Belgian athletes will soon earn as much as Evenepoel with gold (or not?): the Paralympic prize pool

A historically high reward awaits. In addition to eternal fame, a record bonus awaits the Belgian Paralympians in paris. For the first time, medal winners will receive the same financial reward as their Olympic colleagues. Although there are still some important differences.

Barely a few months after the Games in tokyo, the Belgian Paralympic community was able to celebrate once again.

Three years ago, under the impetus of politics, a historic agreement was reached on equalising performance bonuses for Olympic and Paralympic athletes. For the latter group, this meant a significant increase.

From 15,000 to 50,000 euros for gold. From 10,000 to 30,000 euros for silver. And from 7,500 to 20,000 euros for bronze.

That already counts, right?

A look at other countries shows that the levelling of premiums varies considerably.

Host country France equalised the rewards back in 2008. This year, Spain and Canada, along with Belgium, followed suit, but in the Netherlands, for example, there is still a difference of around 10,000 euros for a gold medal.

The fact that the gap for our country was still so big in Tokyo 3 years ago was due to unforeseen circumstances. Due to the corona crisis, the then sponsor Fonds Baillet Latour – affiliated with brewery AB Inbev – had to cut back its budget.

The National Lottery now pays all the premiums.

“We’ve been thinking about that for a while,” says spokesman Jeremie Demeyer. “For us, equalizing that pay is the most normal thing in the world. We don’t differentiate between an Olympic or a Paralympic athlete. They bring the same warmth to our country.”

We shouldn’t whine about it: this is a lot of money for us.

Peter Genyn

Wheelchair athlete Peter Genyn, soon to be one of our main medal candidates, welcomes the decision.

“It’s a shame that I’m not a top favorite right now,” he jokes. “No, this is really a very nice realization that we are very grateful for. We shouldn’t whine about it: this is a lot of money for us.”

“Is it extra motivating? No, no athlete starts for the money,” Genyn continues. “Although we never get prize money, it remains incidental. I wouldn’t sell my gold medal for anything in the world. The honor you get is so much greater than any amount of money.”

“You know, I was already happy that we got prize money in London. In Rio we got 1/5 of the able-bodied athletes and then we already had a feeling of “wow”. But the fact that they are now equalizing it shows that the Paralympic Games are seen as equal. And that signal in particular is important.”

Important note: although the premiums have been aligned, there are still some specific conditions that differ.

Paralympic athletes cannot accumulate sums. Anyone who wins multiple medals in Paris will only receive the cash prize associated with the highest medal won once.

For comparison: Remco Evenepoel collected 50,000 euros twice for his double gold a few weeks ago.

In addition, there are no bonuses for top 8 places at the Paralympic Games.

“This is mainly due to the specific nature of classification in Paralympic sport,” delegation leader Olek Kazimirowski explained earlier.

“Athletes are divided into sport classes to ensure balanced and fair competition, so the number of participants per class is usually lower than in regular sports.”

Moreover, the total price tag would simply be too high.

Kazimirowski: “If both systems, BPC and BOIC, were to be fully aligned, the value of the Paralympic bonuses would almost equal the total cost of the Paralympic Games.”

Simply unaffordable. But let us hope that the Belgian Paralympians will soon have priceless experiences in Paris.