IOC Approves New $10,000 Olympic Athlete Grant and Broader Reform Package

The International Olympic Committee approved a new Olympic fund on Wednesday at its 146th session in Lausanne, Switzerland, near Olympic Day and at the close of Kirsty Coventry’s first year as IOC president. The meeting also presented the final recommendations of new working groups created under Coventry’s “Fit For The Future” program, covering athletes, the Olympic Games, the Olympic movement, its impact, and revenue and brand engagement.

After a presentation by former basketball star Pau Gasol, the incoming chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, Coventry announced that every Olympic athlete will receive a $10,000 grant after taking part in the Games. The measure will already apply to athletes who competed at the Milan 2026 Winter Olympics, subject to criteria that will be presented to them.

The session also approved a new scoring system for sports seeking to join the Olympic program. From now on, candidates will be evaluated by discipline, not by overall sport, using an analytical review of universality, the number of athletes worldwide, public interest measured by viewing figures and ticket demand, management quality, and adoption of Olympic values.

IOC members also backed a new process for selecting Olympic host cities, a change that will affect the choice of venues for 2036 and 2040. The updated model combines analytics with a fixed timetable and restores greater IOC member involvement. The host city for the next Summer Olympics will be chosen in 2029. The IOC also emphasized sporting neutrality and a clearer separation between sport and political conflict through rule changes.

Israeli Olympic Committee chair and IOC member Yael Arad said the organization has spent the past year working intensively in small groups to update its vision for the coming Olympic cycles. She called the day important and moving, and said she was especially proud of Coventry’s leadership in creating the special fund and the new athlete grant.