Zimpapers Logo

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
ONLY 193 athletes from 58-member States qualified to receive grants from the Athlete Welfare Fund availed by World Athletics in April to cushion professional athletes from hardship caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to a press release from World Athletics, each athlete will be given a once off grant of US$3 000 from the US$600 000 fund.

World Athletics said the International Athletics Federation (IAF) had received 261 eligible applications by the May 31 deadline and the applications were evaluated by the IAF to ensure they met the eligibility criteria under the oversight of an expert working group chaired by World Athletics president Sebastian Coe.

Members of the working group included Olympic champion and 1 500m world record-holder Hicham El Guerrouj, Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi (representing the World Athletics’ Athletes’ Commission), World Athletics executive board members Sunil Sabharwal (Audit, Risk & Finance Committee) and Abby Hoffman, Adille Sumariwalla, Beatrice Ayikoru and Willie Banks (World Athletics Council members), IAF executive committee members) and former World Athletics treasurer Jose Maria Odriozola and Team Athletics St Vincent and the Grenadines President Keith Joseph.

For eligibility, athletes had to have qualified for selection for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (by entry standard), demonstrated a justifiable welfare need through significant loss of income in 2020 compared to 2019, and had no anti-doping violation.

The Tokyo Olympic qualification criteria meant no Zimbabwean athlete benefited from the fund, as no runner from the country had made the grade at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Athletes ranked in the top six of the World rankings, those that finished in the top six in any Gold Label road race in 2019, and those who earned more than US$6 000 in prize money from the 2019 Diamond League were not eligible to apply in order to help focus support on those most in need, World Athletics said.

Selected athletes will start receiving their payments anytime from this week.