USOPC launches fund for athletes facing COVID-19 hardship

[July 24, 2020]    (Reuters) - United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) announced a new fund on Thursday to support athletes facing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Team USA Rugby wing Carlin Isles is flanked by fellow U.S. Olympians as he speaks at an event making the two-year countdown to the Summer Games in Tokyo, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., July 24, 2018. REUTERS/Rory Carroll

The Olympics were due to begin in Japan on Friday but the Games have instead been delayed until July 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic that has globally infected more than 15 million people and claimed more than 600,000 lives.

"We have heard loud and clear there is a heightened need to help alleviate the financial burdens many are facing," USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland said.

USOPC said the fund was set up with an anonymous $500,000 donation and its fundraising arm was working with donors to increase the fund.

The fund will provide a "one-time stipend" to qualifying athletes who are either in training for - or in contention to compete at - either the Tokyo Olympics or the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.

"The final grant amount will be determined following the completion of fundraising efforts ... at the end of September 2020, and in conjunction with an assessment of the total number of applicants in October 2020," USOPC said on its website.

(Reporting By Amy Tennery, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.