Olympics-Australia launches new athlete fund ahead of 2032 Games

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SYDNEY, Dec 11 (Reuters) – The Australian Olympic Committee announced a tranche of A$50 million ($33.34 million) in new funding for athletes ahead of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics on Thursday, including retirement grants for Olympians and cash awards to help athletes return to elite competition after having children.

The Olympic Futures Fund, launched by a A$20 million grant from the Australian Olympic Foundation (AOF), will award A$5,000 to every athlete selected for an Olympics from next year’s Milano Cortina Winter Games up to the 2032 Brisbane Games.

Athletes will be encouraged to attend multiple Olympics by the offer of a means-tested retirement grant of A$32,000 per Games, to be paid in instalments 16 years after they have competed. 

The Return to Olympic Sport Grant (post-birth) offers a starting point of A$10,000 to mothers after the birth of each child.

“Olympians don’t do it for the money, but there’s a financial sacrifice involved,” AOC President Ian Chesterman said in a news release. 

“Many athletes get to the end of their careers and have very little financially and this contribution will make a difference to their retirement. 

“These grants reflect our ambition to contribute meaningfully to the Olympic Movement’s shared priorities, empowering athletes, strengthening gender equity, and ensuring that major Games leave lasting legacies.”

Canoeist Alyce Wood, who competed at her third Olympics in Paris last year after having her first daughter Florence in 2022, said the grants for mothers would be a “game-changer”. 

“It actually acknowledges what athletes are dealing with and gives them the support they need to build long, sustainable careers, in sport,” said Wood, who sits on the AOC Athletes’ Commission.

“For so many women, becoming a parent doesn’t have to mean the end of their Olympic career, and this grant makes that path clearer, fairer and so much more doable. It helps make coming back to high-performance sport genuinely achievable.” 

The AOF was established ahead of the last Olympics Australia hosted in Sydney in 2000, when former AOC President John Coates persuaded the government to ringfence A$88 million of the proceeds from the Games. 

Aimed at ensuring the independence of the Olympic movement in Australia, the AOF now has net assets of A$200 million despite being on track to have disbursed A$195 million by the end of this year. 

Cash from the Futures Fund, which will be further bolstered by “philanthropic giving”, will be in addition to already established AOC grants and central government funding of Olympic athletes.

In late 2024, the federal government committed to a record A$385 million in funding for high-performance sport over the following 18 months as the country looks to lay the groundwork for a decent showing at the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics on home soil.

($1 = 1.4997 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Lincoln Feast.)