Many countries failed to provide their Paralympic heroes with the same appreciation as Olympics champions.
According to CNN, Paralympics athletes who were supposed to receive bonuses for their contribution to the Olympics are getting almost nothing in comparison to their counterparts.
Every country has their own regulations and bodies for National Olympics and Paralympic committees (NOCs and NPCs), as United States share one body known as US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) whereas Australia has two.
The system for rewards and bounces is also unique for each country, USOPC is a nonprofit, and receives no funding from government and relies on private investment or support from fans, while many NOCs and NPCs do receive government funding and they also have private sponsorships or other sources like National Lottery in case of Britain.
For the nations involved in Olympic Games Paris 2024, nearly 42 countries awarded their gold medallists over $100k after the games, in comparison only 23 rewarded their Paralympic heroes with that level of bonus.
Sarah Storey, Great Britain’s Paralympic shared with CNN Sport, “Looking across the world, it is very disappointing that nations place such a varying importance on the funding of their athletes and that the profile and opportunity for para-athletes is often overlooked.”
The country which gave the most appreciation to their Paralympic champions was Singapore who rewarded them with bonus of 500k Singapore Dollars but even that was half the sum they gave to their Olympic champions.
Asian countries like Hong Kong and Vietnam were the countries with the most difference in award money.
It is also pertinent to note that a positive change is also taking place with Georgia awarding both its Olympic and Paralympic champions 1 million GEL (approx. $370,000).
