Athletes who have done tremendously well at international events were rewarded yesterday for their performance.
In 2018, the government approved the implementation of the national sports reward policy, which aims to motivate and handsomely reward athletes who scoop accolades at regional, continental, and global stages.
As per the policy, an athlete who wins gold at the Olympics is guaranteed to pocket N$200 000, N$150 000 for silver, and N$100 000 for bronze at the Olympic Games, while for winners at the World Championships, a gold medal fetches N$100 000, silver N$80 000, and bronze N$50 000.
The policy also makes provision for trainers and coaches, with their rewards ranging from N$80 000 to N$100 000 for the various winners at regional, continental, and world major competitions.
In 2021, various athletes who competed since the policy’s introduction were paid their reward monies, while the ones who competed from 2021 to 2022 July are the ones who received their monies yesterday.
Yesterday, the Namibia
Sports Commission (NSC) Chief Administrator, Freddy Mwiya announced at a press conference that an amount of N$1 045 000 was made available, and the prize money was disseminated to the deserving winners.
“I can assure you now that everyone who has won a medal at a bigger event will be paid today (yesterday) or tomorrow (today). They have all submitted their accounts, and the money has already been transferred into the athletes’ personal accounts. Some will be able to receive their monies today while others will tomorrow, depending on their banks,” Mwiya said.
The team that received the money is the 2022 Commonwealth Games team, which includes the likes of Christine Mboma and her coach and amounts to N$260 000, while the Special Olympics team that bagged a medal at the summer games this year also walked away with an amount of N$275 000, which will be divided amongst deserving athletes.
The Paris Para World Championships team that won medals this year also pocketed an amount of N$410 000. While the 2023 African Beach Games team also received an amount of N$100 000.
Reacting to the news, Athletic Namibia (AN) representative Issascar Bock said the reward will motivate athletes to work hard and do well at international events. “I am happy that athletes are getting the rewards for their hard work, and this will now motivate a lot of these athletes to work so hard and aim for podium position,” he said.
Meanwhile, Daniel Le Cozic from the Paralympics also shared the same sentiments. “I am happy that all the deserving athletes who have worked hard are getting their recognition; this will motivate a lot of them, not only the athletes but the coaches as well,” he added.
- mkambukwe@nepc.com.na