Spain will equalize awards for Olympic and Paralympic athletes. The General Assembly of the Spanish Paralympic Committee approved a few weeks ago to equalize medal awards for Olympic and Paralympic athletes. “It is a demand of 20 years ago and it is an extraordinary news”, Alberto Jofré, managing director of the FPC, told SportsIn. They also point out that it was “a matter of time since it is simply equality“.
This measure has already been taken in other countries such as the USA, Canada and Belgium. “It is one more symptom that in Paralympic sport steps are being taken little by little” say from the EPC. They also refer to a report by the International Paralympic Committee on the knowledge of the Paralympic Games and Paralympics in general. In this study in which 20 countries participated, Spain was second only to Japan, organizer of the last Paralympic Games. This indicates, according to the EPC, that “society is aware”.
Reflecting these data, we can draw some more data that are very revealing in terms of Paralympic sport. In Spain, Teresa Perales’ swimming final was watched by 1,500,000 spectators and the Triathlon final by around 900,000 spectators. These data suggest that “it is a highly competitive sport” that spectators, sport lovers follow regardless of whether they are Olympians or Paralympians.
Thus, the amount for winning a gold medal in the individual event is set at 94,000 euros, silver at 48,000 euros and bronze at 30,000 euros. In doubles, the amounts will be 75,000 euros for first place, 37,000 euros for second place and 25,000 euros for third place, for each of the two participants. In events in which three or more athletes participate, scholarships per person are established at 50,000 euros in the case of champions, 29,000 if they are runners-up and 18,000 for third place. In addition, support athletes (athletics and triathlon guides, tandem pilots, etc.) will receive the same amount as the disabled athlete they are accompanying. This program also provides for smaller financial grants for the coaching staff who play such an important role in the medalist’s preparation.
PARIS 2024
Tokyo 2020 was a Games where Spain won 36 Paralympic medals for the 17 Olympic medals. From the EPC they say that they are confident in the work done but sport is often thankless and “in a jump or a race you risk all the preparation”. They point out that a lot of work has been done and “now we have to fight for it, the expectations are good but there is still the final test”.
