It would appear that going off to the Olympics, while an awesome opportunity, is a costly one.
Based on a piece by Motherjones.com , it costs between $6 000 and $15 000 per athlete to get to the Olympics. That cost is borne by those seeking to capitalise on the chance of a lifetime because the US doesn’t provide government funding.
While some sports federations help out with the actual cost of getting there, they don’t cover other issues – like life. The Olympians take time off from work, spend money on training and transport, and still have families to feed.
In the UK, the site says, athletes are provided with a wage from the government so they can take part.
I’m not sure what the situation is in South Africa because tracking down that information is like hunting for one particular straw in a haystack. We do, however, all know that finding the cash to compete is hard.
Stories abound of athletes who resort to calling radio stations to secure funding, and in the US, they crowd-fund.
In 2012, it cost South Africa R78 million to get its team of 191 to London. This year, we have a team of 137. So, that – taking inflation into account – works out to around R70 million.
So, where did that cash come from?
Thanks to the all-pervasive internet, it’s possible to pick up two sponsorships: The National Lotteries Commission provided R70 million, while Telkom added more millions – so we’re almost there.
Not enough
However, that pales in comparison to what our government put in – with the Department of Sports and Recreation adding R8 million, according to minister Fikile Mbalula’s May budget speech.
Mbalula did note there would be an additional allocation for “advanced preparations for targeted athletes who have good medal potential in Brazil”. He did not, however, specify that amount at all.
So, as a percentage, based on the numbers we have – the state put in 11 percent of the total cost.
I’ve had to go to all this legwork because my requests for figures from both the umbrella body – the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee – and the department, were ignored.
Sure, they’re busy. But apparently the minister is not so busy that he can’t point out just how unfashionable our tracksuits are.
Earlier this week, he lamented via Twitter that there was “No swag for team SA at the Olympics” and compared the kit unfavourably with that worn by other nations.
In voice clips, he bemoaned the fact that South Africans are a fashionable nation, and our Olympians are not.
This does rather strike me as one of those cases where you don’t get to crit if you didn’t put your money where your mouth is.
And it certainly flies against his budget statement that “as government, we are doing everything in our power to ensure that our athletes fly the South African flag high and collect medals that will put smiles on the faces of this sport-loving nation”.
We’ve done that, brilliantly. I’m not going to rehash all the Wayde and Caster brilliance – we are all so proud of them. We’re proud of every single one of our athletes and can already hold our heads high with 9 medals. The target was 8.
In London, we scored 6.
Imagine how much brighter we could shine if we plugged more money into developing talent? Sport is something we are mad about; it’s nation-building, it develops pride, it makes us feel good about ourselves…
Heck, I still have all my road-running medals years after I stopped hitting the tar and started spending the bulk of my days behind a screen.
The games, which are drawing to a close, are just one way in which we can develop the much-needed pride to pull together and out of the doldrums. Which is why sport needs much more than the R1 billion budget this year for the department.
I applaud those who invest in this key sector. And I am disappointed by those whose key take-away seems to be the ninja turtle shells our athletes are wearing.
* Nicola Mawson is the online editor of Business Report. Follow her on Twitter @NicolaMawson or Business Report @busrep.
IOL