Olympic Scholarships for Athletes “Beijing 2008”
Assist elite athletes nominated by their respective National Olympic Committees (NOCs) in their preparation and qualification for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing.
The Olympic scholarship programme offers NOCs the possibility to obtain financial and technical assistance for a select number of elite athletes who are training, and attempting to qualify, for the Beijing Olympic Games.
Should an athlete be awarded an Olympic scholarship, Olympic Solidarity and the NOC will ensure that he/she will be provided with the following:
In its decision to allocate an Olympic scholarship, Olympic Solidarity will strive to ascertain the optimum training environment for each athlete. Olympic Solidarity’s decision as to whether athletes will train in their home country or abroad in a high level training centre will be exclusively focused upon the needs of the athlete and the requirements of his/her sport. The principal partner in this decision process will be the NOC, whose advice and proposals will be taken into consideration. Two training options exist:
a) TRAINING CENTRE OPTION
Olympic Solidarity will assist certain scholarship holders to train in an international high level training centre with which Olympic Solidarity has a service agreement for this programme. The agreements should enable athletes to access training in all of the most popular sports within each Continent. There are three types of options available:
The choice of the high level training centre will be determined by Olympic Solidarity in collaboration with the NOC and, where need be, the Continental Association concerned on the basis of the personal profile of the athlete and their sporting needs. In these cases, the responsibility for the administration of the Olympic scholarship will be primarily with Olympic Solidarity and the training centre. Olympic Solidarity will ensure that the training centre provides the athlete with the content of the Olympic scholarship as noted above.
Further information on the training centre network is available from Olympic Solidarity directly.
b) NOC TRAINING OPTION
Olympic Solidarity recognises that a majority of athletes are training within an environment in which they feel comfortable and which offers all the necessary facilities. This environment is normally within their national territory, however, in some particular circumstances, it could be in an independent training centre or university overseas that is not part of the training centre network noted above.
In this option, the responsibility for the administration of the Olympic scholarship will lie exclusively with the NOC. Olympic Solidarity will ensure that the NOC provides the athlete with the content of the Olympic scholarship as noted above.
The base of calculation for an “NOC training option” per athlete, per month will be negotiable and will be dependent upon the cost of training the athlete in his/her chosen training environment (i.e. in their home country or abroad).
Since the principal objective of this programme is the qualification of the Olympic scholarship holders for the Beijing Olympic Games, Olympic Solidarity will cover a limited number of air tickets for scholarship holders to participate in relevant Olympic qualification competitions.
Once a scholarship is awarded, Olympic Solidarity will ask the NOC to submit a detailed competition schedule that will maximise the athlete’s chances of qualifying for the Beijing Olympic Games. Olympic Solidarity and the NOC will then agree for which competitions Olympic Solidarity may offer air tickets.
Athletes who manage to qualify and who are entered to participate in the Beijing Olympic Games by their NOC will have their scholarships confirmed up until st August 2008. Scholarships awarded to athletes who fail to qualify for the Beijing Olympic Games will be withdrawn from the date of the final qualification opportunity.
External Partners
The Summer Olympic International Federations will assist Olympic Solidarity in the analysis of the NOC candidatures, in offering technical advice and in the follow-up of the results of the athletes who are awarded scholarships.
Olympic Solidarity will work with certain Partner NOCs, IFs and independent training centres to provide training opportunities to the scholarship holders.
The Continental Associations of the NOCs and the IOC Sports Department will be regularly consulted and informed on the situation of the programme and of the results obtained.
This programme aims to promote the universal representation at the Olympic Games. Consequently, candidates from NOCs that have traditionally sent small delegations to the Olympic Games will be prioritised. Olympic Solidarity intends to enforce the principle of solidarity whilst allocating scholarships; thus favouring the NOCs with the most needs.
Athletes must have the following profile to be considered for a scholarship:
NOCs may submit candidatures for scholarships by using the application form attached (ANNEX 1).
Olympic Solidarity will analyse each candidature submitted in collaboration with the relevant IFs and, if needed, the respective Continental Association of NOCs.
Olympic Solidarity will be responsible for the final approval of the Olympic scholarships and of the training option for the athletes.
Each athlete who will be awarded a scholarship will sign a contract with Olympic Solidarity and his/her NOC that will clearly list the responsibilities of each party and the monthly budget distribution of the scholarship.
The budget allocated to this programme for the 2005 – 2008 quadrennial plan is US$16’000’000.-
Olympic Solidarity will negotiate a fixed monthly rate with the training centres with which an agreement will be signed so as to guarantee that the athletes benefit from all aspects of the Olympic scholarship as listed above. Olympic Solidarity will make all payments relating to athletes in the high level training centre network directly to the centre.
Our experience has shown that the cost of athlete training varies widely between regions of the world. Therefore, Olympic Solidarity and the NOC will agree upon the monthly amount of the scholarship per athlete per month. The number of scholarships allocated to an NOC will depend upon the amount offered to each athlete. Olympic Solidarity will make all payments relating to this training option directly to the NOC, which will then administer the funds in relation to the scholarship holders regardless of where they are training.
The detailed administrative procedures, together with the athlete evaluation form, for this programme will be sent to NOCs to which scholarships have been awarded.
Olympic Solidarity will request a constant information feedback by means of:
Following consultation with the NOC, Olympic Solidarity reserves the right to terminate any Olympic scholarship at any time in cases where there is:
This programme will be operational from 1st January 2006 until 31st August 2008.
NOC: National consultation process and submission of candidatures. Olympic Solidarity: Evaluation of candidatures with IFs. Olympic Solidarity: Selection and award of Olympic
scholarships.
1. Application form “Olympic Scholarships for Athletes – Beijing 2008”