TATJANA SCHOENMAKER GETS OLYMPIC BONUS

It seems as if an Olympic gold medal isn’t the only thing that Tatjana Schoenmaker will receive after her world record-breaking performance during the 200m women’s breaststroke in Tokyo last month.

Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa recently announced that every gold medal winner at both the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games will each receive R450,000.

Their coaches will receive a bonus to the value of R120,000.

Silver medallists will receive a bonus of R220,000 while their coaches will get R70,000. Bronze medallists will get R100,000 each and their coaches will get R30,000.

Because Schoenmaker won both a silver and gold medal at the Olympics, and she broke the world record which meant she gets an additional R180,000, her total bonus equals to R850,000.

Bianca Buitendag won silver for South Africa when she came second in the women’s surfing event, will get R220,000.

Schoenmaker and Buitendag were the only two to win medals at the Tokyo games.

After recent rumours turned out to be nothing but miscommunication from the national sports department, the Minister confirmed that bonuses for winning a medal at the Olympics will always be a permanent fixture.

“Incentives will be there, this should not be a question going forward. It’s a permanent feature, depending on the kind of economic climate. But we are bound to incentivise excellence based on our own programmes and annual performance plans.”

Image credit: Opera News