MOSCOW, October 5. /TASS/. The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) will give Russian Olympic champions up to 500,000 rubles ($5,000) each as compensation for being barred from international competition, ROC chief Stanislav Pozdnyakov told reporters.
"We have come up with the figures, with athletes specializing in summer sports to be compensated first," he said. According to him, gold medal winners will be paid 500,000 rubles each, while silver and bronze medalists will receive compensation of 350,000 rubles ($3,500) and 250,000 rubles ($2,500) each, respectively, and any others who have participated in the Olympic games will be eligible for an individual payment of 150,000 rubles ($1,500).
"This [payment] will concern those who have been actively working out or active athletes who have been getting ready (for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris - TASS), as we see it," Pozdnyakov said. Besides, only those athletes who have refused to compete as neutrals will get paid, he specified as he said the exact number of such athletes would be made public after the end of the calendar year.
In late March 2023, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended that individual athletes from Russia and Belarus be permitted to compete in international sports tournaments, but only under certain conditions. Specifically, athletes from the two countries should not have voiced "active support" for Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status. Additionally, they would still be barred from team events. As of now, the IOC has not yet made a final decision on permitting Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in the Paris Olympic Games that will take place on July 26 - August 11, 2024.