JOHANNESBURG – As if Team South Africa's poor showing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics that came to an end on Sunday was not bad enough, the body tasked with governing Olympic sport in the country just had to go and kick those who brought us some glory in the gut.
Sascoc have said that the two athletes who brought home medals from the Games would not be getting any kind of monetary rewards as is traditionally the case.
Tatjana Schoenmaker and Bianca Buitendag won medals in swimming and surfing as Team South Africa failed dismally to live up to the promise by the very same Sascoc that the country would improve on their ten medal haul from the previous Games in Rio five years ago.
Schoenmaker won a silver and gold in the 200m and 100m breaststroke races while also setting the Olympic and world records in the process. Buitendag won silver in the sport that was making its debut at the Games. The duo would have expected to be handsomely rewarded financially. But not so, according to an EWN report that quoted Sascoc president Barry Hendricks.
“This does not mean Sascoc does not want to issue performance bonuses. In fact, as we speak, we are trying to negotiate with partners to try and assist us in this regards,” Hendricks was quoted as saying by EWN.
The Sascoc president added that they will follow the same policy for the Paralympics: “If one has to give performance medals for medals in the Olympics, we would then have to do that for the Paralympics athletes as well.”
IOL Sport