When IOC President Kirsty Coventry offered her opinion on athletes getting paid, many in the sports world, especially the athletes, were, well less than happy.
I have posted this column from my friend, Alan Abrahamson, a thoughtful observer on the global world of sports. If you have not subscribed to Alan, then, do it after reading this column. Alan’s column thoughtfully provides us, all in one place, the thoughts on payments to athletes and, actually, how it can be done!
Thanks, Alan!
Toyota is the world’s top-selling carmaker. In 2015, it committed to a 10-year deal to become one of the International Olympic Committee’s top-tier sponsors.
In September 2024, shortly after the Paris Games, chairman Akio Toyoda said the company would not renew. Why?
Akio Toyoda at the 2026 F1 race in Japan // Getty Images / Kym Illman
“I’ve wondered for a while now whether the event is truly putting athletes first,” he said.
He is far from alone, and the won’t-go-away controversy over new IOC president Kirsty Coventry’s assertion that she is not a proponent of prize money at the Olympics underscores the disconnect — the chasm, really — between the vision of the modern Games as they have been, a chase for glory, and glory only, as memorably depicted in “Chariots of Fire,” and the way they need to evolve to be now, in our 21st century.
To read the entire story, in its original form on 3Wire sports, please go here: https://www.3wiresports.com/articles/2026/6/2/coventry-ignites-a-controversy-common-sense-solution-pay-olympic-athletes
