IOC Solidarity Scholarship to continue till 2021 Olympics
Five local athletes’ who receive support through the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Solidarity Scholarship programme, will continue to receive funding for another year, as the programme has been extended until the Tokyo Olympic Games takes place next year.
The 2020 Games was postponed due to Covid-19 pandemic and is now scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2021.
Accordingly, four programmes – Olympic Scholarships for Athletes Tokyo 2020, Team Support Grants, Refugee Athlete Support and Olympic Games Subsidies – which support more than 1,600 athletesfrom 185 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), have been extended for another year.
The IOC’s Athletes Commission informed athletes of the extension on Wednesday (1st).
Judoka Chamara Dharmawardana who won a Gold Medal at the South Asian Games (SAG), and the most decorated athlete of the SAG, swimmer Matthew Abeysinghe, receive USD 1,000 each, while Triple Jumper Vidusha Lakshani (Asian Championship Bronze medalist), Middle Distance Runner Gayanthika Abeyrathne (former Asian Championship Silver medalist) and Weight Lifter Thiwanka Palagasinghe (Commonwealth Games 4th place) receive USD 670 each per month through the programme.
Despite the funding none of these athletes have even come close to achieving Olympic Qualification so far, as they had limited opportunities to achieve the said qualification. Track and field athletes, especially from countries such as Sri Lanka, struggle to keep up with tough qualifying standards and newly introduced ranking systems as athletes need to compete in several top ranked competitions to collect necessary points to come up through the ranking to qualify. Unlike other athletes in developed countries, athletes in third world countries like Sri Lanka get only one or two opportunities per year to compete in such competitions, which isn’t helpful at all.
Out of the five recipients, only swimmer Matthew Abeysinghe qualified and competed at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, while Judoka Chamara Dharmawardana participated in the 2016 Games as a wild card entry. Weight Lifter Palagasinghe, meanwhile, had a setback as the Sri Lankan team could not participate in the Commonwealth Weight Lifting Championship last year (an Olympic qualification event) due to visa issues, while Olympic qualification status of the South Asian Games was removed by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).
The Olympic Solidarity programme was established more than 50 years ago and aims to assist all NOCs, particularly those whose needs are greatest, in areas such as athletic development and training for coaches and sports administrators, while promoting Olympic values.
Through its Refugee Athlete Support programme, Olympic Solidarity is currently assisting 48 refugee scholarship holders who aim to be selected as part of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team for Tokyo 2020.
At the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, 101 medals (33 Gold, 26 Silver and 42 Bronze medals) were awarded to athletes who received support through the Olympic Scholarship scheme.
