By BEN EFE
Former Nigerian international athlete, Henry Amike has slammed the pittance offered Nigerian medalists at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
After two weeks of the contest in the games Blessing Oborodudu in the women’s 58kg wrestling and Ese Brume that won medals for Nigeria. Oborodudu received $10, 000 for her silver, while Brume got $7,500 for bronze.
Speaking on the reward Amike who is still the national record holder in the 400m hurdles with 48.50secs said the athletes deserve more gratification for their exploits in Tokyo.
“For me, it is insulting to be giving that amount of money to the medalists,” Amike said.
“In 1984 Olympics the government offered gold medalists $60,000, silver $40,000 and bronze $20,000. I was paid $10, 000 for reaching the final of the 400m hurdles.
“Are we not supposed to be improving on these amounts or at least match it up? They announced these poor rewards in Tokyo and everyone seems to be happy with it.”
Also commenting was former sprinter Uche Isaac: “I want to tell the Sports Minister that his $15K,$10K and $7K5 respectively is not acceptable because our athletes are not beggars they deserve more.
“Here’s what some other countries are offering for a start.US: 37K5,$22K5 and $15K, Singapore: $1m,$500K and $250K, India: $150K,$80K and $45K.”
Sports Minister, Sunday Dare who was on hand to present the sum to the athletes in Tokyo, hinted that the $15,000 for gold, $10,000 for silver, and $7,500 he offered was an improvement on previously agreed $5,000, $3,000, and $2,000 for Gold, Silver and Bronze medalists respectively. He added that the hike was to prove that the government appreciated the efforts of the athletes for doing better in Tokyo, unlike previous outings in London 2012 and Rio 2016.
“With the multi-billion naira budget for the Olympics, we should be doing much more than that. Will $10,000 buy a brand new car or build a house?” Amike quarried. (Saturday Vanguard)
