Olympians

Olympics Continue Athletic Compensation Conversation, Georgia Tech Expert Says

admin — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 00:34:41 +0000

Olympics Continue Athletic Compensation Conversation, Georgia Tech Expert Says admin Wed, 07/24/2024 - 20:34

Olympians compete for national pride, glory, and, for the first time, prize money.

Announced by World Athletics in April, a $2.4 million pot will be split among the 48 gold medal winners at the upcoming games — $50,000 for each athlete or team — marking the first time an international sport federation will award prize money at the Olympic Games. The move is a continued departure from the amateurism model implemented by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, in 1896.

Mary McDonald, professor and Homer C. Rice Chair in Sports and Society, explains that governments provided various levels of financial support to athletes throughout the 20th century, although undisclosed compensation from sponsors gave rise to “shamateurism” as the International Olympic Committee upheld its traditional policy. She says allowing professional athletes to compete in the Games in 1992 and the commercialization of the global event led to this compensation model.

“The U.S. ‘Dream Team’ competed in Barcelona to widespread media attention, allaying longstanding mythologies that somehow including professionals would taint the Olympic spirit of sport,” McDonald said. “But fans around the globe were interested in seeing the top athletes in each sport, and allowing professional athletes to compete met this demand. Organizers of the multibillion-dollar Olympic and Paralympic Games recognized that athletes are the driving force behind this global spectacle.”

In the absence of payments from international federations, medalists have been paid prize money to varying degrees by national Olympic committees or national governments. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee pays $37,500 for gold medals, $22,500 for silver, and $15,000 for bronze, while Singapore pays individual gold medalists up to $1 million. The World Athletics’ $50,000 payout for gold medals pales in comparison to the millions of dollars in endorsement deals earned by Simone Biles, Michael Phelps, and other notable Olympians, but it opens a dialogue surrounding pay inequities for the additional 10,000 competitors.

“One issue this debate helps to highlight is that inequalities exist between sports federations and national Olympic committees. Many athletes in less visible Olympic sports, even if provided with stipends, still financially struggle to train and compete,” McDonald said, noting that some athletes have resorted to crowdfunding to support their Olympic pursuits.

“Still, new compensation opportunities through federation support serve important purposes. This strategy helps to more fully recognize the value of athletic labor, offering a new way of redistributing more of the revenues generated by the athletes back to the athletes,” she said.

The new system is not a finished product. World Athletics plans to extend the prize money, at a tiered level, to silver and bronze medalists at the 2028 Summer Olympics.

McDonald sees symmetry between this and the recent softening of traditional amateurism models, such as college athletics following the adoption of NCAA name, image, and likeness policies following court rulings and state legislative actions. She adds that, as efforts continue to create fair compensation models in professional leagues like the WNBA, the Olympics have provided a “visible and global stage to inspire and empower athletes in their quest to better share in the revenues they have helped to produce.”

Subtitle

For the first time, gold medalists at the Olympics will be paid by an international federation. A Georgia Tech expert discusses the significance of the change.

Summary sentence

For the first time, gold medalists at the Olympics will be paid by an international federation. A Georgia Tech expert discusses the significance of the change.

Summary

For the first time, gold medalists at the Olympics will be paid by an international federation. A Georgia Tech expert discusses the significance of the change.

Dateline

Wed, 07/24/2024 - 12:00

steven.gagliano@gatech.edu

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Steven Gagliano - Institute Communications

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Mary McDonald

Olympians

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Society and Culture

How the Paris Olympic Track Is Designed to Break Records

admin — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 17:45:41 +0000

How the Paris Olympic Track Is Designed to Break Records admin Fri, 07/19/2024 - 13:45

Every millisecond will matter when the world's best athletes gather in Paris for the Summer Olympics, and track and field athletes will compete on a surface designed to produce record-breaking performances.

Mondo athletic tracks have been underneath the feet of Olympians since 1972. In that time, 300 records were broken on surfaces designed and constructed in Alba, Italy, including 15 at the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Consistency Is Key

Georgia Tech’s George C. Griffin Track and Field Facility was outfitted with a Mondo track before the 1996 Games to serve as the workout track for the Olympic Village, and the material has been a staple at the facility ever since. Yellow Jacket Track and Field Coach Grover Hinsdale, a coach to three Olympic gold medalists, explains that the consistency in Mondo's construction sets it apart from all other tracks.

"A Mondo track is made in a climate-controlled factory, processed from the raw rubber to the finished product. So, every square inch of Mondo is the same — same durometer, same thickness, everything is the same. All other rubberized track surfaces are poured on-site, so variables like temperature and humidity affect the result, and you may end up with lanes that don't set uniformly,” he said.

Hinsdale likened the installation process to laying carpet. It will take more than 2,800 glue pots to set the 13,000 square meters of track inside Stade de France. Jud Ready, a principal research engineer in the School of Materials Science and Engineering, says the evolution of the company’s technology has also contributed to producing faster tracks.

"They're able to alter the rubber track's energy return mechanism by changing the shape of the particulate and the compressibility of it," Ready said. "Longevity is less of a concern for the Paris track, so they can tune it to emphasize speed."

Maximizing Performance

Each layer of the track surface plays a different role in helping athletes achieve peak performance. Hinsdale describes how those layers come together with each step.

"When your foot strikes down on an asphalt surface or you're running down a sidewalk, there's virtually no give other than what's taking place in the muscles and joints of your body. The surface is giving nothing back. When your foot strikes a Mondo surface, it'll sink in slightly, and the surface gives energy back. This pushes your foot back off that track quicker, putting the foot back into the cycle to complete another stride,” he said.

Because of the energy given back by the thin and firm surface of the Mondo track, Hinsdale says, sprinters and distance runners will run faster with the same effort they normally exert on any other surface.

Athletes look for every edge to get ahead of the competition. Ready's course, Materials Science and Engineering of Sports, examines how that advantage can be found at the scientific level.

"All sports are so heavily driven by material advancements these days,” he said. “Yes, we use the mechanical properties we've used since the Egyptians started racing chariots, but as material scientists, we keep trying to make things better.”

Viewers will notice the unique purple hue of the Paris track when the games begin, but Ready and Hinsdale don't expect the striking color to affect performance.

Subtitle

Like the track laid down at Georgia Tech before the 1996 Olympic Games, the Mondo track in Paris was engineered to produce fast times.

Summary sentence

Like the track laid down at Georgia Tech before the 1996 Olympic Games, the Mondo track in Paris was engineered to produce fast times.

Summary

Like the track laid down at Georgia Tech before the 1996 Olympic Games, the Mondo track in Paris was engineered to produce fast times.

Dateline

Fri, 07/19/2024 - 12:00

Steven.gagliano@gatech.edu

Contact

Steven Gagliano - Institute Communications

Associated importer

Keywords

track and field

1996 Olympics

Olympians

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Olympians

Olympics Continue Athletic Compensation Conversation, Georgia Tech Expert Says

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How the Paris Olympic Track Is Designed to Break Records

Consistency Is Key

Maximizing Performance

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