Olympic gold medallist and one of Australia’s greatest track and field athletes of all time, Sally Pearson has criticised the Paris Olympics for failing to support athletes who make huge financial sacrifices to compete.
Pearson, who won gold in the 100m hurdles at the 2012 London Olympics, criticised organisers for failing to offer a living wage and expecting athletes to compete for free while the event rakes in billions of dollars.
She said competing at the Olympics is not all glitz and glamour, and the chance to represent your country often comes with a heavy financial burden.
Pearson believes athletes are being shortchanged because they are not being paid to compete in the Olympics.
“They work like everyone else and act on a world stage, not only for their own personal fulfillment, but also for our benefit,” Pearson wrote. News Corporation.
‘The cost of representing Australia. How much is it really worth?’
“More often than not, it can be a heavy financial burden.”
Pearson shared her own journey, which began at age six when she decided to be the best in the world.
“You don’t think about the sacrifices you’ll have to make when you’re six, you just think about the end goal,” he said.
Sally Pearson had a stellar athletics career, winning a gold medal at the London Games, but she said her time in the spotlight came at a high cost.
Pearson has revealed the huge financial sacrifices athletes are forced to make to compete at the Olympics, only to receive no payment in return.
Pearson turned pro at 17 with a contract with Adidas worth $15,000 a year, which she said was only enough to cover basic expenses.
He worked tirelessly to make a living as an athlete, stressing that “nothing is amateur anymore, not even the Olympic Games.”
Pearson reached out to current Australian athletes to understand their financial struggles.
Women’s 400-meter hurdler Alanah Yukich spent $6,000 of her own money to compete over 16 days on two continents.
Yukich had to create a GoFundMe page to cover these expenses. “It definitely helped me alleviate the financial problems I had before the Olympics,” Yukich said.
Tori West, who competes in the women’s heptathlon, spent $35,000, including the costs of her two coaches.
“It was a big gamble, but thankfully it paid off,” West said. Tayleb Willis, the only competitor in the 110m hurdles, spent more than $10,000 on her trip to Canada before heading to France to join the Australian team.
Australia’s Kaylee Mckeown has led the way at the Paris Olympics, where our female athletes have dominated the pool and other events.
Pearson added that before being selected, athletes must travel around the world to secure qualification.
“Once selected, and once the athlete is in the training camp, all living expenses while there and in the Olympic Village are covered, which is good in theory, but what about the living expenses that await the athletes at home?” he asked.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says its revenues between 2017 and 2020/21 were $11.7 billion, with the governing body distributing 90 percent of that between sport and athlete development.
Yet many athletes never see any of that money and must finance their Olympic dreams themselves.
“They quit their regular jobs, often without pay, to pursue their lifelong dream,” Pearson wrote.
While swimmers like Ariarne Titmus receive a lot of support, other athletes struggle to survive to represent their country because they do not receive a salary from the IOC.
Pearson was particularly incensed by the expectation that athletes would compete for free.
“Our Olympic athletes are not paid to entertain us at the biggest sporting event in the world, the Olympic Games,” he said.
Making a comparison, he added: ‘Can you imagine saying to Taylor Swift ‘oh, by the way, your Eras tour is going to be pro bono, so you’re not going to get paid to entertain the audience’?’
Sports commentator David Culbert echoed Pearson’s views, saying: ‘The shot goes off and there are 12 athletes in the final competing for free and then we go to commercial break after commercial break, all paying for advertising.’
“It may have worked for our first Olympian, Edwin Flack, in 1896, but it doesn’t work in 2024.”