350,000 a year after it was revealed last year that Coventry’s predecessor, Thomas Bach, was paid that amount during the final two years of his term.
Coventry’s past controversies
When the IOC reinstated gender confirmation tests for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, Coventry faced backlash from athletes and human rights groups alike. The international governing body announced that only “biological women” will be allowed to compete in women’s events, and that transgender women will be barred from competing.
Caster Semenya, a South African athlete and two-time Olympic 800m champion, expressed disappointment with the IOC’s decision under new Coventry.
“For me personally, of course it’s harmful because she’s a woman from Africa and I know how African women and women from the Global South are affected by it,” Semenya said on the sidelines of a sports event in Cape Town.
Coventry also became a center of attention in Zimbabwe after breaking the world record in the 200m backstroke and winning gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At a time when many Zimbabweans were suffering from hyperinflation, she accepted a prize of $100,000 from then-President Robert Mugabe on live television.
She was also at the center of political controversy during her tenure as sports minister, which began in 2018.
