Tatjana Schoenmaker: TeamSA
Athletes who win medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Tokyo 2020 Paralympics will receive financial incentives, contrary to recent media reports.
South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) President Barry Hendriks confirmed on Tuesday that reports that the governing body would not be rewarding Tatjana Schoenmaker and Bianca Buitendag were wide of the mark.
“We have been consistent in saying that we are in negotiations with partners over the issue of financial rewards to medalists at both the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics,” said Hendriks.
“It is true that the amounts have not been finalised given that the negotiations are ongoing. However, there has never been a point whereby a decision has been made to not offer medalists incentives,” he added.
There had been an outcry on social media at the weekend when reports surfaced that Schoenmaker would not be rewarded for her gold and silver in the pool and Buitendag for her silver in surfing.
Moving to quell the obvious disquiet, Hendriks said SASOC did not want the issue of financial incentives to distract from the performances of the athletes at both Games.
“We are now between the Olympics and the Paralympics and we believe that we should be consistent in our treatment of athletes. We will be rewarding medalists and the amount for each medalist will be announced in due course once we have finalised negotiations with our partners.”
